More than 100 faculty at Boston College, following the lead of two leading theologians, signed on to a letter strongly disagreeing with the college administration's decision to grant Condoleeza Rice an honorary degree at the May commencement. They say that "Secretary Rice's approach to international affairs is in fundamental conflict with Boston College's commitment to the values of the Catholic and Jesuit traditions and is inconsistent with the humanistic values that inspire the university's work." Secretary Rice's approach to international affairs is consistent with at least some Catholic tradition--the tradition of the Crusades most obviously.
Below is the text of the Boston College faculty protest letter.
Condoleezza Rice Does Not Deserve a Boston College Honorary Degree
We, the undersigned members of the faculty at Boston College, strongly disagree with the decision of the university's leadership to grant Condoleezza Rice an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and to invite her to address the 2006 commencement. On the levels of both moral principle and practical moral judgment, Secretary Rice's approach to international affairs is in fundamental conflict with Boston College's commitment to the values of the Catholic and Jesuit traditions and is inconsistent with the humanistic values that inspire the university's work.
As a matter of moral principle, Rice maintains that U.S. foreign policy should be based on U.S. national interest and not on what she calls the interests of an "illusory international community." This stands in disturbing contrast with the Catholic and humanistic conviction that all people are linked together in a single human family and that all nations in our interdependent world have a duty to protect "the common good of the entire human family."
On the level of practical judgment, Rice has helped develop and implement the strategic policies that have guided the United States in the tragic war in Iraq. Pope John Paul II and the United States Catholic bishops opposed initiating this war on ethical grounds. We also believe the policies that have shaped the war's ongoing conduct cannot be justified in light of the moral values of the Catholic tradition or the norms of international law.
For these reasons, we object to Boston College honoring Condoleezza Rice at its 2006 commencement. Doing so contradicts the university's Catholic, Jesuit, and humanistic identity.
4 comments:
"Secretary Rice's approach to international affairs is consistent with at least some Catholic tradition--the tradition of the Crusades most obviously."
So you think Rice has religious motives behind the war in Iraq?
Rice's religious motives can be found in Carl Sandburg's 1919 poem, "To a Contemporary Bunkshooter".
At least the Crusaders took up arms and departed on the missions themselves. As shocking to our modern sensibilities as many of their actions are they, the hallowed knights themseves, populated the front lines in their encounters. The current group of criminals send other people's children to die for questionable ends. Ms. Rice is way over her thousand dollar slippers in the mire. She belongs to George Bush and Richard Cheney. Her handprints are all over their useless war.
Assigning motive to any action is difficult, which is why the statement talks about Rice's "approach" to international affairs. By analogy, I think Jim Doyle's approach to governing is consistent with what one would see among the management of a third-rate corporation, but I don't know if he has corporate motives. He, like Rice, might be motivated by a multitude of factors (e.g. ambition, quest for power, idealism, etc.) that even he may not fully be aware of.
The Crusades were led by zealots who relied on uncritical subordinates to put their invasion plans in place. Condi is one of the uncritical subordinates.
All of the instigators, zealots and subordinates, are safely on this side of the ocean except for furtive midnight forays into the Green Zone.
The people who fight and die, those who shed their blood, are almost exclusively raw young people who volunteered to protect our country (if not for the cash to go to school).
They are largely the poor and of minority status. They are good young people who are being sacrificed for the dreams and ambitions of this administration. George Bush and his henchmen, including Condi, dressed themselves in the costumes of leaders and SENT "the troops" into a nightmare none of them understand.
We are "waist deep in the Big Muddy and the big fool says to push on". It is as simple...and woefully complex as that.
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