<p>Mom here - I do worry sometimes about the catholic identity. I know the philosophy department is very liberal, has many protestants and can be actually anti-catholic. I do not understand it and I do not like it.</p>
<p>Homers-do you think then, that protestants should not be on campus? I know that is not what you are saying in your post–but I am just curious?</p>
<p>homers- i agree. i think that it is all-too-liberal. i think what would be best is not to get rid of them as they can contribute a lot to the discussion, but i think a little more balance would be nice</p>
<p>No, I do not think that they should not be on campus. But I also do not think that there should be anti-catholicism either - not at Notre Dame - and it’s there.</p>
<p>As I said in an earlier post–and I really don’t want to hijack this thread as it is about Dorm Disappointments, what we have witnessed is more of a hands-off attitude. Believe me, we have defended ND vehemently in certain situations (including to other Catholics)–but according to son, he just does not witness perhaps some of what you are talking about. I do appreciate your opinion, however, as well as others. Again, son is happy and if you go back to the OP–our student has no intention of leaving. Maybe he is just too busy with his particular workload to really pay attention to much more, but in this day of violence and stresses of college life, we thought ND might offer more in the form of spirituality. And, again, perhaps he has not sought it out, either. I certainly hope the fact that he is Protestant has not been a curse for him in any way–and I do not for one minute believe that he participates in the mentality of Anti-Catholic!</p>
<p>PS–ever thought about writing to Fr. Jenkins about this issue with regard to Philosophy Dept? He appears to have an “open-door” policy.</p>
<p>Wow. I guess it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Our parish is considered liberal; so was the parochial school we sent the kids to–the principal was an ex-Jesuit. DD finds many of the students to be super orthodox Catholics. She’s Catholic and she likes it, but culturally it is so alien to her experience of Catholicism. She sees ND as conservative, but she’s taken aback at the ignorance of some of the loudest Catholics–they claim to be pro-life, yet support Bush and the Iraq war. There is a school of thought she’s encountered that teaches it is the sacred duty of Americans to go and fix countries that have oppressive governments–and “fix” means send in troops! The same students also tend to support capital punishment–again quite inconsistent with Catholic teaching.</p>
<p>Being “liberal” does not make one “anti-Catholic”</p>
<p>Mombot, it depends on the lens you see the world with as well. I for one do not support the war but I still think Bush was the best choice in the last election. There are several bishops who believe you shouldn’t receive Communion if you vote for a pro-choice candidate, so for me, it was a pretty clear election mainly due to that issue but also due to the fact that Kerry didn’t really have a platform, he just was the anti-Bush and said the opposite.</p>
<p>Jcool, that is absolutely true, and some of my very Catholic friends are liberal. Right now I am more in the middle (used to be hardcore right) which proves that I have been in academia too long :). Being liberal is fine, but being pro-choice is not. I think you would be hard-pressed to find many bishops who would say that you can be Catholic and pro-choice.</p>
<p>It is good to be a forward thinker and progressive, but some issues Catholic’s can’t budge on. One is pro-life. Perhaps that is what your child is finding, it may not be ignorance, but they may still feel as I do that Bush was the best option in the last election.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is definitely not the most Catholic university out there in terms of faculty and policies, but I’m pretty pleased with my daughter’s experience so far. (Current freshman). We are a very Catholic family (my 19 year old daughter is joining the Nashville Dominicans :-o ), and my ND daughter has actually grown in her faith this year. There seems to be a pretty dynamic Catholic subculture on campus. If a student wants to live out their faith; there are ways to do that at ND. Some things she does are daily Masses (she loves to go to Mass all over campus, especially at the basilica), four:7, adoration at CoMo, rosaries at the grotto, evening prayer at Holy Cross, pro-life group. She’s meeting many grounded Catholic kids.
