By now I’m sure many of you have heard about the University of Notre Dame’s recent example of extremely poor judgment (to put it mildly). It was announced on Friday that President Barack Obama will be giving the commencement speech at this year’s graduation, and awarded an honorary degree. While on the one hand it’s certainly an honor for a college to host any sitting President, the choice of President Obama to speak at Notre Dame’s graduation is simply inappropriate. The implicit honor which goes along with being invited to speak at graduation, especially considering it is a Catholic university, should never have been extended to a man whose policies are shockingly anti-Catholic and anti-life.

As a recent graduate of Notre Dame, I felt completely betrayed when I heard the news (unfortunately, it was gleefully announced by a friend’s Facebook status, which shows that there are many who are excited by this news, many of whom are Catholic). To many in the outside Catholic world, Notre Dame is already seen as barely Catholic, at best. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to convince people that not everything coming out of my alma mater is bad – there really are so many great, Catholic, pro-life things going on, and it seemed like things have really been improving and getting back on the right track. However, with the choice of Obama as graduation speaker, I can’t help but wonder along with everyone else what exactly the ND higher-ups were thinking. I don’t want to believe that this is a sign of worse things to come from the school, but it is such an unbelievable choice that I’m sure it will not be the last major slip in judgment. I don’t think this choice means that ND has abandoned all its great Catholic roots just like that, but I know that many people are giving up on the school and its Catholicity, and they or their children are choosing more consistently faithful Catholic colleges instead. The more Notre Dame decides to do things that are completely offensive to those of us who really value our Catholic faith, often in the name of “academic freedom” and the pursuit of being seen as a prestigious university along the lines of the Ivy Leagues, the more it will drive away people who can really turn things around.

I am certainly not giving up on my school – I love it and I became such a stronger, and much more traditional, Catholic while I was there that I just can’t yet accept that they are becoming simply another “Catholic” college – one that used to be Catholic but doesn’t have much anymore to distinguish it from any other private university. I know many already believe ND doesn’t deserve the moniker of Catholic, but I knew so many incredible Catholics during my four years there, and my experiences were very much of a truly Catholic college. I hope (pretty futilely, I’m sure) that people don’t allow this incredibly bad decision to ruin their whole perception of Notre Dame, but I also know that this isn’t the first questionable at best, completely un-Catholic at worst, decision that has been made. It’s hard to keep defending ND’s Catholicism when they continue to do things like this, which is incredibly frustrating. I love my school and cherish my memories of the place (especially the beautiful Basilica of the Sacred Heart), and it’s mind-boggling, trying to understand why on earth those who chose this believed it to be a good idea. To host Obama in a different forum, perhaps in a debate or some other discussion, might be understandable. To give him the honor of being the commencement speaker at what is commonly known as one of, if not the, pre-eminently Catholic universities in America is just not excusable.

Call me naive (or maybe it’s just wishful thinking from an alum who loves her school), but I do still believe Notre Dame can come back from this. It will take a lot of work, though. I hope that many alumni will be withholding donations, as I plan to, and I hope that those who aren’t alumni will let the school know what they feel about this decision. Email Fr. John Jenkins, the President of the University, at president@nd.edu, or sign the online petition at the Notre Dame Scandal website. There is other contact information for Fr. Jenkins at that website as well. Contact Bishop D’Arcy, the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend (where Notre Dame is located), contact the Congregation of the Holy Cross (the order which runs Notre Dame). Those running the University of Notre Dame need to realize that its mission is to be Catholic first, prestigious university second. By choosing Obama, the school is putting its standing in secular circles above its standing in Catholic circles. Please join the tens of thousands of people who have already told Notre Dame and Fr. Jenkins what a shockingly awful decision this was. The chances that they will rescind the decision to have President Obama speak are very, very slim, but maybe if enough people tell the school that this isn’t ok, they won’t be doing anything like this again – and maybe, just maybe, they’ll get back to worrying more about being faithful to the Magisterium than to getting a good secular standing.

It’s sad that a huge mistake like this can overshadow all the good that Notre Dame does, but this is a huge mistake. To say the least. Abortion is one of the biggest issues facing our country and world today, and those who support it should not be honored by any Catholic institution, in any capacity. It makes me sad for my university, and sad for the state of Catholicism in our country where such a prominent Catholic university feels it is ok to invite a prominent abortion advocate, regardless of who he is, to be honored as commencement speaker. We need to pray for our Catholic institutions – that those who are consistently faithful remain so and remain strong against the attacks they face daily, and that those who do questionable things like this become faithful once again.

Yesterday, we witnessed history with the inauguration of President Obama. It was objectively exciting to see, ignoring the problems I have with Obama, and in some respects it was a great moment for our country. However, it seems that unfortunately he will lose no time in reversing the “Mexico City policy” which was first instated by President Reagan in 1984 and has been reversed back and forth by President Clinton and then President Bush early in both of their first terms as president. The Mexico City policy is essentially a ban on using U.S. money to fund international family planning groups that promote and provide abortions. This means that, if Obama acts as is expected, money from U.S. taxpayers will be going to fund abortions around the world possibly by the end of the week.

It would be sadly almost appropriate if he were to do this tomorrow: January 22 marks the 36th anniversary of the passage of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States. Thousands upon thousands of people will be gathered in Washington DC tomorrow, a far less celebratory group than was gathered in the same place yesterday. These people will be taking part in the annual March for Life, which I was lucky enough to attend twice in the last four years. It is truly a remarkable thing to see so many people of many different backgrounds and places in life united for the same cause. It might not result in much, but it shows the world that there are people committed to fighting actively against abortion. For those of us too far or otherwise unable to attend the March, we can still unite with those who will be in DC by taking part in a day of prayer and penance, as established by the USCCB in 2002.

