Opinion
Irish fighting for climate justice
Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016
Have you seen orange felt squares pinned to any backpacks lately? Has anybody come to your class recently to speak about a climate justice campaign? Or maybe you heard about us from the recent Observer article, “Dear Father Jenkins.” Fossil Free ND, a student-led divestment campaign, is responsible for all of these things. Their belief is simply this — if it is wrong to wreck the climate, it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. Specifically, this wreckage is a direct consequence of the burning of fossil fuels, which is rapidly altering the climate. Sadly, our Lady’s University is profiting from this wreckage by investing a $400 million of the University’s endowment in fossil fuel industries. So, why orange? Orange is the chosen color of divestment — a purposeful departure from the green representative of environmentalism — to highlight the fact that the issue of divestment, specifically from fossil fuels, is not merely an environmental issue, but a social and political justice issue as well.
Inspiring innovation: America's duty to its public education system
By
Sarah Hynds
· Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016
Don't feel obligated to vote
Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016
Whether it’s to prevent the worse of two evils from getting inaugurated, engage in public duty or display honor for those that have perished for this right, many clubs and organizations on campus have pushed to ensure the largest turnout of votes possible in the upcoming election. My response is this: If neither candidate has convinced you that the world would be better off should they make it to office, then don’t make it an obligation to choose.
Vote: one Catholic's perspective
Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016
Each of us knows someone who has voiced frustration about the upcoming presidential election akin to the following: “They’re both just so bad; I can’t vote for either of them.” You may even be one of those people. I understand your frustration. Many of us are, if not far past the point where we can stand hearing another insult or soundbite aimed across the aisle, just about on our last nerve. Still, such an exasperated conclusion deserves to be re-examined for several reasons. Here I would like to make an important distinction between conscious abstention and a failure to bother. I respect the decision of those who have concluded after much prayerful reflection that they cannot in good conscience vote for either Mr. Trump or Secretary Clinton in the general election. I nevertheless exhort these people to go to the polls and vote for the other elections on the ballot. For whether it is a contested Senate race, an unexpectedly close gubernatorial tie, or a neck-and-neck municipal election with significant local implications, this election cycle in its totality deserves our conscious attention. There are grave social, economic, political and ideological consequences at stake in every state and district. To abstain from all of these elections on account of the one that dominates the news cycle would be a disservice to them all. Moreover, the Catholic social tradition, to which each of us has received varying degrees of exposure during our respective careers here at Notre Dame, offers compelling insight into our civic responsibilities, which carry particular gravity during election season.
