The American Spectator : The Irish Sue the Feds

Text Size

The Irish Sue the Feds

By G. Tracy Mehan, III on 5.22.12 @ 6:09AM

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame.

Saints be praised! The University of Notre Dame has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over its now infamous mandate requiring religious institutions and their insurers to pay for abortifacients, sterilization and contraception in violation of their rights of religious liberty and self-definition.

In a statement posted on the university’s website, and transmitted by e-mail to many stakeholders, Father John Jenkins, its president, announced the action. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

In nine counts the Irish allege that the government violated Notre Dame’s rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs rule-making by federal agencies. All in all, the pleadings are a fine piece of legal craftsmanship by the national law firm of Jones Day and the university’s general counsel.

Unusual for most legal pleadings, Notre Dame’s complaint generates passion in its allegations:

This lawsuit is about one of America’s most cherished freedoms: the freedom to practice one’s religion without government interference. It is not about whether people have a right to abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception…. But the right to such services does not authorize the Government to force the University of Notre Dame… to violate its own conscience by making it provide, pay for, and/or facilitate those services to others, contrary to its sincerely held religious beliefs. American history and tradition, embodied in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, protects religious entities from such overbearing and oppressive governmental action. Notre Dame therefore seeks relief in this Court to protect this most fundamental of American rights.

Father Jenkins bends over backwards in his public announcement to affirm that “We do not seek to impose our religious beliefs on others; we simply ask that the Government not impose its values on the University when those values conflict with our religious teachings.”

In case the Obama administration did not get the message, coming from the head of an institution that only recently invited the President to give a commencement address and receive an honorary degree, Father Jenkins rejected the right of government to define the mission of his and other religious institutions.

“For if one Presidential Administration can override our religious purpose and use religious organizations to advance policies that undercut our values, then surely another Administration will do the same for another very different set of policies, each time invoking some concept of popular will or the public good, with the result these religious organizations become mere tools for the exercise of government power, morally subservient to the state, and not free from its infringement,” argued Jenkins. “If that happens, it will be the end of genuinely religious organizations in all but name.”

It seems that Father Jenkins knows well the writings of James Madison as well as St. Thomas More.

I will leave further legal analysis to constitutional scholars, but the political implications of this lawsuit are quite stunning. One of America’s leading Catholic institutions, which was previously perceived to be in President Obama’s camp, at least on health care issues, is now compelled to seek legal redress in federal court to overturn a violation of its religious integrity by that very same President.

If Catholics are truly the “jump ball” of American presidential politics, this has to be a very big minus for President Obama’s re-election campaign. More importantly, it puts the President on the wrong side of the religious liberty issue and thereby alienates many Americans who have no truck with Catholic doctrine or practice. In sum, President Obama has managed to coalesce an ecumenical front against him over the right, not just to worship in a church or cloister, but to practice one’s religion freely, in the public square, as an individual and as part of a collective body of fellow worshipers.

Go Irish!

About the Author

G. Tracy Mehan, III served at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the administrations of both Presidents Bush. He is a consultant in Arlington, Virginia, and an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (82) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

Darin| 5.22.12 @ 6:38AM

Perhaps the light is beginning to brighten that the current President is NOT a friend of the religious (unless they are Muslim or liberal).

What took them so long?| 5.22.12 @ 10:40AM

It's about time. The students that stood out and protested the Obamanation coming to South Bend to be the commencement speaker in May 2009 were right.

Yes, that's right. Those 22 and 23 year old newly minted undergraduate graduates were CORRECT. They had more decency, goodness, and wisdom in them than the creaky, crinkly, balding who are known as the university's leadership. The leadership of Notre Dame was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

They gave sanction and blessing to a man (the Obamination) who works steadily to remove Christian faith from America and Americans.

I.e. A man who is on Satan's side.

Shame, shame, Notre Dame.

