Posted on 05/27/2003 11:25:49 AM PDT by Remedy
FRONT ROYAL, Va. — "We need to summon the moral strength to create a civilization of peace and justice, and of course, of love," said U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) to Christendom College’s graduating class of 2003. "This is where you come in. I believe of all the great gifts God has given to the young, the greatest of these are energy, idealism, and rebelliousness. I want to challenge each and every one of you to be a radical, to be a rebel, to rebel against the popular culture. Your task will not be an easy one. You must overcome the temptation of silence."
On May 17, during the graduation ceremony held in Crusader Gymnasium, Christendom College President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell awarded Sen. Santorum Christendom College’s Pro Deo et Patria Medal for Distinguished Service to God and Country, after which he delivered the commencement address.
Dr. O’Donnell’s introduction of Sen. Santorum was interrupted on three different occasions by animated clapping and standing ovations by the enthusiastic audience.
Sen. Santorum has indeed overcome the temptation of silence in recent weeks. At the beginning of May, Santorum was accused of hate speech and bigotry for his comments he made to a reporter on the Texas law banning sodomy.
"Virtue is a word fraught with controversy today," he said, referring to his interview which was distorted by activists both within and outside the press. "I tried to articulate the nature of marriage, the good of marriage," he said, "but making a defense of marriage is often characterized as hate speech these days."
Santorum told the graduates that when they are rebelling against modern culture, they are not called by God to be necessarily successful, but rather to be faithful. He explained his point by telling a story about how, back in 1998, when former President Bill Clinton had vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban, the Senate voted to overturn Clinton’s veto. He explained that it was not overturned by a margin of two votes. Santorum, though, had spent much of the night before trying to convince his fellow senators, only to realize that he could not change even one vote.
However, a week later, Santorum received an e-mail from a man who said he and his girlfriend had heard Santorum’s speech against partial-birth abortion on television. The girlfriend started crying and said she had scheduled an abortion for the following day. "She did not have the abortion the next day. There is now a little girl who’s four years old, who was adopted by two loving parents," he said. "To this world, I failed. But God was faithful."
Prior to the commencement ceremonies, Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., offered the baccalaureate Mass in the Chapel of Christ the King and delivered the homily. Cardinal Dulles chose to speak on a special theme of Christ’s which is very near and dear to Christendom College: The Way, the Truth, and the Life. In fact, these words appear in the college’s logo.
Treasure the fact that you have been given a Catholic education in which the truth of Revelation was not severed from the truth of the human sciences," exhorted Cardinal Dulles. "There are many rivers of truth, but in the end they merge into one undivided stream. When the perennial questions are seriously asked, Christ can be recognized as the encompassing truth. Truth in the end turns out to be a Person, a Person whom we encounter both in the proclamation of the Gospel and in the ministry of the sacraments."
He concluded by saying that "at Christendom College you have . . . learned to love the Eucharist. Take that love with you wherever you go. The more your life is centered on this sacrament of sacraments, the more energized will it be in all its dimensions. Neither death nor life nor anything under Heaven will be able to separate you from Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
Cardinal Dulles was also awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters during commencement exercises. Christendom College conferred 73 bachelor of arts and three associate of arts degrees on its graduating class, making the class of 2003 the largest in the college’s 25-year history.
Santorum told the graduates that when they are rebelling against modern culture, they are not called by God to be necessarily successful, but rather to be faithful.
MURDER : Why Abortion Isn't ImportantDoes that mean I advocate that pro-lifers should stop being obsessed by matters affecting the sanctity of life? Of course not. If we are not obsessed by life and death, we might as well not be obsessed by anything. What I do advocate, however, is that pro-lifers increase their obsession-not just with life matters, but with the whole state of Western society. We need to be obsessed by the state of utter desolation into which Western society is throwing itself. It may well be (as I believe) that what is left of Western civilization is doomed to extinction-but doing and caring nothing about it is just not an option. It is not only on what we achieve (and we may achieve a lot in the short or medium term), but on what we defend that we will be judged. This is where you come in. I believe of all the great gifts God has given to the young, the greatest of these are energy, idealism, and rebelliousness.
The Restorationist Rebellion Miss Georgia Hamann, age 17, is a student at Pensacola Christian College and a veteran of the Robert Welch University summer camp program.
A counterculture teen may differ from his peers in his tastes, but a restorationist is much more than a person who despises decadent music, piercing, and obscene clothing. Restorationists are primarily defined by an unshakeable passionate resolve. Our values are not mere intellectual ideals. Our resolve consists of an ardent zeal united with a strong character that motivates us to act on our beliefs. Because we believe in God, we are resolved that we will maintain our life of virtue despite the temporary pleasures we may sacrifice. Because we believe in family, we are resolved that we will maintain a single-income, home-educated household despite the resultant economic hardships. Because we believe in our country, we are resolved that we will uphold the Constitution and work to restore it, despite the sacrifice we make in time and effort.
