COMMENTARY

What would Jesus do? It's a question many Christians often ask in situations from the mundane to the extraordinarily serious. Still others wear the question on their wrist -- WWJD bracelets are a fashion statement in some quarters, or at least they were a few years back. Why am I writing about a subject some journalists fear to broach? The simple answer is I'm intrigued by the controversy that has arisen over Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama to be the school's commencement speaker, his acceptance and the fire storm that has followed.

What would Jesus do, or more importantly, how would he want his followers to behave in this situation? I'm not sure what Jesus would do with this hot potato, but I think he might be a bit disappointed in how some of his followers are behaving. Their attitude toward someone with whom they sharply disagree has been anything but Christ-like. See Matthew 5:43-44, which basically says one should love his enemies and even "pray for those who persecute you." No one's persecuting anyone in this situation, but if Jesus commands you to "love" your enemies, doesn't that mean you also at the very least have an obligation to "tolerate" a speech by someone who holds a different viewpoint on an issue a lot of people can't agree on?

This controversy is also fascinating from a church-state perspective. Should a religious school even ask the secular leader of a country to address its students? Should said leader accept the invitation? President Obama isn't the first President to speak at Notre Dame (he's the sixth), but I can't recall a controversy of this magnitude (at least not recently) involving Presidential speakers at Notre Dame. Is it only because Mr. Obama is pro-choice, something that is an anathema to the Catholic church? And, why is this issue so controversial now, since former President Jimmy Carter, who supported abortion rights, delivered the 1977 commencement address at Notre Dame and was awarded an honorary degree as President Obama will be on Sunday? So, there is precedent for not only a pro-choice President delivering Notre Dame's commencement but also receiving an honorary degree. Former President Gerald Ford, who also supported abortion rights, received an honorary degree from Notre Dame but not during a commencement.

Other Presidents have also had positions or had circumstances in their lives that were in conflict with the Church's views. President George W. Bush spoke at Notre Dame in 2001 in spite of the fact he vigorously supported the death penalty, something the late Pope John Paul II strongly opposed. There wasn't much of an outcry at Notre Dame or by U.S. Bishops about President Bush's appearance. Pope John Paul II also vehemently opposed the Iraq War in 2003 as he had the first Gulf War in 1991, but the first President Bush spoke at Notre Dame in 1992. Again, no uproar akin to what's on display in South Bend right now.

The late President Reagan spoke there in 1981. He supported the death penalty and was divorced and remarried, something the Catholic church definitely frowns upon. If I'm not mistaken, divorced Catholics are denied the sacraments unless their marriage is annulled. Some might say, President Reagan wasn't Catholic, so the divorce and remarriage rule didn't apply to him. President Obama is Christian but not Catholic. Why then, is President Obama being held subject to the Church's teaching on abortion? Dozens of U.S. Bishops have said he shouldn't be speaking because of his pro-choice, pro-stem cell research views which run counter to Catholic teaching.

What Presidents Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 have in common that President Obama doesn't share is their stance firmly against abortion, which begs the really big question: Is abortion the only issue that really matters to the Catholic church? Are those who differ with it on other issues (war, the death penalty, and divorce to name just three) acceptable so long as they hold the right view on abortion? That's a question for which I have no answer, but it's certainly one that should be debated. However, here is a point to ponder.

The Bible doesn't distinguish between sins. There aren't "big" sins and "little" sins that are more acceptable than others, even though many who are religious like to categorize sins in that way. If the Catholic church has a problem with a President who is pro-choice speaking at Notre Dame, it should also have had a problem with a President who was divorced and remarried or supported the death penalty, even if that President was pro-life since these are all issues the Catholic church specifically teaches against (i.e., sins) in addition to abortion. To quote my parents who are devout Christians, "God is no respecter a person." For the Catholic church to be so in terms of who is acceptable as a speaker at Notre Dame and who is not, opens it to charges of hypocrisy. And, Jesus has a whole lot to say about hypocrites in Matthew 23:23-28 and Luke 12:1.