Still, opposition to abortion is hard and real, the signpost at the intersection of Catholicism and American public life. And those who\u201d\u201dby inclination, or politics, or class distinction\u201d\u201dfail to grasp this fact will all eventually find themselves in the situation that Fr. Jenkins has now created for himself. Culturally out of touch, they rail that antagonism must derive from politics or the class envy of their lesser-educated social inferiors. But it doesn\u2019t. It derives from the sense of the faithful that abortion is important. It derives from the feeling of Catholics that, however far they themselves may have wandered, the Church ought to stand for something in public life\u201d\u201dand that something is opposition to abortion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a political game going on here, and part of that is that you demonize the people who disagree with you, you question their integrity, you challenge their character, and you brand these people as moral poison,\u201d\u009d Fr. Kenneth Himes, chairman of the theology department at Boston College, told the Boston Globe about the controversy at Notre Dame. As James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal noted, this was the same Fr. Himes who in 2006 wrote the faculty letter objecting to an honorary degree for Condoleezza Rice\u201d\u201da letter that read, \u201cOn the levels of both moral principle and practical moral judgment, Secretary Rice\u2019s approach to international affairs is in fundamental conflict with Boston College\u2019s commitment to the values of the Catholic and Jesuit traditions and is inconsistent with the humanistic values that inspire the university\u2019s work.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n