Tom Reese, whose qualifications to speak on behalf of young Catholics are nearly as impressive as the President's qualifications as a "very professorial" economist.The kids "were dying to get into the hall" when the President spoke.
Oh, and about that hall. A bit of unpleasantness arose when it came to light that Georgetown had covered up the name of Jesus, at the request of White House operatives, on the podium where Obama spoke.
Father Reese saw no special significance in that gesture. It was just a matter of creating clean sight lines, he said. "They don't want distractions that would make the eye wander,"he explained.
Why, again, was the name of Jesus hidden?
"I don't think this is motivated by theology, but by communications strategy," Father Reese assures us.
And you know what? He's right. Georgetown and the White House were united in the desire to communicate a message. A political message: a positive message about the President's economic program.
There was important work to be done at the nation's oldest Catholic university, and we couldn't allow those enthusiastic students any to be distracted by the name of Jesus.Questions about theology-- about God, about Jesus Christ, whose Resurrection we celebrate this week-- never crossed their minds.
Link (here) to the full op-ed piece.
Photo is from a pro-life rally at Georgetown during the Presidents speech were a man is holding a picture of Jesus and a man in a Presindent Barak Obama mask is hold a pro-life sign. (here)
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