Nowhere is perfect, but she is having a GREAT time at ND.</p>
<p>Considering that there are 176 Masses weekly at Notre Dame, it’s hard to imagine that anyone doesn’t have the chance to back into one on accident. Let alone if they are curious and want to find one intentionally. </p>
<p>Unlike some universities Notre Dame isn’t forcing a spiritual life on anyone. No student is required to attend a Mass ever, from Frosh-O to Graduation. They will be required to learn about the history of the Church, but that’s it. If they want to experience something more as a Christian then Notre Dame isn’t a bad place. All the resources mentioned above are great. But a student needs to take the first step.</p>
<p>Perhaps a student needs to take the first step, true, but unlike other univesities, ND is very well known for being Catholic. And, according to many that we have spoken with (including some Catholics), it can be TOO Catholic. My point, I guess, is that many believe that Catholicism will be forced on you and our student certainly has found that is NOT the case. But, back to dorm disappointments–it is our observation that the Rectors in some dorms seem to be much more interested in its residents’ spirituality and student life than in other dorms–for that matter, after reading some of the posts, it appears that at least one particular Rector is interested in all of the students that live in his dorm–not just the Catholic residents. Certainly, as I have mentioned son could easily re-locate with this Rector and dorm. I guess I just wished that there was a standard by which the Rectors followed with regard to interaction with students and not just being there for masses. However, I guess one could argue that this makes ND a little more diverse. As I asked earlier, can anyone explain what is the purpose of the Rectors in each dorm? Am I to believe that perhaps we are expecting too much? Certainly, I do not expect a Rector to monitor every single activity of each of its residents.</p>
<p>Homers,
Liberal does not mean anti-Catholic. In fact, as someone who describes herself as a liberal catholic, I find that kind of offensive. Also, I like that Notre Dame is allowing the presence of different views on campus…seems to me that this allows for a healthy university environment.</p>
<p>“Being liberal is fine, but being pro-choice is not.”</p>
<p>I really think that we should avoid discussing politics with religion. There are plenty of pro-choicers, who actually would never have an abortion for personal (and religious) reasons, but believe that the government has no business legislating what goes on inside a woman’s uterus. Law should be separate from a person’s own religious convictions. </p>
<p>Also, more generally, both parties have policies that are in conflict with at least some Catholic values, as was alluded to by someone above. I would argue that in many ways, the Republican party, with its bias for the rich, penchant for war and nation building, disregard for the poor, abandonment of social programs, public schools, and the homeless, position on capital punishment, and lacksidaisical policies regarding civil and human rights, is actually set in opposition to Catholic Social Teaching.</p>
<p>PrincessND - I’m sorry, I did not make myself clear. I did not mean to refer to any political persuasion but specifically to members of the philosophy department who have an anti-catholic bias. I have listened to negative comments about the “cult of Mary” and the Pope - very anti-catholic.</p>
<p>Princess ND, while I certainly disagree with almost everything you just said and do take offense to it, I’d also like to point out that you just said you wanted to keep politics out of it and then decided to go on a rant about it.</p>
<p>please, let’s officially keep politics out of a thread regarding dorms</p>
<p>irish68178: As a Catholic, I do not understand the position of other Catholics that abortion trumps all other issues. A strong pro-life candidate who also actively opposes minimum wage and the ability for workers to organize and who supports invading defenseless countries is better than a pro-choice or neutral candidate who works hard for economic justice and peace?</p>
<p>I really do not understand that, particularly when poor economic conditions and conflict in the world lead women to believe there is no way they can care for a child. That’s blaming the victim.</p>
<p>The Catholic church is for the sanctity of all human life. Rabid pro-lifers seem to take the position that some life is more equal than others.</p>
<p>“As a Catholic, I do not understand the position of other Catholics that abortion trumps all other issues. A strong pro-life candidate who also actively opposes minimum wage and the ability for workers to organize and who supports invading defenseless countries is better than a pro-choice or neutral candidate who works hard for economic justice and peace?”</p>
<p>Here’s the difference. The Catholic Church has consistently taught that abortion is a serious sin. Period. But Catholics are free to support or oppose minimum wage legislation, union organization bills, and even the war in Iraq. The Church teaches that we must care for the poor and oppressed, but does NOT require that we do so by, for example, supporting an increased minimum wage rather than tax credits for training unskilled workers. Likewise, the Church condemns unjust wars, but leaves to the competent government authorities the decision whether to engage in war. </p>
<p>“Economic justice and peace” can be pursued through various legitimate means, including simplifying the tax code to prevent middle-class families from being sucked into the alternative minimum tax, increasing the minimum wage, allowing parents to use vouchers to escape bad inner-city schools, and ending the preferential tax treatment of employer-provided health insurance premiums.<br>
Abortion “trumps” all other issues because it is so very wrong, and because it harms women rather than helping them.</p>