William M. Daley, co-chairman of Obama's presidential campaign, takes a stand against Cardinal Francis George of Notre Dame University. The Cardinal disagreed with an invitation to the president to be the commencement speaker, just because Obama's views on abortion and stem-cell research differ from many Catholics. I'm inclined to agree with Daley's thought that all students should be exposed to people of different viewpoints and ideas, as opposed to just one singular point of view. It is only through this exposure that anyone may grow and learn as a human being.
Daley also believes that the United States is a nation where people of many religious persuasions and cultural backgrounds live together, and it seems as though the Catholic faith disagrees. This is a fact many would find disturbing, myself included, but Daley presses for the convergence of religions, and the discovery of common ground in all peoples.
"I am confident that the values of compassion, tolerance and forgiveness, which we acquire from our church and great universities like Notre Dame, can help us strengthen our religious faith and love of country. But we must recognize that those who differ with our beliefs can still be good and moral people. That’s the essence of our democracy, and there’s no embarrassment in that."
It is only by accepting each other that we may make any progress, in religion AND politics, and it seems as though the Catholic Church is standing in the way of that progress.
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