Blasphemy: Obama Kicks Jesus Out of Georgetown

Sunday Paper - April 19th, 2009

When Barack Obama spoke at Georgetown University on Tuesday, many were amazed at what was missing.  After receiving the request from the Obama administration, the university agreed to cover the letters IHS, symbolism honoring Jesus Christ.  On her Washington Times blog, Julia Duin writes:

Some of them (the Jesuits who founded Georgetown) may have been turning in their graves in the cemetery across campus at the sight of the missing monogram which looked like a blacked-out space above a blue backdrop and a row of American flags flanking the nation’s chief executive. Was Georgetown selling short its Catholic heritage, we wondered.

I contacted the university this morning to ask why the monogram — in this post-Easter season — was hidden as its absence had been noted by several bloggers, including Dawn Eden — formerly of the New York Post — on her dawn patrol blog. 

Julie Bataille from the university’s press office e-mailed me that the White House had asked that all university signage and symbols behind the stage in Gaston Hall be covered.

“The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they’ve done for other policy speeches,” she wrote. “Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”

I also noticed the Free Republic blog had photos comparing “before” and “after” depictions of the unfortunate monogram, which the university covered with what looks like a black cloth. 

Not every Catholic institution would have caved to quite this extent. Victor Nakas, spokesman for Catholic University, e-mailed me to say several presidents have visited CUA and the most recent administration official to speak there was then-Vice President Dick Cheney.

“I can’t imagine, as the bishops’ university and the national university of the Catholic Church, that we would ever cover up our religious art or signage for any reason,” Mr. Nakaswrote. “Our Catholic faith is integral to our identity as an institution of higher education.

Julie Bataille’s response is weak and it shows that instead of standing for what’s right, Georgetown allowed itself to be strong-armed by Obama, the president of the “nation of citizens.”  Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, is quite as accommodating as Ms. Bataille, saying:

The cowardice of Georgetown to stand fast on principle tells us more than we need to know about what is going on there, but the bigger story is the audacity of the Obama administration to ask a religious school to neuter itself before the president speaks there.

“No bishop who might speak at the White House would ever request that a crucifix be displayed behind him. Moreover, the same church and state fanatics who go nuts every time a polling place is set up in the basement of a Catholic school have been noticeably silent over this incident.

“Obama will be speaking at Notre Dame, and receiving an honorary award, on May 17. Will his advance team ask Notre Dame to scrub the campus clean of religious symbols? Or just the ones that might appear behind the podium?

“Obama is in enough trouble with Catholics—over his pro-abortion executive orders and appointees, his position on embryonic stem cell research and his war on the conscience rights of healthcare workers—that it seems almost suicidal for his administration to push the envelope one more time. This is getting old fast.”

 


The Christian Defense Coalition is now demanding an apology from Obama, “the decision by the Obama White House shows a profound lack of sensitivity and respect for faith traditions and demands a public apology from the President.”  Director of the coalition, Reverend Patrick J. Mahoney, said further:

“Now that the White House has publicly admitted covering a sacred faith symbol for the name of Jesus at Georgetown University, it is imperative that they release a public apology for their disrespect of faith expressions.  For President Obama not to address the issue publicly would show utter contempt for religious expressions as well as a slap in the face to all those who cherish the name of Jesus.”

Nationally syndicated radio host Michael Savage,  “wordsmiths” a fine description of Obama’s blasphemy (and listen as he points out that these tactics have been employed by communist regimes of the past):

This from Catholic Online - April 17th, 2009

http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=33195

This from Earned Media - April 17th, 2009

http://www.earnedmedia.org/cdc04171.htm

This from the Washington Times - April 15th, 2009

http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/belief-blog/2009/apr/15/obama-at-georgetown-the-mystery-of-the-missing-sig/

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