Josephine| 5.22.12 @ 12:08PM

Do Notre Dame and Father Jenkins have to give back the money Obama gave the school?

ggoblue| 5.22.12 @ 1:58PM

pray tell....what money was that? methinks he may have given them my money, not his money.

Liberty4x4| 5.22.12 @ 11:34PM

The Catholic Church deserves all it got. If you dance with the devil, you don't change him - he changes you. Their so-called good intentions paved them a hellfire & brimstone highway. Now they want the demon back in his bottle. Good luck with that Irish.

Purp| 5.22.12 @ 10:45AM

No, he just isn't favoring the religious over everyone else - as he is supposed to do.

Boar Hunter| 5.22.12 @ 11:48AM

Oh! I see so it's OK for him to favor the Black Panthers over everyone else.

It's OK for Ear leader to favor muslims over everyone else. It's OK for the Kenyan commie to favor China over the US. It's OK for the racist to favor the palestinians over Israel. It's OK for him to show bias in every other aspect of his evil, illegitimate reign of terror.

Your just happy that he's attacking the church because you are gay and you hate the church.

Too Late To Impeach| 5.22.12 @ 3:36PM

"No, he just isn't favoring the religious over everyone else - as he is supposed to do."

He shouldn't be requiring ANYBODY to provide free contraceptives, abortifacients, etc. But since he IS doing so, yes, he should favor religious organizations, with exemption, who have a conscience against the practice. It's called freedom of religion.

Appleby| 5.22.12 @ 6:48AM

Perhaps this is finally that last straw that turns Notre Dame back to the Lord...perhaps, with Tevye, they finally say "On the other hand -- THERE IS NO OTHER HAND."

Some day everyone has to stand firm and say "Thus far and no farther." Perhaps Notre Dame has finally seen the dawn of that day. Praise God.

Gary B| 5.22.12 @ 9:53AM

And, concerning states' rights, don't you wish all fifty governors would see the same light?

Liberty4x4| 5.23.12 @ 7:18PM

Grow up and quit being so naive. Notre Dame has fully embraced liberal progressivism.

NH-Catholic| 5.22.12 @ 7:16AM

Good for Notre Dame - they appear to have taken their first tentative steps in returning to the Church - although they continue to support multiple gender and sex-based disorders and the pornography of the "vaginal infection' - I mean 'dialogues' - still it is a first tentative step. Will the Jesuits at Georgetown shock everyone and do the same? Not if their magazine America is any The road back to salvation has got to start some where.

KyMouse| 5.22.12 @ 3:47PM

The road back to salvation?

As long as the Catholic Church deines that Jesus' work of redemption is finished, and that His atonement is sufficient to pay for all of the repentant sinner's sins, many of us will continue to steer clear of Catholicism.

At the heart of the dispute is the question of authority: Only the Bible is God's authorized teaching for us (John 10:35, Galatians 1:12, e.g.), not tradition/the Magisterium. The Catholic church teaches that it is authorized to dispense God's grace, but the Bible teaches that anyone can receive God's grace directly, through faith in Jesus (John 3:14-18, Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:8-9).

Here's a good question for any of us: When the teaching of your church (or sect, denomination, etc.) differs from the Bible, which do you believe?

In 1545, the Catholic church decreed that its traditions are equal in authority with the Bible. In practice, however, Catholic tradition is placed above Scripture (for example, the Bible never gives Mary any titles such as Queen of Heaven, nor claims that she can intercede on behalf of sinners).

Catholic teaching opposes the doctrine that is most essential to the Christian faith -- the doctrine of justification by faith alone. "He [Jesus] saved us, not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of His mercy" (Titus 3:5).

People are required to prostrate themselves before popes; however, we read in the Bible that Peter told a man not to kneel before him (Acts 10:26). In Revelation 19:10, an angel warns John not to prostrate himself, because any and all forms of worship are due directly to God alone.

These are just a few examples of the traditions of men being given more authority than the Word of God.

