Posted by
Zentrist on Monday, May 25, 2009 9:41:36 PM
I am personally opposed to abortion, in most cases, due to several decisive influences in my spiritual journey. My wife and I argue over the exceptions that I would allow. I know that my position is not orthodox, but I've not yet been given the grace of believing "absolutes" of this nature or any nature. Paul Tillich's great little book, "The Dynamics of Faith," has corrupted me, I guess. In this book, the great theologian sings the praises of doubt. Doubts are part of the fabric of faith. We know that even Mother Theresa appeared to have some doubts--at least about whether she was really experiencing the "joy" of Christ on a daily, consistent basis. But I'm not trying to use this saint to help support an argument for exeptions to absolute moral laws. For her, there could could be no exceptions. And she may have been right. My wife is probably right, as well.
The most impressive thing about President Obama's speech was the story he shared of a citizen, a pro-life person, who wrote Obama about the way words were used on the candidate's web site (or was it the White House web site?). The speech is worth reading and re-reading. Obama shares that the man made a good point. The point had to do with the Obama-web-site. "Right wing ideologues" was the offensive phrase--and we all know that for this president, words matter; we know this because, from time to time, he reminds us--just in case we forget. For a campaign's web site, let alone a White House web site, to refer to the pro-life principle as a "right wing ideology" is clearly offensive--even to me. (But only very slightly offensive, because I don't get offended overly easily.)
President Obama took the matter to heart. It was touching, to me, just how much he took the matter to heart. And I believe our President. I believe he was sincere. He wound up agreeing with the writer's position that we ought to at least respect each other to the extent that we characterize each other's opinions in a true, not a false and distorting way. So, Obama instructed the web masters to change the wording in such a way as to respect the fact that pro-lifers are not "right wing ideologues," but people who care about an important moral issue. I've not personally verified any of this, but the message was classic Obama, and it was breathtaking for its originality. Can you imagine Bush, or even Clinton, sharing such a letter? Sharing it with the intention of demonstrating a certain humility? Modeling a real and sincere humility? A consistent pattern emerges here: From the Convention Speech in which he made a name for himself (back in 2004) to this Notre Dame speech...Barack Obama has shown that he practices what he preaches. The result, at least at this great university, Notre Dame (which means, Our Lady), was an overwhelmingly positve and glowing reception.
"When I am weak, then I am strong," said Saint Paul. President Obama seems to have taken these words of the New Testament to heart.