Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Notre Shame

I used to be a big football fan of Notre Dame. I remember spending Saturday afternoons watching the Irish on NBC, wishing I could run on that field some day. I still remember vividly the first time visiting the campus with my friend Brian Boyle and his Dad for the Blue and Gold Game. The Grotto, the Basilica, it was all magical.

Since going up to protest the honoring of President Obama, I've learned more and more about the problems at Notre Dame. Their most recent firing of an employee who voiced their opinion against the honoring of Obama has people talking again.

My brother Tony sent me this blog post that has some awesome research on the history of Notre Dame spitting in the face of the Catholic Church. Click here if you never want to cheer for Notre Dame again.

10 comments:

  1. Very imformative and so sad. Thanks for bring us the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Father John, you should probably mention that there is no reason to believe that Kirk was fired for his opposition to ND honoring Obama...other than pure speculation. You might unintentionally confuse your readers into thinking there is a known link.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think there is a reason to believe Kirk was fired for his opposition...it may not be true, but as the linked post attests, the reason for thinking it may be true is the history of what the University has been doing with regards to these kinds of issues.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Guilty until proven innocent. Seems logical.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Should I wait for a trial on this issue before deciding to not support the University? When can I expect a court date?

    This isn't a court of law, this is a court of common sense. One can be suspicious of Notre Dame's actions given their consistent history in undermining the Church's teaching on life. When that history is coupled with absolutely no substantive contribution by the University (some of the Holy Cross priests and professors certainly have fought for the Church) to the cause of life, we have every right to be suspicious.

    Flower said there is no reason to suspect ND, but I disagree and say there is a reason.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I said that any suspicion was "pure speculation"

    speculation: a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence

    I just want your readers to be aware of what is fact and what is not.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I suspect that Father John is awesome. Fact: ND has a PROVEN track record of going against the Church. There is no speculation about that. Myopia: (definition) - a visual defect in which distant objects become blurred because the focus is on objects that are close to the eye. ND and its supporters are too affixed on the money that needs to come thru its doors and the supposed "honor" of their beloved football team, rather than standing up for what is right.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tony, I suspect that Father John is awesome too :)

    I was not trying to defend ND. While it is quite possible that Kirk was fired because of his opposition to Obama's honoring, it is also quite possible that he was fired for reasons we know nothing about. I was worried that some of Fr. John's reader might not be familiar with the story and assume that Fr. John's (my words) speculation was indeed known fact.

    Just because "ND has a PROVEN track record" doesn't mean they are guilty this time.

    ReplyDelete
  9. ND has certainly done nothing to deflect the accusations that Kirk's firing was related to his protests. They've had nothing but praise for Kirk's years of service and job performance. The only reason they give is... "restructuring." Please. Is there really a single reason to believe the firing was unrelated?

    Check out this take from someone at ND close to the situation: http://ndcec.blogspot.com/2010/08/david-solomon-weighs-in-on-dismissal-of.html

    ReplyDelete