After John Paul II's funeral, Gene Edward Veith wrote in "World" magazine, "...[T]hough the pope was eulogized for all of his good works, the prayers begged God to let him into heaven, calling on Mary and the saints to intercede for him. Sadly missing was the liberating gospel of salvation through faith in the free forgiveness won by Christ alone."

Senior Chief| 5.22.12 @ 4:21PM

Fine. So you have some theological issues with the Catholic Church. The great thing about America is that you can worship (or not worship)God as you see fit. However that is not even close to the topic addressed in this article. This issue can just as easily effect any religious denomination. If just so happens that the Catholic Church is the biggest fish in the pond. I suggest you find a more appropriate venue on the net that you could express your issues with the Church of Rome.
Pax Vobiscum

Quartermaster| 5.22.12 @ 6:49PM

If they really lived their theology things might be a bit different. Instead, they supplied the cross on which they are now screaming they don't want to crucified. The "Magisterium" has been pretty much a lib shill for many years, but now the pig squeals as they are taken into the slaughterhouse.

I have little sympathy for them as the problem is self-inflicted.

SUBVET| 5.22.12 @ 7:08PM

Chief.........and what's wrong with free speech ?

Senior Chief| 5.23.12 @ 12:24AM

Nothing is wrong with free speech. I like to think my service in the the Navy was to protect that and many other freedoms we Americans enjoy. All I'm saying is stay on topic!

KYCatholic| 5.22.12 @ 9:11PM

@KyMouse
Perhaps you should check your facts before going for the jugular. St. Paul as he is known by all true Christians says a few things in his letters. 1) Hold on to your traditions whether they are passed down by word of mouth or in writing. These would be whose traditions? The Holy Spirit of course. For if the traditions are of men that intrinsically defines Protestantism. 2)The Church is the pillar and the foundation(bulwark) of the truth. In this context this means 'teaching authority'. It cannot refer to the individual or the building where people gather to worship. 3) The first bible cannon had 73 books and was translated from both Greek and Aramaic into the Latin vulgate circa 382 AD - 405 AD. That means the scriptures are from the Catholic church. You may be certain of this. There were no scriptures available for the average person for many centuries until the printing press was developed. This required that oral communications of the faith were traditionally passed on by the Catholic(word means universal) Church throughout the centuries. Holy Tradition+Holy Scripture = True Christianity. Regarding The Blessed Mother. The Mother of God deserves these titles. As Jesus expired on the cross, He gave his beloved disciple John and all of humanity His Blessed Mother to intercede for us on our behalf. I am a Jew who became a Catholic 14 yrs ago, and I practice my faith. Come to the full truth. You have a severe misunderstanding of God's love.

Christian| 5.22.12 @ 10:35PM

The Bible that you worship was selected from the various gospels and books and approved by the Catholic Church.

Christian| 5.22.12 @ 10:36PM

Ps. Directed to the Mouse.
excellent, KyCatholic.

Nancy in NC| 5.22.12 @ 7:20AM

What Father Jenkins failed to note is if this flies what will stop another administration from deciding it is in the public good to steal another liberty. There is no end to what the Fed government can do TO us in the guise of doing something FOR us. The concept that many of us want to be free to do for ourselves is lost on these power hungry cretins who choose Marx over Madison.

Roscoe| 5.22.12 @ 10:06AM

Nancy, I think that this is noted, in par. 7 of the Complaint and Demand.
"7. If the Government can force religious institutions to violate their beliefs in such a manner, there is no apparent limit to the Government’s power. Such an oppression of religious freedom violates Notre Dame’s clearly established constitutional and statutory rights."

Joellen| 5.22.12 @ 7:27AM

Let's give credit to The Francisian Uninversity in Stuebenville, Ohio. They were the first to challenge the devil. If you want to read about true Catholicism - read about Father Don Calloway. He comes from a background he himself calls "hell" but is now an Apostle warrior for the HOLY TRINTY who espouses absolute Black & White Faith - NO GRAY! He is just one example of what the Catholic Faith truly represents. So it was no surprise for me that the Francisian Church in Stuebenville started the fight that now can not be ignored.

