by Tom Everett, Staff Writer, Irish Rover
Photos by Andrew Remick
The inaugural Bread of Life dinner, sponsored by the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, was hosted in the Oak Room of the South Dining Hall on February 18, 2009. The event featured a reflection on the right to life in our society by Carter Snead, associate professor of law, followed by a discussion over dinner. The event was made possible by the recently established Notre Dame Fund to Protect Human Life.
The primary stated goal of the fund is “to educate Notre Dame students in the rich intellectual tradition supporting the dignity of human life.” Snead, a member of the committee overseeing the fund, spoke on the false dichotomy in today’s political climate between issues of social justice and issues surrounding a culture of life. Describing abortion as the targeting of an entire group of vulnerable people for discrimination, Snead affirmed the right to life of the unborn child as one of the fundamental social justice issues of our time.
Snead characterized the issue of embryonic stem-cell research as the harming of one group of persons for the benefit of another group, noting that such a practice was ultimately “self-destructive.” He also touched on questions surrounding legal personhood, asserting that a new, genetically unique and self-directed life is created at the moment of conception, a truth that can be recognized without appeal to any particular religious belief.
He concluded with a challenge to the students, as future leaders, to keep issues of social justice in mind, especially those of rights for the unborn.
A discussion with students and professors over dinner followed the reflection. The dinner itself brought students holding a wide range of views on abortion together to share a meal at the same table, each offering their own perspective on the issues.
Juliet Joly, a junior psychology and pre-medicine major, found Snead’s remarks and the subsequent discussion to be both energetic and of great depth. “Carter Snead was an incredible speaker,” Joly said. “I am glad he incorporated both the political and legal perspectives on the problem of abortion.”
The tables offered diverse conversations of the issues surrounding the right to life. “Our society must make efforts to assist women who are considering abortion so as to eradicate the idea that women who resort to abortion have no choice, as if often the case,” Joly said of the conclusion reached at her table. “We agreed that we must have a general respect for life at all ages if we can validly desire that life be preserved for those suffering social injustice.”
Senior Jack Kiley, a pre-medicine and Spanish major, found Snead’s reflection helpful. “What I really liked was how he called into question the legitimacy of the separation present in the world's discussion about abortion and other justice issues.”
Kiley also expressed great hope for the future of the Fund to Protect Human Life. “I think there are a lot of wonderful opportunities that are going to become available to Notre Dame students in the future to defend the unborn in effective and convincing ways,” said Kiley.
The dinner merited positive responses from students and faculty alike. Said Kiley, “It wasn't hard to see and hear at the dinner that there are some very intelligent, articulate, bright people at Notre Dame that are and will continue to be terrific advocates for the unborn.” Given the response to the event, the Center for Ethics and Culture plans to make the Bread of Life dinner a semiannual event. “I wish the entire student body would see the value in opportunities like this,” Joly said, “it is incredibly edifying and meaningful.”
Tom Everett is a freshman political science major who feels daily sympathy for the South Quad squirrel with no fur on his tail. Poor little guy. Contact Tom at teverett[AT]nd.edu.
