AmericanPapist Comments
If you paraphrase you shouldn't use quotes.
Okay, I'll let turabian carry the day. My memory is pretty good, though. And in this case he had my attention. :)
Interesting.
LifeSiteNews's take on the 'cancellation'.
Well, presuming that the University President is being completely honest here, don't you think that CUA might want to tighten up its journalistic standards a bit?
A front page headline based on "extrapolation" of "word-of-mouth?"
If we are training young Catholics to work in the field of journalism, we must do better than that!
Cnytr also has a good account of the events that transpired.
http://cnytr.blogspot.com/2007/0...versity-
of.html
Have you seen blogger Karen Hall there?
I'll be impressed when Fr. O'Connell fires Bill Jonas, director of University Center, Student Programs and Events, who authorized the invitation. As well Victor Nakas, Associate Vice President for Public Affairs, should go because he's defending the invitation by hairsplitting.
I'm not holding my breath.
I just stumbled on this debate. Why was there controversey about John Kerry's being invited or not to CUA?
My guess is his abortion stance. Does this one horse pony trump everything including free speech?
Neil: Considering how seriosly Catholics take abortion, an abortion-supporting Catholic politican being invited to a Catholic university to speak is a very big deal.
Colm: "Considerering how seriously Catholics take debate ..." Actually polls consistently show that Catholics support abortion in about the same numbers as non-Catholics do.
I meant how seriously Catholics take abortion. Sorry.
It's not a free speech issue. No one is silencing John Kerry. He's free to speak his mind on abortion or anything else, and indeed is paid to do so in the US Senate.
But inviting a pro-abortion politician to speak at a Catholic University is, at a minimum, scandalous and undermines Church teaching.
I am convinced Kerry would not have said a word about abortion at Catholic University. Refusing to even invite him says nothing about Kerry's catholicism. It says a great deal about the University's truncated idea of free speech. This idea of Catholics being scandalized is rubbish. Most Catholics are scandalized by the refusal of entrenched authority to permit the free association of ideas.
The Tower is notorious for doing this kind of (crap), that is, printing salacious and sensational (crap) in the "Welcome to CUA" edition. My favorite topics: Round-up of crime stats from the previous year, rehash of last-year's controversies, and a "call for the continuation of the streaking tradition" at the annual "Movies on the Mall" event.
They do this to get parents and students riled up and to get attention for the weekly wiper.
WAC
(Law '04)
Neil,
There is no fee speech question. Only that state is obliged to protect free speech rights.
CUA, as a private institution, is not obliged to provide a forum for anyone to say anything, just as I am not obliged to allow you to come to my house and say anything you want to.
WAC
The analogy between the privacy of my home and the privacy of Catholic University is absurd.
If Catholic University is indeed a private institution, I presume it is not taking a nickel of public money. Highly unlikely.
The suggestion that there is no free speech at a major catholic university is also absurd. If it were true it would mean that CU is not a place for the discussion of ideas but a place where dogma and propaganda reigh supreme.
Neil,
You have to understand, this is not about life or scandal, it is about power. Even the most conservative bishops have no problem with interchanges with politicians who support abortion rights. They talk to them all the time, be it to bring them around on life issues, a zoning variance for a parish, a grant for Catholic Charities, a change in the tax law, or public policy issues regarding marriage, the poor or health care. And these conversations take place at Catholic facilities all the time.
It is just us ignorant lay people who can't have the same dialogue with these politicians because if we heard Senator Kerry speak about Iraq or world hunger our little feeble lay minds would get all confused.
Katherine -
By God, ain't it the truth. It is a real laugher than certain bishops contend that we poor lay people must be protected from scandal, never realizing that the real scandal is male celibate episcopal power trying to clamp down on normal people.
Hope you'll look me up today at neilmckenty.wordpress.com where I have some stuff on church reform.
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