Teaghan| 5.22.12 @ 7:46AM

I hear nothing from my church, PCUSA.
Nothing but crickets.

crossworked| 5.22.12 @ 8:46AM

Thats why I left. The word is the WORD. I love all but their is but one way. I can save nobody, only the lord.

Not Special Ops Bill| 5.22.12 @ 8:58AM

PCUSA is changing its definition of the term "marriage" from a union of a man and a women to "two persons." This is so that the Presbyterian Church can sanctify same-sex marriage. Right or wrong, for it or against it, that's what PCUSA is doing.

LiveFreeOrDie| 5.22.12 @ 7:33PM

1 John 1:8-10

Not Special Ops Bill| 5.23.12 @ 8:48AM

Who's claiming to be without sin?

Rich B.| 5.22.12 @ 7:51AM

I sincerely hope this lame lawsuit fails. ND (and other so-called Catholic institutions) made its pact with the Devil years ago and they deserve all that follows. They need to live with the problem they helped create.....

crossworked| 5.22.12 @ 8:49AM

You got a plan? Give it and live it.

Not Special Ops Bill| 5.22.12 @ 8:56AM

I don't know what Notre Dame and Catholicism deserves, I just don't believe that government has any business telling people who have religious beliefs that they have to do things that conflict with those beliefs.

Gary B| 5.22.12 @ 9:57AM

I'm not Catholic, but ND and the other 42 plaintiffs are spending big bucks on a fight that will benefit all citizens. Godspeed to them.

TrueBlue | 5.22.12 @ 5:55PM

Ah, so you don't believe in the concept of redemption then? Is it not possible that the institutions involved were led by those of questionable faith/morals and now those in charge have decided to get things back to how they should be? Is man not capable of atoning for their Sin?

You seem rather bitter at the idea. Did Notre Dame turn down your application or something?

LiveFreeOrDie| 5.22.12 @ 7:43PM

If it's not your church, school or family...let their rights be taken away? Let more of the constitution become irrelevant? As if you will remain immune.

kwan| 5.22.12 @ 8:33AM

As we learned from WW II you must stop the Forces of Darkness in their infancy or you risk being overwhelmed by their mad-lust for conquest and power.

jay mayer| 5.22.12 @ 8:43AM

Too little , too late . The catholic church has played footsie with liberal statism for 50 years and only now wake up to the spectre of statist tentacles reaching into their little world . The Church will have to deny the sacraments to any and all supporters of abortion to take back the moral high ground . Simply put , call me back when Pelosi and Biden and the Kennedys are denied communuon ,publicly and forthrightly . In one word , nevergonnahappen .

Gary B| 5.22.12 @ 9:58AM

How about better late than never?

Not Special Ops Bill| 5.22.12 @ 8:55AM

In the article, there are a couple of references to the "right" of the federal government to force people to do things they don't believe in.

Please keep in mind that the federal government has no rights; it only has powers. Don't start giving these degenerates the idea that their system has rights. It doesn't and mustn't be allowed to think that it does.

JA| 5.22.12 @ 9:36AM

I find it difficult to feel sorry for the useful idiots that run Notre Dame; after all they gave that marxist-leninist, lying, two-faced communist piece of garbage POTUS , Barack HUSSEIN Obama an honorary degree. Well, when you sleep with the devil, you pay the price.

Not Special Ops Bill| 5.22.12 @ 9:42AM

Anybody can make a mistake. I have to admit that a Catholic giving the likes of Barack Obama an honorary degree is a little over-the-top, but then, think of all the voters who voted for him in 2008, who won't vote for him this time. At least the Catholic Church seems to be acknowledging the error of its ways.

ty| 5.22.12 @ 10:54AM

And how many additional babies have been aborted in the past 3.5 years? How many still terribly lost mothers, though not at all knowing truly what they are going through, have deep regrets and a very real sense (under the surface, all the time) of self-loathing?

