President Obama at the University of Notre Dame

Although I have tried to avoid it, I can no longer ignore the ruckus the conservatives (Catholics and others) are fomenting over the fact that Notre Dame University invited the President of the United States to deliver the commencement speech at the spring graduation ceremony. Their argument, repeated ad naseam and repeated daily by the press,  is that since the President is in favor of women's choice, a Catholic University should not invite him to be their commencement speaker.

Again, they wish to define the world in terms of one issue--abortion. They do not care that the President's position on so many other issues is the same as the Church's.

But the real problem posed by this campaign to embarrass the University and the President is this: Notre Dame invited both Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush to give commencement addresses, and the conservative Catholics did not object, even though both supported the death penalty, a position contrary to that of Catholicism.  

One has to ask, why all the uproar now? There can be only two answers. One--it's all political. Reagan and Bush were Republicans; Obama is a Democrat. So, it's not about Catholic principle and teachings; it's about politics. Two--it's about race. Reagan and Bush were white; Obama is black. If this is the case, which I hope it is not; it's not about Catholic beliefs, it's about the color of one's skin--shades of the Republican "Southern Strategy."

The hope is that the real conservatives, Catholics, and Republicans will not allow themselves to be used or associated with the ugly and violent activities that some of their brethern are threatening.