I apologize for trying readers' patience with yet another posting today.But, since a posting by Tom Mattzie on Huffington Post today dovetails with mine earlier today calling for readers to support Notre Dame against its assault by Cardinal Newman Society and other right-wing pressure groups trying to undermine President Obama (here), I want to link to that post now (here).
Tom Mattzie makes several points I made in my posting earlier today:
1. This is a right-wing political attack masquerading as a Catholic theological one: "This is an effort by a small cabal of ultra-conservative partisans to separate Catholicism from its calling for social and economic justice and peace. A Republican operative who has simultaneous roles at other Right-Wing groups founded the group attacking Notre Dame."
2. A minority of right-wing Catholic political operatives continue to try to represent themselves as "the" voice of American Catholicism, though a majority of American Catholics reject this right-wing political agenda: "These Obama and Notre Dame critics are not speaking for a serious number of the tens of millions of American Catholics who voted for Barack Obama--nor even probably most of those who voted for John McCain."
3. We need to rally behind Notre Dame because the right-wing groups spearheading such efforts are loud, well-organized, and well-funded. Mattzie notes that the right-wing Catholics involved in this effort have now gotten right-wing evangelicals involved: "They have a tremendous organizing capacity that is matched on the other side only by secular groups who won't instinctively weigh into a debate like this."
As a practicing Catholic, Tom Mattzie concludes, "They should be dismissed for what they are--a radical ultra-conservative cabal driving a political agenda through Catholicism."
And he calls for action. His posting includes the following address for Notre Dame's president:
Rev. John Jenkins,
CSC400 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556
(574) 631-8261
president@nd.edu