We don't always have time to "play with."

"Anybody can make a mistake" applies to knee-jerk reactions, a slip of the tongue when hammer hits thumb, a checkbook mathematics error, miscalculations due to being overhasty, and the like.

Please don't apply "anybody can make a mistake" to what Notre Dame did to honor and give prestige and platform to one of the most evil men to ever have power in this hemisphere.

Purp| 5.22.12 @ 11:38AM

"one of the most evil men to ever have power in this hemisphere." - aren't you way over the top with that ridiculous comment? Why is he evil?

Boar Hunter| 5.22.12 @ 11:49AM

You love him in a gay way don't you Purp?

You envy michelle.

Not Special Ops Bill| 5.22.12 @ 12:02PM

I know I love him. I want to have a sex change just to bear his children. Oh wait, I'm a guy; a sex change won't cut it, will it?

OK, never mind.

Not Special Ops Bill| 5.22.12 @ 12:02PM

I'd follow him to the gates of Hell.

Just not beyond.

Vlady| 5.22.12 @ 2:24PM

I'd follow him to the gates of Hell alright. Just so I could make sure he's inside and the damn gate is locked....

Boar Hunter| 5.22.12 @ 5:06PM

Hurray for you my friend!!!!

Quartermaster| 5.22.12 @ 6:52PM

You mean you would escort him to make sure he doesn't get lost on the way.

DCA| 5.22.12 @ 4:12PM

I'll provide a short answer, because I don't have time to provide a long one (and you don't merit any such expenditure of mental energy).
He's evil because he's a filthy, degenerate liar, who (in writing, multiple times, has confirmed that he) despises the Constitution, freedom, the people (evil capitalists) that built this country, in short, everything this nation used to stand for. Under the guise of some asinine appeals to healing, racial wonderfulness, and "fairness," empty platitudes all, he seduced enough idiots, welfare addicts, limousine leftists and guilt-ridden fools and losers to gain what used to be the highest leadership office in the free world. But, he hates the free world. He explicitly hates the fact that he can't shove all of the "clingers" into concentration camps, where his vicious ape-bitch "wife" would practice starvation as nutrition on millions of us. He's staffed his administration with avowed communists, Mao-worshippers, genocidal freaks, and anti-human "gaia"-f*cking totalitarians (e.g. Van Jones, Lisa Jackson).
But back to the basic issue: he's evil because he's a liar and a grotesque fraud. If the American people are duped again by this jackal, there will be, once again, secession and civil war, virtually guaranteed. I intend to be ready for that. If you're not, be prepared to be turned into animal feed, glue, crude tools, or bait by those who are.

Not Special Ops Bill| 5.23.12 @ 8:49AM

I thought you said it was going to be a short answer...

Gary B| 5.22.12 @ 10:07AM

I say again, better late than never. Obama has unleashed unprecedented tyranny across all of American society. This has shaken sense into individuals and institutions that have dabbled in Liberalism as means demonstrating tolerance.

Now, the threat is real and Americans are waking up... finally. Perhaps we owe Obama a backhanded compliment. He's done what no Republican politician could ever do. He's scaring us straight.

Purp| 5.22.12 @ 11:39AM

Tyranny? You don't know tyranny dude. you never see the other side, do you?

Boar Hunter| 5.22.12 @ 11:55AM

There is no other side to Obama. HE is evil incarnate.

He is a drug using, racist, communist, terrorist supporting, metrosexual who only has one side. Your just upset that people are starting to recognize that the only thing black about Obama from Kenya that holds any significance is his black heart.

