As a 76 year old smart ass from New York, I continue to wonder why we as a nation tolerated both wars started by the Bush administration. This is an irrelevant comment for me to make for this article, yet I continue to wonder. Recently, "they" blamed Nancy Pelosi for not stopping the enhanced interrogation of prisoners. This is irrelevant as well, yet I continue to wonder. While on an "I wonder" roll, I also wonder about the protests concerning our Presidents' commencement address last Sunday.
I do not understand those who would not have allowed the President of the United States to speak at Notre Dame because of his positions on abortion and stem cell research. I assume they support freedom of speech. I expect their support exists as long as such speech is consistent with their own beliefs. Confusing. I must be missing something, but what is it?
And now take a moment to review a bit of my own foolishness. Some of the stuff I present is true, and some of it is made up. Some of it is satire, and some is not. Perhaps my confusion can be attributed to excessive consumption of egg creams as a child.
Alan Keyes, a Roman Catholic priest, and 19 others were arrested Friday while appropriately protesting President Barack Obama's planned commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame campus. No one, even the elected President of the United States, who is in favor of the murder of countless unborn in our country, as well as supporting the frivolous use of fetuses for research should ever be so honored, and allowed to speak. They are angry about the school's decision to give Obama, who supports positions that they oppose, an honorary degree and have him speak at Sunday's commencement.
Keyes is correct in his desire to deny those who disagree with him the right to express such disagreement. It is unfair for anyone to suggest that Keyes is seizing the opportunity to catch up in publicity with Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
A well spoken Roman Catholic Bishop Francis J. Curran remarked that anyone supporting those who speak out in favor of abortion and stem cell research would be guilty of a mortal sin. This writer agrees. Most "real Americans" are in favor of reducing the spread of ideas and thoughts that run against those written in the Bible and as interpreted by the Church. We are certainly a secular nations, yet God's laws supersede the laws passed by man, even the American Constitution.
Supporters of Bishop Curran have been hard at work compiling a list of those issues in contemporary consciousness to which the Church has historically been opposed.
The Bishops staff is pleased to supply this list to any organization requesting it. At the same time they are preparing a list of prominent Americans who are opposed to those philosophies that the Church supports. Should you be planning on inviting a guest speaker for a commencement ceremony, you can review these lists to determine who you should and should not invite to speak. It is reasonable that society create a "litmus test" for people and ideas not condoned by society in general, or Christian Churches in particular.
America needs to know the true beliefs of all public servants and of the people who work in the media who have direct access to those in the audience of television and radio, as well as forms of print, internet delivery and such.
Those of us who are against the abomination of homosexual behavior or same sex marriages in particular should be able to deter the promulgation of these ideas by any speaker, including a sitting President. Right is just that, and wrong is just that as well.
We Americans do indeed have now -- as we always have -- a responsibility to protect the purity of our society, the sanctity of marriage, the abomination of same sex relationships, and lest we forget, we must resist the publishing and distribution of any form of sexually explicit information.
Senator Joseph McCarthy should have been given a medal for his opposition to the establishment of a Communist threat in our country. McCarthy's pursuit of communists was at the time, a good thing for America.
Fifty years later Americans of influence must step forward to fight the Devil's work as he promotes the horrors of abortion, stem cell research, same sex relationships, flag burning, as well as sexual promiscuity. We must also oppose with dedication the use by anyone who uses the internet to promulgate sexually explicit material.
Bishop Curran should be awarded the first annual Joseph McCarthy medal for standing up to Notre Dame in order to prevent President Obama from giving the Commencement address unless he renounced his positions supporting both stem cell research and abortion.
My position is that we must organize our media to ensure that they do not continue opposing those long standing American traditions of war, torture, policies to protect the sanctity of soon to be discarded embryos, cancel the right to choose, and reinstate prayer in schools etc.
OK, OK, enough already!
However a more enlightened Alan Keyes said: "It is not consistent with God's love to honor those who have rejected that great gift of love in principle." I have never been informed by God about anything.
I wonder what God would suggest to Keyes if former President Bush was selected to speak next year at the Notre Dame commencement? We all are to wonder why Notre Dame chose President Obama to speak and has yet to invite that great god fearing American, Rush Limbaugh.
Let's face it, all Bush did was to start two unending wars, torture, violate the constitution from time to time, as well as a few other very minor transgressions.
Please do not ever tell me that we have our national priorities confused.
Bishop Curran is actually my old air force buddy whom I have not seen in many years. Frank Curran is not a bishop. While fighting the Korean War at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville Illinois, Frank, a Catholic, Richard Carlton Miller, a Protestant, and this Jew demonstrated that after all of the religious stuff was discounted, we could love and support each other as friends.
Oppose abortion and stem cell research? Then vote against anyone who supports these things.
However!
Never deny anyone the right to speak about these issues.