Obama’s Notre Dame Speech
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Here’s the part of the speech concerning abortion, where so much of the controversy was occurring. It’s very wise and well written. Will the anti-abortion crowd reach out to him?
As I considered the controversy surrounding my visit here, I was reminded of an encounter I had during my Senate campaign, one that I describe in a book I wrote called “The Audacity of Hope.” A few days after I won the Democratic nomination, I received an e-mail from a doctor who told me that while he voted for me in the primary, he had a serious concern that might prevent him from voting for me in the general election. He described himself as a Christian who was strongly pro-life, but that’s not what was preventing him from voting for me.
What bothered the doctor was an entry that my campaign staff had posted on my Web site — an entry that said I would fight “right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose.” The doctor said that he had assumed I was a reasonable person, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women, then I was not very reasonable. He wrote, “I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words.”
Fair-minded words.
After I read the doctor’s letter, I wrote back to him and thanked him. I didn’t change my position, but I did tell my staff to change the words on my Web site. And I said a prayer that night that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me. Because when we do that — when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do — that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.
That’s when we begin to say, “Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions. So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term. Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women.”
Understand — I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. No matter how much we may want to fudge it — indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory — the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.
Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.
Tags: Abortion, Notre Dame, President Obama
He’s a good talker, and he’ll have to be to win the anti-abortion crowd over. The facts are they have lost this battle because their position is wrong. But Obama couldn’t very well say that.
I was impressed by Obama’s willingness to find common ground on the issue of abortion.
Working to create conditions that would make abortions unnecessary would have broad support by both sides of the issue.
Better to find area where we can all agree on and work together, rather than shout at each other through megaphones and call each other “baby killers” and “Taliban freaks”
When no one listens it’ a waste of time to discuss.
I’m happy to work with anyone who wants to improve access to contraception. Unfortunately, a lot of anti-abortion activists appear to be anti-contraception as well.
This was a brilliant speech, transformative like his speech on race, this time on the abortion issue, and more. Were I a graduate listening to it, I would come away more informed and inspired to go forward.
Perhaps overlooked, however, is his insight into the concept of faith worth highlighting here, I think:
“But remember too that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt. It is the belief in things not seen. It is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what he asks of us, and those of us who believe must trust that his wisdom is greater than our own.
This doubt should not push us away from our faith. But it should humble us. It should temper our passions, and cause us to be wary of self-righteousness. It should compel us to remain open, and curious, and eager to continue the moral and spiritual debate that began for so many of you within the walls of Notre Dame. And within our vast democracy, this doubt should remind us to persuade through reason, through an appeal whenever we can to universal rather than parochial principles, and most of all through an abiding example of good works, charity, kindness and service that moves hearts and minds.”
Whether a person of faith or not, whether Jew, Christian, Muslim, Buddahist, …, there is a universality in Obama’s words here that make them meaningful to all, in my view.
Whether in the end Obama proves successful politically or not, I believe we have here a great man in our midst, as he has already demonstrated this over and over, this time just one more time!