Gary B| 5.22.12 @ 12:02PM

What is this, a reach-across-the-aisle moment? We've been on the slippery slope toward tyranny for years. We "see the other side" every single day. That's why we're on the edge of outright revolt. And, my name isn't "Dude," Purp.

Von Mises Jr| 5.22.12 @ 12:38PM

Tyranny is when the people fear the government. Liberty is when the government fears the people.

You are so correct Gary that the American people have not rose up since the tyranny was less painful that fighting back. But now the statist have stepped over the line.
I grew up with tough Irish and Italian Catholic guys. Usually we competed and fought each other. Now we are combined against little statist wimps like Perp. Keep talking little shit troll. You are only making us madder.

Purp| 5.22.12 @ 2:14PM

Well, finally your true self emerges - a foul mouthed, ignorant a**. I couldn't care less if you're mad. You have nothing but the job destroyer to vote for. Good luck with that.
Go check out his record as Governor of Mass if you really want to know what you're getting.

Vlady| 5.22.12 @ 2:26PM

"You have nothing but the job destroyer to vote for. Good luck with that."

Purp, he's not voting for Obama....

Purp| 5.22.12 @ 3:29PM

If it's Romney, it's job destruction - that's how you make money in Vulture Capitalism. Ever wonder why layoffs cause stock prices to soar? Because investors know that people are a huge cost to a business. If you don't care about the business, but just what you can milk out of it, you borrow all you can, pocket the money, layoff everyone because you can't pay the loans back and dump what you can on Uncle Sam. Bingo - wealth created for the investors, and loss of jobs for the employees. (and Bain made off like a bandit). AmPad, Dane, and others can tell you the story of what happened to their jobs when Richie Romney came to town. The snake.

TrueBlue | 5.22.12 @ 6:03PM

That's why 80% of the companies went on to succeed, huh? Everybody sees the jobs lost when there is a company takeover, but those same people seem to conveniently forget about the fact that most of the companies were failing, and it's better for some people to lose their jobs when it means the vast majority of them don't. Sure it sucks for the people who lost their jobs, but which is better, 200 people unemployed, or 2000?

I'd rather there be NO unemployed, but that isn't dealing in reality. I may disagree with most of Romney's views, but hitting him for Bain is just silly. By the way, AmPad (thanks for picking that one) WAS ALREADY GOING OUT OF BUSINESS. They bought it out because they thought it could be saved. They were wrong. Who lost money on that gamble? Bain and their investors, unlike any company the government invests in that fails *cough*Solyndra*cough*.

Von Mises Jr| 5.22.12 @ 2:32PM

I don't get mad, Perpy. I get even.

While you are playing fool on TAS, I am involved in far more than you could understand, troll. It is way over your head, just like the books I read.

Have you read a Mises book yet you can cite? How about Hayek? You can get the pocket edition of "Road to Serfdom" at Heritage for $5. It is only 50 pages and you could probably knock it off in a couple weeks.

Purp| 5.22.12 @ 2:57PM

Here's a tidbit to chew on ... we'll see if you're up to the challenge, Mr. "Simma cum laude" - "Road to Serfdom" - Hayek's neo-liberalism is now mockingly called "paleo-liberalism", "a Maoism of the Right." Free market economics have ruined communities and destroyed the Tory party in England.
There is serfdom - there was a massive case of it until just the other day - and a unified economic plan is one sure way to it, among other ways. Likewise there is the open, anonymous society, though one must doubt that it was ever, or ever could be, as frigidly impersonal and rule-bound as Hayek imagined. But there are a number of workable, livable, viable compromises in between. To try one of them is not to venture onto a slippery slope, as promoted by Hayek.

Clint| 5.22.12 @ 3:40PM

Friedrich August von Hayek, was an economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism.

" Classical liberalism is the philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets."

