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Listen Up!
Author: Raine
Date: 05/18/2009 12:41:10
Yesterday, I watched the graduation of Notre Dame University. I watched it online -- I filtered out the media, so I could make up my own mind. I found myself very inspired, and quite pleased again. I needed that after the past few days here in America.
The President gave a wonderful commencement speech, that was - of course - not without protest or controversy. The debate at hand was abortion. What was interesting was who protested at this celebration of college graduates. I am not talking about the 25 or so people who were arrested for trespassing on campus ground before the speech. I am talking about the people inside:
Yup, one man who doesn't even look like he was there for college, OR to celebrate the graduation. Just an old white guy who never had an abortion, and probably never had to be worried about an unwanted pregnancy. The crowd responded to the protester in an interesting way.
It is important to note that while Notre Dame is a Catholic university -- not all of its students are Catholic. Not all are pro-life (anti-choice). Not all are conservative; not all are anti-science.
The Far Right tried to make this a fight. They tried to make this a controversy. They tried to make this a new battle regarding the abortion debate... they failed. The leader of America and the leader of the University itself came together and said explicitly that - despite differences of opinion - we the citizens of this Nation, must come together and communicate.
How can you protest a man who uses words like "open hearts," "open minds," "fair-minded words" and a search for "common ground." You can, if you choose not to listen to what he says and believe what you are told to believe. And please: don't think that I am saying you shouldn't protest a President or question what they do. I believe that protesting is one of the greatest tools we have as citizens. I just want to know exactly what I am protesting. I listen, I read and I research.
The media doesn't really want us to listen, read or research. They tell us what they want, we become despaired or angry and frustrated - I do it all the time. I am sure I will tonight while watching KO or Dr. Maddow- whom I love. I don't hate media - I love it, actually. I just watch it with a jaded eye.
Yesterday, we heard an impassioned plea for people to come together in a spirit of listening, doing and acting. You can read it all here. He isn't perfect. I never thought he would be, but I will take him as Our President over any other Mofo in the room -- flaws and all.
Hang in there- It is going to take a while, but things WILL get better.
:peace: and
Raine
The President gave a wonderful commencement speech, that was - of course - not without protest or controversy. The debate at hand was abortion. What was interesting was who protested at this celebration of college graduates. I am not talking about the 25 or so people who were arrested for trespassing on campus ground before the speech. I am talking about the people inside:
Yup, one man who doesn't even look like he was there for college, OR to celebrate the graduation. Just an old white guy who never had an abortion, and probably never had to be worried about an unwanted pregnancy. The crowd responded to the protester in an interesting way.
Obama entered the arena to thunderous applause and a standing ovation from many in the crowd of 12,000. But as the president began his commencement address, at least three protesters interrupted it. One yelled, "Stop killing our children."
The graduates responded by chanting "Yes we can," the slogan that became synonymous with Obama's presidential campaign. Obama seem unfazed, saying Americans must be able to deal with things that make them "uncomfortable."
The Far Right tried to make this a fight. They tried to make this a controversy. They tried to make this a new battle regarding the abortion debate... they failed. The leader of America and the leader of the University itself came together and said explicitly that - despite differences of opinion - we the citizens of this Nation, must come together and communicate.
How can you protest a man who uses words like "open hearts," "open minds," "fair-minded words" and a search for "common ground." You can, if you choose not to listen to what he says and believe what you are told to believe. And please: don't think that I am saying you shouldn't protest a President or question what they do. I believe that protesting is one of the greatest tools we have as citizens. I just want to know exactly what I am protesting. I listen, I read and I research.
The media doesn't really want us to listen, read or research. They tell us what they want, we become despaired or angry and frustrated - I do it all the time. I am sure I will tonight while watching KO or Dr. Maddow- whom I love. I don't hate media - I love it, actually. I just watch it with a jaded eye.
Yesterday, we heard an impassioned plea for people to come together in a spirit of listening, doing and acting.
Moreover, no one person, or religion, or nation can meet these challenges alone. Our very survival has never required greater cooperation and understanding among all people from all places than at this moment in history.
Unfortunately, finding that common ground - recognizing that our fates are tied up, as Dr. King said, in a "single garment of destiny" - is not easy. Part of the problem, of course, lies in the imperfections of man - our selfishness, our pride, our stubbornness, our acquisitiveness, our insecurities, our egos; all the cruelties large and small that those of us in the Christian tradition understand to be rooted in original sin. We too often seek advantage over others. We cling to outworn prejudice and fear those who are unfamiliar. Too many of us view life only through the lens of immediate self-interest and crass materialism; in which the world is necessarily a zero-sum game. The strong too often dominate the weak, and too many of those with wealth and with power find all manner of justification for their own privilege in the face of poverty and injustice. And so, for all our technology and scientific advances, we see around the globe violence and want and strife that would seem sadly familiar to those in ancient times.
We know these things; and hopefully one of the benefits of the wonderful education you have received is that you have had time to consider these wrongs in the world, and grown determined, each in your own way, to right them. And yet, one of the vexing things for those of us interested in promoting greater understanding and cooperation among people is the discovery that even bringing together persons of good will, men and women of principle and purpose, can be difficult.
Hang in there- It is going to take a while, but things WILL get better.
:peace: and
Raine
