From left to right: Fr John Jenkins, President Obama and some other awful abortion supporter at a Catholic University in the US
This, by the way, is a handshake demonstrating mutual respect, integrity and agreement. Now, look at the handshake in the picture above between Obama and Jenkins. Hmm...Have you noticed which one hand is firmly in control and which one is rather limp and feeble? Yep, Jenkins is firmly in the grip of Obama, there is no doubt about that.
The Notre Dame fiasco is over. But not quite...The repercussions will be felt far and wide across Catholic America, in the Church and beyond. The mainstream media reported that Obama was received with a standing ovation by Catholic university students and of course, Fr John Jenkins, who will not only have to answer to God for his actions, but surely to Rome also. Why is it that this picture looks less like a university ceremony and more like a masonic lodge meeting? There is something about this picture that makes it appear as if all three are just glad to be making a mockery of the Catholic Faith, glad it is being undermined and overwhelmed with joy that the Emperor has new clothes and an honorary degree in his hand. What was the degree in? Eugenics?
The Guardian, in a surprisingly balanced article reported that, 'The president was drawn reluctantly into a confrontation with anti-abortion activists who opposed his end-of-term visit.' [End of term, late term, early term, mid-term...We know that Obama doesn't mind when the visit to the abortion clinic takes place...]
The Times reported the event as such,
'President Obama made a controversial appearance at America’s foremost Catholic university today, where angry protesters [angry yes, but peaceful, don't forget] were arrested as they demonstrated against his support of abortion rights. [Interesting language...Why not leave it at '...his support of abortion.' I'm becoming more and more convinced you can endorse any evil within the language of rights...'I haven't eaten all day and my flatmate looks tasty. Why can't I eat her? It's my right! There's no food in! What am I meant to do? Starve!']Yep...as you can guess, The Times did not want to put the video of Fr Norman Weslin being taken away by the authorities. If you think I've been selective in my reporting of the event, it is only to combat the Obama-mad media. The Fourth Estate is the last bastion of freedom. If that goes, frankly, we all go.
Before he delivered the address for graduating students at least 25 people were arrested for trespass [please, tell us more and tell us what they said. Hang on, wasn't an elderly Catholic priest arrested too? And wasn't he pulled to the ground and handcuffed and quite eerily labelled by the Police, even though he didn't struggle in the slightest, while singing to the Blessed Virgin? Oh, I see, you'd rather not report that. Understood!], while an aircraft flew overhead pulling an anti-abortion banner. Graphic images [or just the reality?] of aborted foetuses were paraded on roads near the campus in South Bend.
Despite the controversy, Mr Obama was given a lengthy standing ovation before he spoke [So all is well that ends well...Isn't he a brave soldier? Thank God the students recognised his virtue and greatness!] “I want to thank you for this honorary degree. ["I'm the President. I don't really give a damn about this degree, but thanks for helping me undermine the opposition!"] I know it has not been without controversy,” he said. “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. [Strange choice of words, given that the people who don't think like he does were largely arrested and thrown into jail for the night.]
"That’s when we begin to say, ‘Maybe we won’t agree on abortion but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions.’ [Gosh, how profound. Please elaborate, Barry, on the moral and spiritual dimensions, on how women are damaged psychologically by abortion and the morality of infanticide. No? You don't want to? Okay then, carry on...]
“So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by [making abortion widely available only to be funded by you, the US taxpayer] reducing unintended pregnancies [involving contraception and, err, abortion...Isn't abortion promoted by Obama in the event of an unintended pregnancy], and making adoption more available, and [last and clearly least favourite option] providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honour the conscience of those who disagree with abortion ["Aren't I magnanimous and good?"], and . . . make sure that all of our healthcare policies are grounded in clear ethics [they don't seem that crystal clear, Barry!] and sound science [using human embryos for science/medicine and then destroying them etc], as well as respect for the equality of women." [What's that? All women are equal? Or women are equal to men? Oh, I see, the right for a woman to choose abortion is the same as or more important than the right of a child to live. Yes...If there were any doubts as to the reason why peaceful protests were mounted outside Notre Dame, there it is! There are his crystal clear ethics in which policy is firmly grounded...]
Anyway, back to that handshake and the 'Je t'aime' grin on Fr Jenkins face. Do you think that abortion law change might not be the only Obama policy Jenkins of which Jenkins is a fan?
More Americans now describe themselves as pro-life than as pro-choice, for the first time since the question started to be asked by pollsters. Watch out for the dropping of that question, so that the answer cannot be given. But for now, savour this moment.
ReplyDeleteSavour this moment. And savour its context: the beginning of at least the forty-year dominance of the historic party of Catholics, white Evangelicals and the black church, to which the first two are returning in droves, having seen through the party that courted them by pretending to oppose abortion but which did absolutely nothing about it while oppressing the poor and waging wars that pointlessly harvested the young men of the Catholic, the white Evangelical and the black churches.
These are the people thanks to whom Barack Obama is President Obama. The people who reaffirmed traditional marriage in California and Florida, and who declined to liberalise gambling in Ohio or Missouri, on the same day that they voted for him, in all but California’s case decisively.
There is no realistic doubt that he won Missouri. And he certainly cannot win in 2012 unless he carries there, Ohio, Florida, and indeed California, centre of moral and social conservatism that it clearly is, as Arnold “Yes We Cannabis” Schwarzenegger should bear in mind. The Freedom of Choice Act is “not a high priority”. The Employee Free Choice Act is. The Pregnant Women Support Act, a Democratic initiative as such things always are, should be. And President Obama’s Commencement Address at Notre Dame has as good as said that it will be.
Democratic America still needs a proper Republican Party, not least to make the case for a strong defence capability used sparingly because used strictly for its proper, defensive purpose. But there is no sign of the re-emergence of any such party, partly because the old broadly or very conservative lay base of the old mainline Protestant churches is in such decline. So registered Republicans are down to a mere fifth of the electorate.
And America, which never had an avowedly pro-life majority under the Republicans, now has an avowedly pro-life majority under the Democrats.