Von Mises Jr| 5.22.12 @ 4:11PM

Clint, I have been asking Perp to name one Von Mises or Hayek book he read. He finally named a title but obviously didn't read it since he has no clue what it said.
Try this troll: Central planning must pick winners and losers since the market can no longer function. It is like GM and Solyndra showered with money although they are both failures. GM will never pay back the $80B and Solyndra was a money laundering operation. You missed the whole point of the book?
No you didn't. You didn't read it. But if you had, you would never understand it. My summa cum laude son said he read it twice and it made his head hurt. But he passed my quiz, troll.

Clint| 5.22.12 @ 4:26PM

Junior Von Mises,
The Commie Perpetrator Comes Here, To A Conservative Site To Get The Negative Attention Fix, He Seems To Crave.

Gary B| 5.22.12 @ 5:42PM

Sounds about right.

Von Mises Jr| 5.22.12 @ 6:38PM

He just got tired of talking to pre-school at MoveOn. Maybe he wants to learn but can't admit it?

jfrizzle| 5.22.12 @ 10:27AM

Instead of crushing ND for past mistakes (and we have), let's acknowledge that the University is led by humans...humans who make mistakes. The leadership was swept up by the Obama Cult of Personality, and clearly erred in giving him an honorary degree. However, they have now seen the folly of their ways and are fighting to make things right. I for one am glad that finally the ND leadership is getting in the game for the good guys. Forgiveness is a powerful weapon and I have forgiven the very leaders whom I criticized when they let this Godless abomination on campus not so long ago.

Tyne| 5.22.12 @ 10:48AM

If you are truly a man of God, a godly man, then, no, no you were never swept up in the Obama cult of personality or in the cult of personality of anyone.

Never excuse selfishness, pride, vainglory, and foolery.

And don't pat them for getting in the "game?" for the good guys. Exactly what side should a Christian institution be on? Always?

Only on God's side.

And a blind man could see in 2007 and 2008 that Barrack (Barry) Hussein Obama was no friend of the Bible, Christianity, Christians, or God Himself.

No church organization leaders have any excuse to have cavorted with such an evil one.

Remove them all.

Ken (Old Texican)| 5.22.12 @ 10:53AM

Folks,
call me a prophet and put my words in your permanent files.
Should Obama be re-elected, the producers in our country will go on a sit-down (no taxes due or paid) strike.
Many Christians will do the same for our own reasons.
The Feds forget that we can starve them.
...get wheat, beans, and a bird-feeder and a couple of BB guns to shoot birds for protein.
Also, try to save up a month's cash to join the sit down.

Gary B| 5.22.12 @ 12:07PM

Ken, Decades ago, I knew a couple of real estate developers who owned a large parcel in a small town. The town was blackmailing them on a building permit, so they toyed with the idea of not paying their real estate taxes and bankrupting the government school system. It didn't come to that, but I loved the idea.

Jim| 5.22.12 @ 3:35PM

Wouldn't it be great if we could all home-school our kids, and break the public school system? Then when they were ready to listen to us, we could send our kids back, but only after necessary changes were made...
I wonder if that's the only way we can break the tyranny that public schools have become.

yips| 5.22.12 @ 11:00AM

Doesn't matter one hoot what Notre Dame does now.

PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS -- Do not send your child or grandchild there.

Do not allow it.

It might have been a Catholic school prior to 1972 or '75. However, the last 35 years are nothing but full-scale sell outs to secular humanism debauchery of behavior and mind.

God and man at Notre Dame? God left in disgust years ago.

Purp| 5.22.12 @ 3:05PM

Didn't you forget the superb education to be had at Notre Dame - this is not solely about religious instruction.

Jim| 5.22.12 @ 3:39PM

And the a$$ kicking they get regularly from USC? Don't forget that!

James Baker| 5.22.12 @ 5:34PM

It used to be a tenent of Protestantism that one would obey the laws of God over the laws of man.

Quartermaster| 5.22.12 @ 6:56PM

And for many of us bearing the Protestant label, it still applies. The Protestant Libs, however, are hoping to see the chains applied to others. History shows, however, that the traitors are usually the first people to the wall.

