An Open Letter to Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C.

At the risk of repeating what others have already said about the ND decision to honor President Obama, I offer the following, which I prepared shortly after hearing the announcement, but which I did not complete until now. 

 

 

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Dear Father Jenkins:

 

 

I write to you as a graduate of the University in protest of Notre Dame’s decision to honor President Barack Obama as part this year’s commencement exercises.

 

 

As Francis Cardinal George said shortly after President Obama’s election in November, the country’s decision to elect an African-American to its highest office is something in which “we must all rejoice.”  Like many other Notre Dame graduates, I share in the joy and hope that this historic election symbolizes.  However, I take no joy and I see little hope in the University’s decision to honor a man who, throughout his political career, has been so thoroughly opposed to virtually any legal protection for unborn human life.

 

 

The motivation that stands behind the University’s decision to honor President Obama at graduation is, I think, readily apparent.  There is, course, an enormous amount of prestige attached to the Office of President of the United States, and President Obama’s visit to campus will undoubtedly garner a great deal of attention for the University.  Because of this attention (and in some cases because they agree with President Obama’s policy positions) the invitation will be applauded by many people outside the University, and not a few within it.  Furthermore, as the University’s press release notes, there is some historical precedent to the invitation in that Notre Dame has been fortunate to host a number of sitting presidents as commencement speakers in the past.  Finally, President Obama has proven himself to be a captivating and at times eloquent public speaker. 

 

 

While the motivation behind for the decision to invite President Obama is apparent, the reasoning that supports the decision to honor him is anything but clear.  Unlike any of the other presidents honored by the University – Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, and both Bushs – President Obama is the only one who is dedicated – as a matter of principle and policy – to maintaining and expanding a legal regime the prime objective of which is the destruction of innocent human life.  This position is not only opposed to Christian principles of love and justice as authoritatively set forth by the Church, it is also antithetical to any society that hopes to be guided by right reason and governed by the rule of law.

 

 

Although he downplayed his extreme views on abortion and other life issues during the campaign, President Obama’s position on these matters is well-known.  As member of the Illinois State Senate he opposed legislation that would have mandated medical care for children who happen to survive an abortion as well as legislation that would have banned the gruesome practice known as partial birth abortion.  In the U.S. Senate he voted against even modest restrictions on abortions such as a law designed to ensure parental notice of minors seeking abortions as well as a law prohibiting the transportation of minors across state lines in order to obtain abortions.  As a presidential candidate he pledged to his support for the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, a measure that would likely strike down every existing federal and state measure opposed to abortion.  Since becoming president, he has reversed the Mexico City Policy making

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taxpayer dollars available to organizations overseas that perform abortions, and he recently lifted restrictions on the use of federal dollars for embryo destructive research.  Although the President’s supporters cite to his rhetoric saying that he is in favor of reducing the incidence of abortion and that he appreciates the moral weight to be accorded human embryos, his political actions have yet to measure up.  Indeed, the President favors overturning the Hyde Amendment so that federal Medicaid dollars could be used to fund abortions – a move that even proponents of abortion admit would increase the number of abortions each year by several hundred thousand.  Moreover, he has not given his support to the Pregnant Women Support Act put forth by pro-life Democratic members of Congress.

 

 

I am certain that you know all of this, and that you appreciate the serious error of President Obama’s position on abortion and other matters that directly threaten innocent human life.  But this only makes the University’s decision – your decision – to honor the President all the more bewildering and troubling.

 

 

You have suggested that inviting President Obama to the Notre Dame campus creates the opportunity for engaged dialogue with the nation’s most prominent supporter of abortion rights.  While respectful engagement and serious dialogue on abortion and other matters is certainly something that Notre Dame and every university should actively promote, a school’s graduation ceremony is hardly the proper setting in which for such an exchange to take place.  The President is not being invited to participate in a public disputation but in a public celebration – a celebration in which he will be honored with the conferral of a degree.  Given this context, it would not be appropriate to challenge the President directly concerning his deplorable views concerning legal protection for unborn human life.  Indeed, to do so would subject the University to ridicule as a rude and undeserving host.

 

 

Ultimately then, the apparent motivation for the decision to honor the President seems to be the only justification, namely, the pursuit of public accolades and notoriety.  Bluntly stated, I do not understand why the University deems it necessary to prostitute itself in the pursuit of affirmation from those quarters of the academy and society that are happy to applaud Notre Dame only insofar as it distances itself from its Catholic identity – that is, only insofar as the University no longer has “the courage to speak [those] uncomfortable truths which do not please public opinion, but which are necessary to safeguard the authentic good of society” (Ex Corde Ecclesiae ¶ 32).

 

 

The United States currently faces a number of daunting challenges, and we have elected a new president who is charged by his office with the responsibility of addressing these challenges to the best of his ability.  The Notre Dame community should show its respect for the man and the office he holds, and we may offer President Obama our full support insofar as he works to advance the common good.  The fact is, however, that respect and honor are not the same thing, and President Obama has sought to advance a host of policies that are profoundly dishonorable – policies that will only work to undermine the common good, properly understood.

 

 

Simply put, President Obama is on the wrong side of the most salient civil rights issue of our day – the right to life.  Indeed, he has championed in a conspicuous fashion – in a way that cannot be ignored – views that are inimical to Notre Dame’s identity as “Catholic” and as a “university.”  Accordingly, while the President should be welcomed to campus as our nation’s leader and as a conversation partner, he should not be embraced as someone who embodies the highest and best ideals for which the University stands when this is so plainly not the case.  The University should rescind its decision to confer an honorary degree on President Obama. 

 

 

 

                                                                                                            Sincerely,

 

 

 

                                                                                                            John M. Breen

                                                                                                            Class of 1985