Blacks vs. pro-lifers on Obama at Notre Dame?
On April 5, Palm Sunday, the pro-life student group NDResponse.com sponsored a rally at Notre Dame with over 400 participants – during spring break – to prayerfully protest its invitation to President Barack Obama to speak at its May 17 commencement.
The following WSBT.com video spotlighted the event but added in the intro, “But… supporters of the president also showed up.” I noted the 2 Obama fans WSBT interviewed were both black, recalling this president who decries racism got 95% of the black vote.
Then I spotted an April 6 Fox28.com news piece, “Notre Dame students rally in support of Obama”…
Notre Dame students got together Monday night at the LaFortune Student Center to support the school’s commencement invitation to President Obama.
The Black Cultural Arts Council and the NAACP were among the groups signing a petition asking university officials not to rescind the invitation to the president.
The news video shows only black participants…
… and the student interviewed, Amber Travis, tried to make the debate one of race:
The United States have finally come together as a people, as a cul-, as a country, and then for, you know, for this to happen, it’s like really saddening, for, you know, not only me but my classmates, for my schoolmates, it’s saddening for a lot of us, that it’s even going on in the first place.
In, fact, as everyone knows, the complaints against Obama speaking at Notre Dame have universally focused on his radical support of abortion.
On one hand it is insulting to make the uproar about Obama’s appearance into one about race. On the other, if black students really want to go there, there is plenty of evidence the abortion industry targets African-Americans. While blacks comprise only 12% of the population, they account for 37% of all abortions.
If ND black student groups want to have a discussion about race as it enters into Obama’s appearance at Notre Dame, it might not be a bad idea, affording a teaching moment…
[Signs courtesy of the Center for Bioethical Reform]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Many of you know that my grandfather had a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=284714
In addition to an obituary his local paper printed that story on him.
In lieu of flowers he requested funding be sent to Parkinson’s research foundations, much of which is now going to be devoted to ESCR. And I’m thrilled for that.
Gotta love the signs. They speak volumes.
I’m sorry for your loss, Erin. I just wish ESCR proponents would stop advocating for research that kills the weak in an effort to heal the sick.
Erin: “And I’m thrilled for that.”
What makes you happy about this? What information leads you to believe that ESCR will be more effective than ASCR? Heck, what research leads you to believe it will be effective at all? Forget the moral transgression for a minute. Specifically what about ESCR is practical?
Surely you arent invoking your father’s death simply to advance a political agenda?
I just dont understand why the pro-choice side is desperate to hurt the unborn when there are not only more moral options but also more practical options. Seems to me to be a case of cutting off the nose to spite the face.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/24159.php
http://www.the-aps.org/press/journal/04/23.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051012084443.htm
There’s a few reasons we need more free reign to use these resources.
I have no problem with exploring ASCR. But we need BOTH.
And he was my grandfather, not my father, Oliver. A man who would GLADLY(and did) use his diagnosis as a reason for political activism.
Its ridiculous but not surprising that people are trying to make this about race. And Jill is right, blacks proportionatly have far more abortions that white women.
“I have no problem with exploring ASCR. But we need BOTH.
Posted by: Erin at April 8, 2009 1:28 PM”
=========================================
Why do we need BOTH? After so many years of research and so much money thrown into them…we have documented results of the cures by ASCR and we have none for ESCR…
Is that money well spent?
(*never mind the political activism part of it)
“..tried to make the debate one of race”
Just shows you how ‘well-informed’ these people are on the issue…even one on their doorstep.
We have 8 years more of thorough experimentation and funding for ASCR. ESCR hasn’t even had remotely that type of chance(especially in the US) because of restrictions on methods of experimentation and use of blastocysts.
So yes, stringently and thoroughly examining each aspect of BOTH camps is certainly money well spent when both aim and may well achieve such important medical goals.
Erin,
There were no restrictions on methods at all. The only thing that could even be considered a restriction is FEDERAL funding for embryonic stem cell lines that were derived after Aug 9 2001 (or somewhere close to that date). Private investors have always been able to put money into experimentation on human embryos. And the 30 or so embryonic stem cell lines that were derived before August 2001 DID (and still do) qualify for federal funding. So there has ALWAYS been federal funding for research on SOME embryonic stem cells.
Bobby- do you understand, then, how the amount of funding and research that was done on ADULT stem cells in that time period was quite obviously more productive and less inhibited by financial and cell line access? I can understand the fact that people don’t want to use ESCs because they think it’s wrong. But to dismiss research that HASN’T EVEN HAPPENED YET seems ridiculous.
Where are the cries of racism? Isn’t the race card the first one played?
He also is attacking freedom of conscience this week.
“I can understand the fact that people don’t want to use ESCs because they think it’s wrong.”
————————————
“Think” it’s wrong? Try “KNOW”.
Obama’s lapdog media is a real disgrace to journalism…now they’re playing the race card.
I’m an African American. I am personally ashamed at how many in the black community have cleaved to a man who is radically pro-abort. Abortion is one of the BIGGEST killers of black babies in America. The logic behind their support is that this guy is black and that’s all. There is no sound reasoning. It’s embarrassing because they are willing to overlook the issues based on the color of a man’s skin!
Erin,
Firstly, I want to say to you, I am sorry to hear of your Grandfathers death. I will pray for your family as you all grieve his death.
