HHR & ND

Some folks thought that the University of Notre Dame had "gone soft" on moral and political issues, especially in light of their invitation to President Obama to deliver the commencement address a few years ago.  If this is the thought-pattern you also have, I suggest it is time to think again...

On 10 February the Law School at Notre Dame issued a six-paragraph letter simply titled "Unacceptable."  It is a critique of the HHR mandate, and impressive as the letter itself is, what is far more impressive is the list of signatories.  Allow me to "do the math":

1.  The basic signatories are 5:  John Garvey, President of Catholic University in Washington, DC; Mary Ann Glendon, Robert George and Carter Snead, professors of law at Harvard, Princeton and Notre Dame; and Yuval Levin of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

2. University and College Professors who have signed include those from the following institutions:  University of Chicago, Stanford, Columbia, Georgetown, Princeton, Villanova, University of San Diego, Brigham Young, Jewish Theological Seminary, Yeshiva University, Valparaiso, University of St Thomas, Baylor, Wheaton College, Fordham, University of Alabama, George Mason, Franciscan University of Steubenville, University of Texas, University of South Carolina, Roanoke, University of San Francisco, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, etc.  This is a remarkable cross-section of Catholic "liberal" and "conservative," of Protestant and secular, of Christian and Jewish.  Religious freedom and 1st Amendment rights are not a narrowly denominational issue, as can be clearly seen by this list of names.

3.  The total number of signatories is 118, including journalists and writers as well as college & university faculty and officials.  Of these, 26 are faculty, adminstration or affiliated with the University of Notre Dame--or almost 1/4 of the total.  This should not be a suprise since the letter originated from Notre Dame.  It should rather be a matter of gratitude that it did.