Kathryn Lopez of National Review Online wrote yesterday about the Commencement address delivered to the graduating class of Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida by the Rev. Robert McTeigue, S.J., a philosophy professor at Ave Maria.
The speech should be read in its entirety (it's that important for all of us), but here's a clip to give you an idea just how important it is.
"Father McTeigue also encouraged three bold things — three things that, outside the campus of Ave Maria, may sound not only radical but insane. He encouraged closed-mindedness, judgmentalism, and intolerance.
"Closed-mindedness, because “G. K. Chesterton said that the human mind is like the human mouth — both are meant to close down on something solid.” Unsurprisingly, a priest would advise that this hearty substance has something to do with Scripture and a cross, “life-giving and liberating truth.”
"Judgmentalism, because we have to know the difference between good and evil, the beautiful and the ugly. We owe it to ourselves and the people around us, the communities we are in. “Yes, prejudice is wrong; but a well-honed and hard-won habit of good judgment is a hallmark of moral and intellectual maturity.” Seek good judgment.
"And, finally, intolerance, because:
"Socrates was intolerant of the Sophists. Moses was intolerant of Pharaoh. Jesus was intolerant of the Pharisees. Frederick Douglass was intolerant of slavery. Blessed Rupert Mayer was intolerant of the Nazis. Blessed Mother Teresa was intolerant of abortion. Blessed Pope John Paul was intolerant of the culture of death. Intolerance can be a beautiful thing — you just need to know how to do it properly."
Click below to read the whole article.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/271485/welcome-closing-american-mind-kathryn-jean-lopez?page=1
