The pro-abortion president spoke at one of America's leading Catholic universities yesterday. Don't hold your breath for one of America's leading secular universities to return the favor by hosting a prominent pro-lifer on commencement day. Tolerance just doesn't work that way from the campus "tolerance" crowd. Just ask their patron saint, Herbert Marcuse, who wrote in "Repressive Tolerance": "Liberating tolerance, then, would mean intolerance against movements from the Right and toleration of movements from the Left."

Not being Catholic I really don't have a horse in this particular race, but I would think that for Notre Dame to be able to make any believable claim to it's religous beliefs it shouldn't have invited Obama to speak at the school in the capacity that he did.

If he had been speaking in a debate about abortion that would be one thing,but to honor someone whom they believe supports the killing of children?

Does keeping a tradition of having new presidents be commencement speakers somehow make the killing of innocents less important than the tradition?

Maybe Notre Dame's religious posturing is just that, posturing. Or purhaps they simply found a new diety to worship.

Why any surprise at these things? The university's have about as much independence of thought as a doorknob. They are lockstep on these things. Obama's a rockstar. Our culture worships rockstars. Values don't matter on these issues of speakers- unless your a conservative. American life (a large proportion of it) has become a popularity contest.

When Catholic institutions are willing to throw religious principle and dogma out the window and start honoring people solely based on their power and rock star status, those institutions fail to be as advertised.

For Catholics who are not of the cafeteria variety this is disheartening and for all intents and purposes, progressives in the Catholic Church are turning it into the Episcopal Church. (Sort of reminds me of how the GOP has morphed).

No reports yet if The One, as a condition of his eloquence, made it mandatory to cover up anything Jesus. But I’m sure while they were bowing; the good clerics of Notre Dame went out of their way to accommodate in order to bask in the light of the new Messiah.

ASDF, not sure if you're Catholic or not, but there are some very fundamental reasons why the Catholic Church cannot become the craziness that is the Episcopal church -- but I acknowledge your concern.

I actually agree with the President that we should have a vigorous debate on abortion. To quote him: "As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate?"

Well, Mr. President, one way is to put the damn thing to a vote. The issue should be put to each state, with each man able to vote his conscience. The immediate issue for each of us in this country should not be about whether abortion is right or wrong. Rather it should be this: Why have none of us ever once cast a vote on what is surely the most contentious issue of our time?

No one is PRO-Abortion... get over yourselves with your spohist logic and imaginary moral high ground. Go kill some other living people with your self rightousness that you hold so dearly. Want to save lives, spay and neuter... like bob barker says

Pops: Wow, what an ugly attitude. You think we should spay and neuter people? Odd, you say we antiaborts are killing "living people." I guess you mean to imply that abortion kills, but not the living? And why are you not pro-abortion? Perhaps because it kills the non-living? I think you need to think a little more.

Obviously there are people who are "pro-abortion," just like there are people who are pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-amputation, etc.: in given situations, lots of people choose these options over others. You obviously think abortion is an option, the optimal outcome, to be opted for ("pro-") over other options sometimes.

Stop playing with words and at least face your own beliefs square in the face: abortion kills (the living), and you're okay with that. Just admit it.

I am a Catholic and am a practicing one. I just don’t stand around trying to teach or convert people. My choices with regard to being a Catholic work for me and I don’t often debate dogma because: believing IS, what it is. So my thoughts are that rules is rules and without them being hard and fast, we are just an amorphous cult.

My comments regarding the Episcopalians relates to the much more liberal tenets of that Church however close we Catholics may be. In fact, I had a friend years ago who was an Episcopal priest and I sat in on many a service. But he and his congregation epitomized the progressive nature of that group and there are a few of their (particularly related to abortion) positions that I just couldn’t cotton to. I personally find nothing wrong with that; live and let live and all that. But the differences need to mean something and without them, we Catholics should just elect the next female gay Pope and get on with it.

Being a Catholic isn’t for everybody and nor should it be. That’s why in the name of some half-a$$ed attempt to be progressive, it pains me to watch what a Catholic entity like Notre Dame has done. They are obviously dazzled by the Obamabull$hit and are compromising themselves.

I do happen to agree that abortion is wrong. Contrary to our phony baloney President, I don’t believe there is anything to debate (as if he does?) just remembering that that exercise for an ideologue like Obama, begins and ends with the belief that he is right and we all should just fall in line with the inevitability of his ancient wisdom.

And of course that wisdom is based on his belief that women or girls (using his daughters as examples) should not be punished with a baby.

"Being a Catholic isn't for everybody and nor should it be."

Catholicism is either the fullest expression of the true religion or it's not. If it is (as I and, I'm assuming, you believe), then it is for everyone and it should be.

xantippe, when referring to people, the idea you are referring to is castration. I meant with animals, like dogs and cats, like bob barker implied.

Go kill other living people refers to the typical 'pro-life' (god I hate that phrase) stance of pro-death penalty and pro-war, where it is ok to kill some people, but not others, but you still hold the self-righteous attitude of one is better than the other, failing to recognize that killing is killing.

Pops, of course killing is killing. The question is, which killings are murder? Are you a pacifist? Besides, "changing the subject" is a fallacy (sophism) in logic: the question is, does procured abortion end the lives of human beings? Because if you say "yes," and you are morally serious, you will have some difficultly being pro-abort.

So spaying and neutrering animals has WHAT to do with saving the lives of murdered unborn humans?

Have you ever seen the movie Troll? It's awesome.