Comments on: Potential restrictive speaker rules would weaken Catholic intellectual tradition

By: Michael Blissenbach

Michael Blissenbach — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:35:24 +0000

Unless anyone else has any further comments or questions for me, this will be my last post in this particular discussion.
I want to close with an excerpt from a message from the Venerable Pope John Paul II. In this excerpt, Pope John Paul II addresses the youth, and his words are as follows:
“”Let yourself be summoned by the love of Christ, recognize His voice which rings in the temple of your heart.
Have no fear of the fact that the response He requires is radical, because Jesus, who first loved you, is ready to give what He asks of you.
If He asks much it is because He knows that you can give much.”
May God bless you and all who set foot on the St. Thomas campus.

By: Michael Blissenbach

Michael Blissenbach — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:29:19 +0000

Mr. Commers,
Although it is clear we disagree as to what the role of a Catholic university is, I want to thank you and all who have commented on this forum for the honesty, charity, and straightforwardness of your remarks. I greatly appreciate that.
Also, Mr. Commers, in my experience, a person’s most deeply held beliefs shapes how that person sees the world. The same can be said for religions. A Catholic worldview is shaped by the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and so a Catholic views the world through the lens of those teachings. A Buddhist would view the world through the teachings of Buddhism, and a Jew would view the world through the teachings of Judaism, and so a Catholic, a Buddhist, and a Jew would see the world very differently because the three religions teach very different things.
I don’t understand why you didn’t think my post showing the differences of beliefs of the three religions regarding whether or not there is a God was disappointing. Perhaps I misunderstood your question, since for me reality includes the supernatural as well as the natural. Perhaps for you reality is only the natural?

By: Bjorn Commers

Bjorn Commers — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:54:41 +0000

Thanks for the response, Mr. Blissenbach. For some reason I didn’t see your response earlier which is why I asked the same question again (maybe there was a delay in the moderator accepting the comment or something). To be honest I found the response largely unsatisfying however because you didn’t provide a concrete example of how Catholics see the physical world differently, you simply explained how the religions’ belief systems differ. But I won’t press the matter any further because that topic isn’t entirely relevant to the speaker policy. I’ll bow out of this discussion now because there is little else to say. We both have fundamentally different ideas about what is best for a university and it’s quite clear neither of us will change the other’s mind. I will still check this page occasionally in the coming days in case someone would like me to clarify one of the points I have made above but beyond that I will be done with this discussion. I’ll just end by wishing all the current Tommies good luck in opposing this policy and I hope that UST will continue to value intellectual freedom and diversity of opinion in the future.

By: Kathryn Pogin

Kathryn Pogin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:34:00 +0000

Michael (and Thomas)- if you think the speaker policy ought to be made more specific, or interpreted to allow the above scenarios, then it’s essentially no different then the policy we have now. Obviously, if the archdiocese wants to institute it, then they don’t have that interpretation in mind.

By: Thomas F. Schraad

Thomas F. Schraad — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:10:51 +0000

I am also a former alumnus of St. Thomas College (this gives you an idea of my age) and I also fully support the policy that the Archbishop has presented. The people commenting presented some good arguments against the policy but Michael Blissenbach was astounding in his precise accurate reply to each of their objections.

Michael, you did an excellent presentation in defending the reason why St. Thomas should be a Catholic institution and not a secular school for learning.

Thank you for your contribution to this article.

By: Bjorn Commers

Bjorn Commers — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:59:36 +0000

And also, Mr. Blissenbach, I am still interested in hearing your response to my earlier question about your op-ed piece. My question again: can you provide a concrete example of how one can “see the world through a Catholic’s eyes” as opposed to seeing the world through the eyes of any other world religion? This was one of the primary issues I took with your piece because your op-ed piece made many vague statements about the importance of “seeing the world through a Catholic’s eyes” and yet failed to provide any concrete examples of why the same statement cannot be applied to any religion. I, for one, believe that it is beneficial to look at the world from the viewpoint of multiple religions and not only Catholicism.

By: Bjorn Commers

Bjorn Commers — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:46:46 +0000

First, Mr. Blissenbach, my definition of a “competitive” university does not include the University of Minnesota, although the U of M is indeed a very good school. Secondly, I find it to be a gross exaggeration for you to call the University of Minnesota hostile to religion as a result of a single play put on by a few people in the Theater department. The production, by the way, was in no way intended to be anti-Catholic or anti-Jew or anti-anything, as the director is quoted as saying.

By: Michael Blissenbach

Michael Blissenbach — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:13:08 +0000

Mr. Commers,
Since Catholics, Jews, and Buddhists have very different beliefs, it would make sense that looking at the world through Catholic eyes is very different from looking at the world through Jewish eyes or Buddhist eyes. But, since you wanted an example, I thought of one.
Judaism, Catholicism, and Buddhism disagree on God. Buddhists don’t believe that there is a God or any sort of supreme being, Jews believe in God but believe that He is one being and one person, whereas Catholics believe that God is one God composed of three consubstantial persons (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), or a trinitarian conception of who God is.
Just out of curiosity, what is your religious background? You don’t have to answer, but if you did it’d help me understand where you’re coming from.

By: Michael Blissenbach

Michael Blissenbach — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:58:34 +0000

“Mr. Blissenbach, I actually already read your op-ed when it was first posted a while ago.”
Good, I was starting to wonder whether anyone read it or not, since no one commented on it.

” I was thinking of commenting on it but decided against it. I suppose now that it’s been brought up again I’ll ask the question I had been planning on asking. Namely, is there really a difference between “seeing the world through a Catholic’s eyes” as opposed to seeing the world through the eyes of another religion? Can you give an example where a Catholic would see something differently than a Jew or a Buddhist?”
Absolutely. Thanks for asking! I’ll post an example as a separate comment in a minute or so

“I had other issues with your piece as well but I’m not going to bother getting into them.”
I don’t mind critical comments, and I’d really like to know what issues you have with my op-ed, but if you don’t want to get into them, then that’s fine.

By: Michael Blissenbach

Michael Blissenbach — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:55:12 +0000

“Sorry, forgot to mention why: Muslim scholar, because clearly their previous writings and presentations are from a Muslim perspective, not Catholic, and a Muslim lifestyle is not a Catholic lifestyle. Biology lecturer, because one could easily argue that someone who donates money to a mosque is living a lifestyle at variance wtih Catholic teaching as well. Or say the biology lecturer has given a presentation in the past advocating Islam, but their presentation on campus is strictly on biology. That would also violate the policy.”

Sorry it took a while to get back to you. I could see how these examples could violate the policy, but they could also meet the requirements of the policy. I think the policy is fair, but if it were implemented at St. Thomas, we would need much more clarification as to what is and isn’t permissible, particularly with regard to non-Catholic speakers and interfaith dialogue events.