“I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words.”
by Ducky Paredes
The United States is different from us in the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos are Catholics. In the U.S., Catholics are in the minority and is only about 25% of the populations. Still, although half of the population are Protestants, these are divided among many denominations which makes Catholics the largest denomination.
The Catholic Church has been on the forefront of the anti-abortion campaign in the United States. Thus, when Notre Dame University, a Jesuit-run Catholic school invited President Barack Obama to be its commencement speaker and to accepts an honorary degree from the most prestigious Catholic educational institute in the U.S.A., many Catholics disagreed with the decision.
But the speech itself drew mostly cheers, applause and standing ovations.
Here is a report from Reuters: “Interrupted at times by hecklers, Obama said he recognized the strong emotions stirred up by the abortion debate but he urged the two sides to try to find common ground, such as preventing unintended pregnancies.
“’I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away,’ Obama said. ‘Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.’
“His appearance was mostly warmly welcomed by the crowd, which gave him several standing ovations.
“But at a few points during the speech, he was interrupted by hecklers, including one who shouted, ‘Abortion is murder.’ That heckler was booed by the audience.
“Some graduates displayed a print of a cross symbol and two baby feet on their caps while others wore caps that said ‘Viva Obama.’
“Outside the commencement, hundreds of protesters gathered and carried signs that said ‘Notre Dame supports violence’ and ‘Thou shall not kill.’
“As Obama spoke, protesters chanted outside the arena entrance: ‘One, two, three, four. Throw Obama out the door.’
“At least 22 protesters were arrested after they walked past a piece of yellow police tape they had been told not to cross, according to police.”
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President Obama told the graduates that they must find a way to “reconcile our ever-shrinking world with its ever-growing diversity - diversity of thought, of culture, and of belief.”
“For the major threats we face in the 21st century - whether it’s global recession or violent extremism; the spread of nuclear weapons or pandemic disease - do not discriminate. They do not recognize borders. They do not see color. They do not target specific ethnic groups.
“Moreover, no one person, or religion, or nation can meet these challenges alone. Our very survival has never required greater cooperation and understanding among all people from all places than at this moment in history.
“Part of the problem, of course, lies in the imperfections of man - our selfishness, our pride, our stubbornness, our acquisitiveness, our insecurities, our egos; all the cruelties large and small that those of us in the Christian tradition understand to be rooted in original sin. …And so, for all our technology and scientific advances, we see around the globe violence and want and strife that would seem sadly familiar to those in ancient times.”
He went on to ask, “how do we work through these conflicts?” “How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?”
“Nowhere do these questions come up more powerfully than on the issue of abortion.”
Obama then talked about a letter received from a Christian, pro-life doctor who was bothered by a phrase on Obama’s campaign site. It said that Obama would fight “right-wing ideologues who want to take a way a woman’s right to choose.” The doctor said that he assumed Obama was reasonable, but that if he “truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable.”
The doctor wrote: “ I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words.”
“Fair-minded words,” Obama repeated.
The President changed the words on his website and prayed that he might “extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me. Because when we do that - when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do - that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.”
Obama then urged the graduates to seek to reduce the number of abortions “by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.”
He continued: “Understand - I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it - indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory - the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.”
At the time that Obama was a community organizer in Chicago, he had the opportunity to hear Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Archbishop of Chicago. Obama said, “I can still remember him speaking at one of the first organizing meetings I attended on the South Side. He stood as both a lighthouse and a crossroads - unafraid to speak his mind on moral issues ranging from poverty, AIDS, and abortion to the death penalty and nuclear war. And yet, he was congenial and gentle in his persuasion, always trying to bring people together; always trying to find common ground. Just before he died, a reporter asked Cardinal Bernardin about this approach to his ministry. And he said, ‘You can’t really get on with preaching the Gospel until you’ve touched minds and hearts’.”
Added Obama: “My heart and mind were touched by the words and deeds of the men and women I worked alongside with in Chicago. And I’d like to think that we touched the hearts and minds of the neighborhood families whose lives we helped change. For this, I believe, is our highest calling.”
The President then made a call to love. He said, “for if there is one law that we can be most certain of, it is the law that binds people of all faiths and no faith together. It is no coincidence that it exists in Christianity and Judaism; in Islam and Hinduism; in Buddhism and humanism. It is, of course, the Golden Rule - the call to treat one another as we wish to be treated. The call to love. To serve. To do what we can to make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share the same brief moment on this Earth.”
He continued, “I will not pretend that the challenges we face will be easy, or that the answers will come quickly, or that all our differences and divisions will fade happily away. Life is not that simple. It never has been.”
How I wish that in our own internal disagreements on population control, we could have an agreement to use “fair-minded words” instead of speaking to one another as if we were Taliban!
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hvp 05.25.09)
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