Next I want to ask you, do you believe what Dr. Oz says? He believes escr is dead.
I have a child with diabetes. Many people think that a cure can be found for diabetes with escr.
I just cannot accept that it is good to kill another person so that my child will live life without diabetes.
I think the problem is many people don’t see a child in the womb as an individual that deserves life. We are becoming desensitized to what is human life and what has the right to life. If we take the right to life away from a young baby in the womb, we are starting down a slippery slope to taking away the right from others too.
Therese, an embryo used for ESCR is not a child nor is it in a womb. It is frozen in a petri dish and none of those cell lines are ever going to be implanted. They’ll just languish there frozen for eternity.
Idle frozen embryo vs. potential to save lives.
No contest.
Dr. Oz has his medical opinion. Many other doctors and researchers disagree. No consensus will be reached in the matter until the options are fully explored. And that’s what I’m thankful that we’re going to be able to do now that the restrictions on that research has been lifted. I will welcome with open arms any cures adult stem cells bring about. I will also welcome any developments embryonic stem cells bring about. This is not a ‘one or the other’ situation. We don’t stop researching cures for cancer because we found chemotherapy, or bacterial treatments because we have antibiotics. Cellular research is no different.
I rest my case. You don’t recognise the embryo as a child because you have become desensitized to what is human life and what isn’t.
Being in a petri dish doesn’t make the child not a child. It is a human deserving of the protection that you are.
Why do you believe Dr. Oz is wrong and other doctors are right? What evidence are you basing your belief on?
Therese, I already linked to three separate trials farther up in the thread comments that indicate significant progress with ESCR. You may look through those.
Intellectual honesty demands that we take a serious, open-minded look at the empirical evidence. In the case of the black students favoring Obama’s visit to ND, it clearly reflects the overwhelming support Obama enjoys among blacks in all levels of society. That many ND students of all racial backrounds do not know the basic precepts of their Catholic faith is no surprise, given the half hearted attempts to teach it there for the past several decades.
As to the effectiveness of ESCR vs. other other sources there is no denying the overwhelming successes of the latter. Honesty compels us to recognize that embryos, whether in utero or in a petri dish, are human life. If we can take a utilitarian view of human life, it is the first step down a slippery slope, one which the pictures show how badly that can go.
Why do you believe Dr. Oz is wrong and other doctors are right? What evidence are you basing your belief on?
Posted by: Therese at April 8, 2009 5:48 PM
Erin didn’t say Dr. Oz was wrong, she said we need to do more research to find out. And I agree with Erin. (as usual)
Erin,
sorry about your grandfather.
Cracks me up how often people hi-jack Jill’s threads
for their own agenda – off topic alert!
Idle frozen embryo vs. potential to save lives.
No contest.
Yes there is a contest: you are sacrificing a life to save another. A frozen embryo IS a living human being. It is not a child, nor is it an infant. These are stages in human development. It is a human embryo, another stage in human development but no less human. Why do you believe that some stages of development are less human than others?
I have to state that I am very disappointed in the number of people who showed up at ND for the prayer meeting. For a Catholic university this is disgraceful. No one wonder this invitation even happened in the first place.
So both people interviewed were African American – so what. African Americans are not a monolithic group anymore than are whites or catholics or any other group. More often than not, when interviews are done both people are white. I think you brought up the race issue for spurious reasons
“and the student interviewed, Amber Travis, tried to make the debate one of race:
The United States have finally come together as a people, as a cul-, as a country, and then for, you know, for this to happen, it’s like really saddening, for, you know, not only me but my classmates, for my schoolmates, it’s saddening for a lot of us, that it’s even going on in the first place.”
– I dont think she mentioned race in this quote. I think youre obsessed with black people as being race-obsessed. Really, the obsession is yours. Again, as with the fact that both people interviewed were black… this is another case of SO WHAT!
What is the difference between Bill Clinton and PBHO?
PBHO smoke cigarettes and Bill Clinton prefers cigars!
What do PBHO and Bill Clinton have in common?
Neither one is African-American!
If intelligence was dynamite PBHO would not have enough power to blow his nose.
I am still waiting to see photos of the monument that is to be built to mark the place of PBHO’s birth.
Oh yeah, PBHO where’s the dog, dude?
Your making the Irish and the African look bad.
I know you do not want to punish them with a ‘baby’, but a puppy is kinda fun.
Get them a dog that has not yet been neutered or spayed, then your daughtere can experience the miracle of new life.
I recommend a cross between a bull terrier and a Shih-Tzu?
I mean it would just be a perfect fit for ‘you’.
yor bro ken
Ken, was that really necessary? Feeling the need to vent? I understand you disagree with some (all?) of Obama’s policies, but that post last night was devoid of substance, politics, or even criticism. It was just rude.
(not even terribly rude, just mildly rude)
I am so sorry for your loss, Erin.
Being small does not make one nonhuman or worthless. My 12-day-old embryo is every bit as alive and human and precious as my 11-month old daughter, and I love them both.
All of the statistics on abortions of black children ignore something.
Not all black children have black mommies.
I suspect that children of white women and black men are aborted at a very high rate.
I think we tend to overlook the fact that researchers get paid whether they ever find anything useful or not. Private investors demand results and a profitable product. Maybe that is why private dollars went to ASCR. Simple market forces.