Read more about the day of penance here.

It may seem like a futile effort these days, but we can still fight for what we know to be true. Abortion is a grave evil that needs to be stopped, not funded more. Here are some ideas, from the above article, of what you can do to help the pro-life movement tomorrow and any day:

• Peacefully praying outside of an abortion clinic

• Fasting

• Praying a rosary or chaplet for the unborn

• Praying for those who have been wounded by abortion

• Visiting and praying before the Blessed Sacrament

• Reading and reflecting on Pope John Paul II’s Evangelium Vitae in full

• Becoming involved with the pro-life group in your town or area

Tomorrow is certainly a good day to do any (or all!) of these, but there is a lot of praying to be done even after tomorrow. The Freedom of Choice Act still looms large, which would be devastating for those of us working to free our country from the grip of abortion. We must continue to pray that this law doesn’t pass.

We should have hope that the fears of pro-lifers won’t come true with the passage of FOCA (and other legislation) now that Obama has achieved his historic goal, but we need to take part in prayer and fasting tomorrow and beyond to remember the 50 million Americans who have been killed in the last 36 years – and in hopes that the number will someday soon stop climbing.

As a store we haven’t really taken sides in this election apart from a couple of posts here , here and here and my daughter’s endorsement of Chuck Norris. So, we figured it was about time to say something about the upcoming election.

This was going to be a video but time constraints and missing video camera parts have resulted in a much lower-tech version than we had planned. Sigh.

I’m voting for Obama because:

• I like socialism.
• I think the government should handle our health care. Just like they’ve handled our mortgage crisis.
• I support the second amendment.
  
• I oppose the second amendment.
• I think babies who survive abortions should be left to die.
• he’s worked closely with Bill Ayers and I like domestic terrorists, too.
• Hollywood said to.
• he would have abandoned Iraq to terrorists.
• I don’t think our constitution is very good either.
• I think a judge’s personal experience is more important than fairly applying the law.
  
• the Nation of Islam thinks he is the Messiah.
• he supports changing the definition of marriage
  
• he opposes changing the definition of marriage.
• he’s friends with Tony Rezko and I like convicted felons, too.
• he only wants to raise taxes on people who make more than $250,000 a year.
  
• he only wants to raise taxes on people who make more than $200,000 a year.
• he only wants to raise taxes on people who make more than $150,000 a year.
• he only voted to raise taxes on people making more than $42,000 a year / he will only raise taxes on those making more than $100,000 a year / he will only raises taxes on those making more than $140,000 a year
• only people who go to Ivy-League schools are qualified to be president.
• he looks down on religious people and gun owners.
• I don’t want to be able to find out if my under-age daughter is getting an abortion.
• he believes in class warefare and I hate rich people, too.
• his supporters are really good at committing voter registration fraud.
• the first thing he will do as president is abolish all restrictions on abortion.
• paying higher taxes is patriotic.
• I like buying oil from terrorist supporting states and two-bit dictators.
• Obama is like President Franklin Roosevelt. You know, he got on TV and calmed the panic during the 1929 stock market crash.
• Fr. Flager endorsed him and I like white racists.
• Rev. Wright was his pastor for years and I like black racists as much as I like white ones.
• he thinks that by voting for him we can lower the level of the oceans.
• he opposes storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.
  
• he voted twice to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.
• he will make small businesses that don’t provide health care plans to employees pay more taxes.
• he supports high gas prices. I hate only paying $3.50 a gallon for gas.
• the media told me to and I don’t want to think for myself.
• he wants to spread the wealth around and I’m too lazy to earn my own money so taking it from other people sounds like a great deal to me.
• we’ll have an international crisis within six months of his inauguration.
  

After the third time McCain mentioned how he works across the aisle with Feingold (to restrict First Ammendment rights) and Kennedy (to massively increase funding of our failing public education system) I turned off the debate.

The only way he could try harder to lose would be to come right out and tell conservatives to stay home on election day.

Actually, no. The still from the You Tube video of thirteen pro-life protesters, including two priests, who did get arrested at the Democratic National Convention just happens to show our pastor, Fr. Tom in the midst of the group right before the arrests. He was actually giving them a blessing.

The police in Denver have mellowed since the days when my Aunt was in Operation Rescue. At one rally the police all took off their badges so you couldn’t file a complaint, used excessive force including choking my aunt and tossed her in jail after confiscating her asthma medicine. I sometimes wonder if the US bishops had stood united with the folks from Operation Rescue if the abortion debate would have been settled twenty years ago.

Fr. Tom had been a participant in the prayer vigil at the new Planned Parenthood abortuary in Denver that just opened the night before. The vigil featured Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King.

Since the DNC is still in town and Obama has been annointed as the nominee here are a couple of things to keep in mind about him:

• He is more rabidly pro-abortion than NARAL. Even NARAL didn’t oppose a law that would make it illegal for babies who survive an abortion to be left to die. Obama repeatedly voted down legislation meant to protect these poor babies and then lied about it repeatedly.
• Obama has promised Planned Parenthood that the FIRST thing he will sign into law upon becoming president is the “Freedom of Choice Act”, a law removing any restrictions on abortion.

If you are interested in the circus that Nancy Pelosi has become, American Papist has the goods.

Since so much effort is being devoted to distorting the Faith and trying to convince Catholics that abortion is really just a little issue, it’s time to arm yourself with some rational thoughts on the matter:

• Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (USCCB)
• Render Unto Caesar (Archbishop Charles Chaput)
• Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics (Catholic Answers)
• Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church

What happens when my general manager doesn’t have enough to do.