This is not, by the way, just a concern about the Catholic Church. There was a controversy during the President’s inauguration in which the Rabbinical Council of America, a modern orthodox rabbinical association, censured Rabbi Haskel Lookstein for attending the National Prayer Service because it was held at the National Cathedral (which is an Episcopal Church) and because it was an interfaith service.
Again, there’s some inside baseball here in terms of what the (Jewish) law actually forbids. But it’s noteworthy that in Rabbi Lookstein’s case, there was significant pushback even from within the orthodox community. One commenter, for example, wrote:
We recognize that a deeply-rooted historically-based reluctance exists within Orthodoxy to permit a Jew to participate in a Christian church service.
However there is an equally pervasive tradition in Orthodox rulings that encourages unfettered respect for a national leader, especially in a situation like this, the celebration of the inauguration of a new president.
My view is that the Catholic Church has a long head start on us Jews in its insistence on doctrinal purity even from non-Catholics because it has had a long history of wielding the power of the state. I think that we would find a similar attitude has taken root among orthodox Jews mostly after the foundation of the State of Israel, with its official Chief Rabbinate that wields significant political power. But that’s a bit off-the-cuff.
In any case, I think it’s a problem for an institution as important in American religious life as the Catholic Church to cut itself off from the civic sphere in this way. We often hear about how important organized religion is for America, but this is a two way street–American pluralism is important for organized religion. There aren’t very many places in the world where (1) people take religion seriously and (2) people of different religious views can share a pluralistic, democratic public sphere. Professor Glendon has, I think, set back the cause of American religious pluralism.
TedF
Not to mention the cause of free speech on university campuses, which I would had thought was something a law professor would favor. Particularly a conservative one, since it’s the conservatives who have lately been moaning about how conservative viewpoints on campuses are allegedly suppressed.
Oh—–I’m sorry. Being entitled to an opinion is somehow now hate speech.
Notre Dame is run by idiots. Mary Ann Glendon is an idiot. OK that’s two things.
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p>When you invite the PRESIDENT, and he says yes, you say thank you and greet him warmly when he arrives. End of story.
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if she really feels all that strongly about associating with people who don’t conform 100% to Catholic doctrine. Or she should have refused the honor in the first place, because Notre Dame accepts non-Catholic students and hires non-Catholic professors. Obviously, she simply feels it will give her more of an ego boost to thumb her nose at the President than it would be to receive this honor. There is no question that she is getting a lot more attention out of this. Shame on her.
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