Notre Dame University has invited President Obama to speak at its commencement this year, and is giving him an honorary degree. Since the invitation was made public, it has created a furor among some students, alumni and church officials. Yesterday, 19 protesters were arrested while demonstrating against Obama's appearance. Those arrested were not students, and were arrested for trespassing on the Notre Dame campus.
There have also been Catholic church officials who are complaining about the Obama invitation, and several alumni who say they are going to withhold donations to the university because Obama was invited. These people all say they are opposed to the invitation and honorary degree because Obama stands in opposition to official stances of the Catholic Church (like abortion and stem cell research).
These stands taken by the anti-invitation crowd are not just disingenuous -- they are an outright fraud. None of these folks complained when George W. Bush was invited to speak, even though he is a death-penalty supporter. They didn't seem to mind the fact that Bush allowed over 150 executions while governor of Texas, while the official stance of the Catholic Church is against the death penalty.
There have also been many others invited to speak who hold views contrary to official Catholic Church positions, and no one seemed to mind those invitations. Here is a list of some of them compiled by the Rude Pundit:
In 1980, the commencement speaker was Carter administration Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti, a supporter of abortion rights.
In 1987, an honorary degrees were given to the pro-choice Coretta Scott King, Alan Simpson, and Rosalyn Carter.
In 1991, an honorary degree was given to Jane Pauley, a pro-choice supporter.
In 1992, protesters lined up as pro-choice Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was given the university's Laetare Medal, "the oldest and most prestigious honor awarded an American Catholic," according to the Washington Post. President George H.W. Bush, giving the commencement keynote, went out of his way to praise Moynihan.
In 1993, an honorary degree was given to pro-choice judge Alan C. Page.
In 2000, the commencement speaker was then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who supports all kinds of family planning programs, including those where abortion is allowed.
If the problem is Obama's disagreement with official church stances, then these same protesters should have protested the appearance of George Bush and these other people. But they didn't. That tells us that something else is really at play here.
The truth is that those protesting are Republican Catholics and they are still smarting from their loss in the last election. They couldn't win at the ballot box, so now they're acting like three year-olds that dropped their ice cream cone in the sand box. They need to grow up.
