The Devil in the Details

So there are several topics on religion that I could go on and on about. I call myself a Libral Orthodox Christian, and I don't think you could create a more contradictory term. I always have some rant that I get on and could go for hours with, but there has been one that I am particuarly obsessed with right now. I heard about this on my local news station several weeks ago, along with another somewhat similar story, and it has actually become national news since then.

OBAMA VS. NOTRE DAME

So if you have been living in a cave and have'nt heard about this here is the rundown. Several weeks ago Notre Dame in Indiana decided to invite President Barack Obama to speack at their graduation ceremony this spring. As you should know Notre Dame is a Catholic university. so as you can geuss a Democrat probably isn't going to get a warm welcome, which is exactly what happened. Several pro-life and homophobic groups have banded together to protest the presidents coming to the campus, arguing that his religious, and social veiws don't align with those of the Catholic faith and therefore he has no right coming to the university to speak.

Now I have to agree with the protesters. No, his views are not the same as the catholic views on the two subjects. The basic catholic view on pro-life is that abortion is murder, but they tend to take it a step farther than most religious groups. They also believe that using any type of birth control IS abortion. No matter if it is the pill, the shot, the patch, the insert and for the man using a condom and also going as far as pulling out and male "self relief". Basically if you are having sex and the guy stuff doesn't make it into the girl stuff you have committed a sin against God and must then seek redemption. Not to mention they have the same view on premarital sex. and homosexuality. President Obama obviously does not have these same views.

Now if those are your veiws that is fine. Not everyone in the world is going to agree with each other. And I repect the Catholic church. They have shown amazing steadfastness over the years, and have'nt changed to reflect what is popular, and have continued to show love, mercy and certain levels of acceptance despite ones sins. And I am not one to try to force my opinions on others, I just enjoy to make sense.

I also think that if you are going to hold any type of religious or socio-ethical opinion you need to use that ruler on everyone, not just those that you pick and choose. I will include some websites at the bottom of this post for you to self educate. You will notice, though, that these groups are'nt calling for the expulsion of all homosexual students. Nor the same for all female students using any form of birth control. Neither have I seen and nationwide petitions to kick out all students who are having premarital sex. I have done a lot of reading on the Notre Dame website and as far as I can tell there are no expulsion rules for students who "walk the dog", maybe they need a march on the archdiocese residence for that one. I can see the signs now: "whacking = murder".

It is true to say that I have no proof that there are such students at the university. It could be possible that all ND students are great young catholic men and women, but really, lets not be nieve. I, too, am not going to be nieve. I realize that ND is not a religious school, in that there are no religious requirements for admission, unlike many "Christian" schools out there, like the one I went to, Ozark Christian College, where I had to submit my baptism certificate, and a letter from my pastor along with my admission application. But like I said earlier, if your going to deny entry onto campus to a person simply because of the religious views and opinions on certain topics, and the fact that those views don't align with those of the leadership and predominate religion on that campus, then it needs to be across the board or not at all.

How can these groups make such a big deal out of Obama, just coming to speak at the school when there are openly gay students on campus, students having sex, using birth control, and it's probably not to big of a stretch to say that there are students who have had an abortion going to ND. And these students aren't just coming to ND for a few hours and a photo op, but they are there for four + years, living on campus, joing clubs and forming their own, and getting degrees that they are going to take out into the world along with all their personal views and opinions. And, oh yeah, they are also giving ND $50,000.00 plus per year! Could it be that the money is the real reason behind why there is no outcry from these protestors to expell all the students that don't hold up the Catholic faith. If only 100 students were kicked out due to these reasons, that would be a $500,000.00 loss for ND. Im sure thats probably several proffessors salaries, or travel expenses for the fighting irish sports department.

Not to mention the exposure that these groups are going to get throughout this controversy. Every signature on that petiton is one more possible donation to next years fund raiser for the on campus pro-life campaign. They might as well be just collecting a call list for next years telethon. I'm just wondering where the ND chapter of the NRA is at. Plus lets look at the basics of the speach. He isn't giving a pro-choice speech, or a gay rights speech, it's a commencment speech. He is a very succesfull person, and I think that is pretty much the only requirement for giving a commencement speech.

Thats right folks, money. Money has once again taken priority, and pro-life and homophobia is once again the mask behind which the greed of organized religion is hidden. I'm really trying not to be a total jerk or anything. Here is my basic view:
If you're going to love, love all. If you're going to show mercy and grace, show it to all. Not just those that you pick and choose.

Now there was another story I wanted to hit on real quickly. It was also at a christian college. Some students at Anderson University are trying to get the no drinking rule taken out of the school. They claim that they are of legal age and the school has no right to tell them they can't drink. And really they are right. But they also knew the rules before they started going to school there. But what I really thought was odd was their way of protesting it. They decided to hang up posters all over campus about a march. They decided to march from the campus to a bar a few blocks away and have a beer. Now this is just dumb. I have a lot of friends that went to anderson, and a lot of them drank while they went there with no repracutions. So here is the deal AU guys that wanna drink, I hope your reading this. DRINK! Just dont make such a big friggin deal out of. I smoked cigars all the time while I was at OCC, but I didn't tell all my profs thats what I was going to do that afternoon. Would you sign a rental lease saying you won't paint your apartment, and then call the media to tape you painting it? And if you don't agree with the rule, and you morally object to breaking it, then drop out and go to Butler or Ball State like all the other anderon drop-outs that had an awakening while at AU.

Well those are my thoughts for the day.

Love you,
Mike

References:
ND finances - http://admissions.nd.edu/financial-aid
ND Scandal Homepage - http://www.notredamescandal.com/
Gays at ND - http://www.nd.edu/~observer/02022001/News/1.html
News Flash: Dateline - Anderson, Indiana - AU students are dumb - http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990325015