Those who disagree with or oppose the invitation of President Obama as commencement speaker at Notre Dame University have been largely dismissed as being closed minded and other such euphemisms. Critics of the invitation have been told in no uncertain terms that they need to remain open to all sides of public debate. Meanwhile, in a parallel universe not far away, University of Vermont officials dropped conservative Ben Stein as their commencement speaker because their invitation “touched off a firestorm of critical emails from people objecting to Stein's take on evolution.” (The Huffington Post, 4/6/09. Mr. Stein was invited on the basis of his lectures on economics, by the way.) How interesting. On the one hand, it is critical that a university campus ignore protests and remain open to diversity and a wide range of ideology, but on the other hand, it is critical that a university campus cave in to protests and protect its students from diversity and alternative ideology.
There is a descriptive word for this - give me just a moment. I’ve got it! It is called hypocrisy! College campuses are filled with hypocrites. As a pastor, I know all about dealing with hypocrisy. I am told often enough that “I don’t go to church because it’s full of hypocrites.” Voila! We deal with hypocrisy by avoiding those places where hypocrites gather. Colleges are full of hypocrites; therefore, we should avoid going to colleges. Somehow, though, I think that plenty of people will find ways to overcome their hypocritophobia when college football and basketball seasons roll around. Even people who express their disgust for hypocrisy will still go to and visit college campuses in spite of them being filled with hypocrites. There is a descriptive word for this, too. Amazingly, it is the same word I used above - hypocrisy. See you in church.
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