They're called Generation Y, the Millennials and Echo Boomers. Regardless of what they're called, there are 60 million of them currently between the ages of 8 and 23, compared to the mere 17 million in Generation X before them.
Advertisers caught on very quickly, recognizing the tremendous buying power of this upcoming generation, and adjusted their messages and products accordingly.
Now everything from politicians to church groups are studying, analyzing and trying to influence this upcoming generation of young adults. They all recognize that the sheer numbers provide this generation with the ability to change society and political landscapes of the future.
The good news is, Gen Yers are spiritual, optimistic, ambitious and idealistic. They want the truth and want to do what's right. This generation does not want to be like their parents. They want to be and do better. Since many come from homes of divorce and/or are latchkey kids, they want stable marriages and homes for themselves and their children. Gen Yers are also primarily pro-life on abortion. They believe the unborn child is "pure potential" and could be the very person who finds a cure for cancer or AIDS.
This generation is also highly intelligent, inquisitive and accustomed to getting information with the click of a mouse. They are, in fact, the computer generation.
Do they have insecurities, problems, peer and adult pressures and concerns of all kinds? Of course they do - they're growing adolescents. The real question is: Will they maintain their current positive attitudes and pro-life/pro-family values into adulthood? That all depends upon who reaches their hearts and minds over the next several years.
The Internet is the Gen Y medium of choice, beating out TV, radio and even the telephone. They get all of their information, talk with friends and make decisions "on line." Everything is only a click away. In January 2001, Gen Y ranked second only to the 35-to-49-year-old business users in Internet use per month and will likely exceed them in 2003. Their primary uses of the Internet are to communicate, be entertained and acquire information.
Based upon three years of research and a year's worth of website development, The Caring Foundation is launching a multifaceted website designed specifically for the Gen Yers with a target date of January 20 or soon thereafter. The site's content, design, interactivity, etc., have been evaluated and approved by demographically and ethnically diverse teens from across the country.
Quick Comebacks
This part of the site provides fetal development facts in the form of quick, cool comebacks in everyday conversations with friends and parents. These will connect their experiences before birth with who they are today.
gravityteen.com
Mr. Santorum talks a great game, but he has to explain to me why a New Jersey resident like me should ever take him seriously again after he came through this state a few years ago campaigning for the most rabidly pro-abortion Republican in the country, Christie Todd Whitman.
I wonder how much time he spent trying to convince her not to veto New Jersey's partial birth abortion ban. /sarcasm off/
Gotta LOVE it!
1999-2000 On the votes that the National Right to Life Committee considered to be the most important in 1999-2000, Senator Santorum voted their preferred position 100 percent of the time.
Q. Sir, on May 6th, on the floor of the house you asked the question: "Are the American people determined they still wish to have a Constitutional Republic." How would you answer that question, Sir?
A. A growing number of Americans want it, but a minority, and that is why we are losing this fight in Washington at the moment. That isn't as discouraging as it sounds, because if you had asked me that in 1976 when I first came to Washington, I would have said there were a lot fewer who wanted it then. We have drifted along and, although we have still enjoyed a lot of prosperity in the last twenty-five years, we have further undermined the principles of the Constitution and private property market economy. Therefore, I think we have to continue to do what we are doing to get a larger number. But if we took a vote in this country and told them what it meant to live in a Constitutional Republic and what it would mean if you had a Congress dedicated to the Constitution they would probably reject it. It reminds me of a statement by Walter Williams when he said that if you had two candidates for office, one running on the programs of Stalin and the other running on the programs of Jefferson the American people would probably vote for the candidate who represented the programs of Stalin. If you didn't put the name on it and just looked at the programs, they would say, Oh yeah, we believe in national health care and we believe in free education for everybody and we believe we should have gun control. Therefore, the majority of the people would probably reject Thomas Jefferson. So that describes the difficulty, but then again, we have to look at some of the positive things which means that we just need more people dedicated to the rule of law. Otherwise, there will be nothing left here within a short time.
Federalist No. 51, by Publius; Federalist No. 51 Page 1
But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?
Which parallel universe are you rotating in?
(sarcasm) The one where the people think that homosexuality is more dangerious than tyranny of government.
You've given me a good rationale for voting for Whitman, but this doesn't mean Santorum has any reason to make an effort to get a fellow Republican elected to a statewide office (in another state!) despite this Republican's pro-abortion credentials.
Another interesting note -- if the New Jersey Republican Party sees no danger in bringing in a staunch pro-lifer like Santorum to campaign for their candidates, then why the hell don't they ever support a pro-life Republican in a statewide election????
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