Notre Dame to be given 'Collaborator' status?
Abortion opponents say rescind Obama invitation or else
A pro-life group warns it may issue the University of Notre Dame its "Collaborators" designation, reserved for the worst offenders in the war over abortion, because of the school's invitation to President Obama to speak at commencement.
In a letter today to university officials, Leslie Hanks, chief of the Collaborators Project, wrote:
Because Notre Dame has extended the extraordinary honor of speaking at one of America's foremost Catholic colleges to one with such cavalier disregard for the sanctity of life, social tension is increasing exponentially in your community.
Collaborators Project was founded to do precisely that. Our motto is, "No Child Killing with Tranquility."
The Collaborators Project said on its website: "For their plan to honor Barack Obama, the leading pro-abortion advocate in America, the Collaborators Project is considering designating Notre Dame with Permanent Collaborator Status (PCS). If the university does not rescind their Obama invitation to deliver their commencement address on Sunday, May 17, 2009, the CP will designate Notre Dame with PCS.
"This would be only the second time in its history that the Collaborators Project has issued such a designation. If this occurs, the Collaborators Project will ask Indiana and Michigan pro-lifers to add Notre Dame to their ongoing anti-abortion protest itinerary," the group said.
Hanks explained to WND that only once before has the group awarded its Permanent Collaborator Status, to the Weitz Corp., which built Denver's Planned Parenthood megaclinic abortion facility.
"From that founding and the subsequent and ongoing protests of Weitz Corporation executive homes, we are gathering more support from citizens around the country, who still see a moral bright line which should never be crossed," the letter to Notre Dame said.
"Our nation has, sadly, almost forgotten her Declaration of Independence – America's birth certificate," the letter said. "President Obama, incredibly, doesn't seem to be aware of the powerful words proclaiming founding America's reverence for life, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Witness the moral tug-of-war of a college student wrestling with the issue of abortion in the Christian film "Come What May" on DVD from the WND Superstore.
"As public awareness grows about President Obama's invitation to address Notre Dame's upcoming commencement, South Bend, Ind., is increasingly becoming ground zero in the ongoing abortion war, which has led to nearly 50 million innocent lives having been destroyed. … Were he aware, he could not – in good conscience – continue his strong advocacy of killing pre-born babies in their mother's wombs."
Hanks told Notre Dame, "Should morality and common sense actually prevail and a decision to rescind President Obama's invitation is forthcoming, we will rescind our decision to designate Notre Dame University a 'Permanent Collaborator.'"
WND reported Ambassador Alan Keyes was arrested at Notre Dame, along with 21 others, on charges of trespassing while he was protesting against Obama's abortion record.
He later was released after an anonymous person donated bond money.
Keyes explained he sees his arrest not as a matter of defying the civil authorities, but as an act of obeying God.
"I do not see any issue that I have with civil authority, and therefore no civil disobedience is involved," Keyes told WND. "The civil authorities are acting on behest of a private party, in this case Father Jenkins, president of Notre Dame. When I set foot on Notre Dame's campus, I am, in fact, on Notre Dame's property, but that property is also part – according to its own statement – of the community of my faith. So what goes on between myself and Notre Dame is then subject to the laws that govern the community of our faith; and those are not the civil laws, but the laws of God.
"It is not disobedience," Keyes continued. "I am obeying the church's teaching and the laws of God. Father Jenkins, in issuing the order he issued, acted unlawfully. When I act according to God's will, and someone moves against me in that context, they go against the will of God, they are unlawful, and unlawful orders do not have to be obeyed.
"There was no civil disobedience going on; there was obedience going on," Keyes insisted. "And obedience is what this is all about – obedience to the law of God."
Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, who made headlines last week after he was also arrested on the Notre Dame campus, told WND earlier that the protests have given pro-life activists "a fresh line of defense to regroup."
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: May 12, 2009
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Abortion opponents say rescind Obama invitation or else
A pro-life group warns it may issue the University of Notre Dame its "Collaborators" designation, reserved for the worst offenders in the war over abortion, because of the school's invitation to President Obama to speak at commencement.
In a letter today to university officials, Leslie Hanks, chief of the Collaborators Project, wrote:
Because Notre Dame has extended the extraordinary honor of speaking at one of America's foremost Catholic colleges to one with such cavalier disregard for the sanctity of life, social tension is increasing exponentially in your community.
Collaborators Project was founded to do precisely that. Our motto is, "No Child Killing with Tranquility."
The Collaborators Project said on its website: "For their plan to honor Barack Obama, the leading pro-abortion advocate in America, the Collaborators Project is considering designating Notre Dame with Permanent Collaborator Status (PCS). If the university does not rescind their Obama invitation to deliver their commencement address on Sunday, May 17, 2009, the CP will designate Notre Dame with PCS.
"This would be only the second time in its history that the Collaborators Project has issued such a designation. If this occurs, the Collaborators Project will ask Indiana and Michigan pro-lifers to add Notre Dame to their ongoing anti-abortion protest itinerary," the group said.
Hanks explained to WND that only once before has the group awarded its Permanent Collaborator Status, to the Weitz Corp., which built Denver's Planned Parenthood megaclinic abortion facility.
"From that founding and the subsequent and ongoing protests of Weitz Corporation executive homes, we are gathering more support from citizens around the country, who still see a moral bright line which should never be crossed," the letter to Notre Dame said.
"Our nation has, sadly, almost forgotten her Declaration of Independence – America's birth certificate," the letter said. "President Obama, incredibly, doesn't seem to be aware of the powerful words proclaiming founding America's reverence for life, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Witness the moral tug-of-war of a college student wrestling with the issue of abortion in the Christian film "Come What May" on DVD from the WND Superstore.
"As public awareness grows about President Obama's invitation to address Notre Dame's upcoming commencement, South Bend, Ind., is increasingly becoming ground zero in the ongoing abortion war, which has led to nearly 50 million innocent lives having been destroyed. … Were he aware, he could not – in good conscience – continue his strong advocacy of killing pre-born babies in their mother's wombs."
Hanks told Notre Dame, "Should morality and common sense actually prevail and a decision to rescind President Obama's invitation is forthcoming, we will rescind our decision to designate Notre Dame University a 'Permanent Collaborator.'"
WND reported Ambassador Alan Keyes was arrested at Notre Dame, along with 21 others, on charges of trespassing while he was protesting against Obama's abortion record.
He later was released after an anonymous person donated bond money.
Keyes explained he sees his arrest not as a matter of defying the civil authorities, but as an act of obeying God.
"I do not see any issue that I have with civil authority, and therefore no civil disobedience is involved," Keyes told WND. "The civil authorities are acting on behest of a private party, in this case Father Jenkins, president of Notre Dame. When I set foot on Notre Dame's campus, I am, in fact, on Notre Dame's property, but that property is also part – according to its own statement – of the community of my faith. So what goes on between myself and Notre Dame is then subject to the laws that govern the community of our faith; and those are not the civil laws, but the laws of God.
"It is not disobedience," Keyes continued. "I am obeying the church's teaching and the laws of God. Father Jenkins, in issuing the order he issued, acted unlawfully. When I act according to God's will, and someone moves against me in that context, they go against the will of God, they are unlawful, and unlawful orders do not have to be obeyed.
"There was no civil disobedience going on; there was obedience going on," Keyes insisted. "And obedience is what this is all about – obedience to the law of God."
Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, who made headlines last week after he was also arrested on the Notre Dame campus, told WND earlier that the protests have given pro-life activists "a fresh line of defense to regroup."
Source: WorldNetDaily
Publish Date: May 12, 2009
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