Stewed_tomatoes| 5.22.12 @ 7:00PM

Sucks when they finally come for you, eh Notre Dame?

SUBVET| 5.22.12 @ 7:34PM

I'd ask for the "Robe" back if I was ND.

My dad used to say what "goes around comes around". He told me that when I was 18 and thought I knew more than he then.

It's amazing who smart he got the older I got.

Richard Baker| 5.22.12 @ 7:25PM

Regardless of the latecoming of Father Jenkins and the other Catholic institutions, the Church has finally figured out the intentions of their so-called friends on the left. Better late than never. Go Irish!

Liberty4x4| 5.22.12 @ 11:31PM

POST American| 5.23.12 @ 12:19AM

"The Vatican has been TOTALLY
infiltrated since the 1950's."
-Malachi Martin

-----WHATEVER-----

Of course, we regard Jesuitry as just another
facet of Globalist 'MAY--SIN--re'.

DO a little search sometime on the background
to something called 'the Paraguayan reduction'
of the 1500's.

There are the Jesuits ---working off
an acturarial plan for EUGENICS that surely
must have had Karl Marks himself fingering
his beard.

Operating by stealth, with spiritual practices,
and intrigues virtually identical with the
deepest capstone 'MAY--SIN--re' ---and likewise, with dubious origins ---and NO accountability.

----And BOTH, so it becomes clear, rooted in
Brahminic notions of social darwinism and
----the old ISLAMIC 'fave' ---the 'hidden masters'.

This creep-ick has NO place in Christianity!

One and all, catholic, protestant ---should be
hurling the deadly, deadly, deadly doctrines
of capstone Arminian 'eck--you--men--ICK--ALL
--ism' ---and downloading the Biblical commentaries of John Gill.

---This IS the 11th hour!

JTLiuzza| 5.23.12 @ 12:57PM

Well if anyone knows anything about being a "mere tool," it's ND's Father Jenkins.

Latest Headlines

Back in the Fray

Kyle Peterson|96 comments

The IRS Immigration Fraud Scandal

Jeffrey Lord|99 comments

Obama’s Climate of Intimidation

Matthew Sheffield|56 comments

Whither Suburbia?

Steven Greenhut|24 comments

The Woman Who Wrote Liberty Valance

Bill Croke|31 comments

Not Super, But Pretty Good

Aaron Goldstein|19 comments

The Loss of Trust

Thomas Sowell|32 comments

Foreign Policy as Farce

Jed Babbin|88 comments

The Spectacle Blog

Let Pitchers Throw Complete Games

Aaron Goldstein | 12:10AM

Thoughts on New U.S.-Taliban Peace Talks

Aaron Goldstein | 6.18.13

Thank You, Bobby Jindal

Matt Purple | 6.18.13

Buzzfeed Faces $3.6 Million Lawsuit for Copyright Infringement

Kaylin Bugos | 6.18.13

Democrat Dan Maffei Blames Budget Cuts for Girl’s Rape, Mother’s Murder

Robert Stacy McCain | 6.18.13

Pro-Life is Smart Politics

Rich Lizardo | 6.18.13

Gerson, Wehner, and the Losing Old Ways Crowd

Jeffrey Lord | 6.18.13

Are Young People Souring on Obama?

Matt Purple | 6.18.13

FLASHBACK TO: 1995

Pope Culture

By George Sim Johnston

A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck

By P.J. O'Rourke

Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
Dames at Sea

By John Corry
In the Absence of Guns

By Mark Steyn

In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
The Metaphysical Martini

By Werner J. Dannhauser
Counting the Costs of Clintonism

By Robert H. Bork

The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
Chuck McHagel

By George Neumayr

It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted

By Douglas Bartholomew
It’s the Best Time of the Year

By Mark Steyn

The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
The Bush Crack-Up

By Brit Hume

Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?