On the < < Time to Opine > > blog, manager Deirdre Reilly (also my first-born child) wrote on April 3:
"In Christian news this week, many are protesting President Obama's scheduled visit to Notre Dame University on the grounds that his policies are so at odds with the Catholic world view and moral imperatives re: abortion, stem cell research, etc. What do you think? Give us a shout and let us know by posting your comment. Should ND retract their invitation?"
I saw the post and mentioned it to Deirdre.
She said, "Go ahead, Mom. You should blog. I think people will like the mother-daughter dialog."
Well, those are not her exact words. We were talking by phone. But those words are close. So, I decided to comment on this important matter, although I am not Catholic, but Deirdre is, as she said on her post.
First, my first blog comment:
"Hi, Honey (this is mom),
My view on this has changed. If ND issued the invitation to the president, then I think they should keep it. Students and faculty may protest or might even try to start a meaningful dialog with him, hoping to open his eyes to what abortion is, beyond what he thinks it is. This is what I pray for." ( April 04, 2009 5:14 AM)
Note: My original view had been that the president should be uninvited.
Second, my next, change-of-mind blog comment, about 3 hours later:
"Deirdre, your dad and I talked about this over breakfast. He heard that Notre Dame plans to give an honorary award to the president when he speaks. This seems to endorse his views on abortion, including no effort to save infants that survive abortion. I think this goes way too far. I wonder if anyone else has heard about this. I'd be interested to know."
Third, my third blog comment IF I would post it:
"Hi, Deirdre, This new experience with blogging has shown me what I'm saying, and I am not pleased with it. As a non-Catholic, my view is that no church-sponsored institution should invite, except for debate or dialog, someone opposed to their basic moral and ethical principles on any issue. In this case, which is to speak at the Commencement ceremonies, then I think they should have chosen someone else.
"However, they made the mistake. Should they uninvite the president?
"What seems to be happening at Notre Dame is not without precedent. For example, my alma mater, a Baptist school, is now very secular. They have gone even further, having cut themselves off from Baptist affiliation. I know that many Baptists of earlier and harder times sacrificed (costly sacrifice!) to help support the school, Furman, in its earliest years. Their labors now seem to go unappreciated and main unacknowledged.
"The same happened, much earlier, at Harvard, Princeton, Stetson, Wake Forest, and many other colleges and universities. Now such universities primarily invite speakers that are popular or famous, whether open to the school's beliefs or not. In fact, the schools have rejected the attachments they once had to spiritual beliefs as their founding institutional priorities. A mistake, in my view.
"My gut tells me that to hedge on this matter of whom to invite is to avoid taking a stand. A stand does not have to be clear to anyone but the one taking it. That's my final comment."
Rationale for this final blog post, IF it happens ever: Commencements exist to take note of a big achievement and to inspire students regarding their successful completion at a school whose policies, we assume, are in basic agreement with their beliefs.
Commencements also aim to reflect an institution's and a society's hopes. They hope that students will have significant, positive, and worthy influences on society.
I will now commence an evaluation of whether or not I will take the plunge and add my final comments to the blog question at hand.
Fourth, why some people do not add that final comment: They do not want to overload and embarrass a new blog or themselves! Will the novice blogger pull in the belt, take a deep breath, and take the plunge to add the final comment?
I am thinking, "Maybe I should add another comment. I have more to say about this."
Fifth, this experience with a blog and blog initiator very dear to my heart has so far taught me three important things regarding blogging:
(1) Let one's view sit for a while; at the same time, go to #2, next;
(2) Get more information about the issue under comment; get as many key facts as possible, and see if they change your view;
(3) Remember basic grammar rules, like the one that cautions about using words like "it" and "this" on their own in sentences. Will the reader really know what "it" or "this" refers to?
Both of my comments on the blog in question showed that I did not have all the relevant information on the issue. Now that I realize more about the issue, my view changes even more. The U. S. president's invitation to speak at Notre Dame was for Commencement. I had not known that. Now, I feel differently about the invitation, since it does not focus on debate or dialog.
Finally, I did not follow item (3) above. I included a vague modifier (" this"), in my second blog comment: "I think this goes way too far. I wonder if anyone else has heard about this. I'd be interested to know."
What does " this" refer to, abortion issues or the invitation? It, or rather, this refers to the invitation and not to the president's or my views and beliefs about abortion.
" This" has nothing to do personally with the invitee, whether the president or anyone else. The matter of inviting someone whose beliefs are foundationally different from an institution's (Notre Dame) benefactor's (Catholic Church) basic moral teachings and beliefs does not fit an occasion like a commencement.
P. S. Whew! Dear reader, you may already have learned that blogging is not for the faint-hearted if the aim is to comment clearly and accurately. Blogging, I am learning, is not what I thought; it is not always simple, easy, down-time work! Some of us complicate the privilege. Think about it! But I think it another useful way to communicate.
Source: The blog manager's topic, in this case, was April 3, "First: TGIF."; my dilemma evolved through my response to the issue in the final paragraph.
Note: T his novice blogger, a.k.a. Jean Purcell, is proud of Deirdre Reilly and her sister, Carole Purcell.
Jean Purcell is a book publisher and writer. Her first book was Not All Roads Lead Home under her pen name, Jane Bullard. Her web site is http://www.opinebooks.com and her Writing and Publishing Nonfiction Books blog is at http://janebullard.blogspot.com/ Sign up for the free Opinari Quarterly for Christian Writers, Publishing Professionals, Book Lovers, and Reviewers on her web site.
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