Should a known Communist speak at a Catholic university?

TFP Student Action, a project of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, currently has a petition regarding the invitation of Angela Davis to speak at Seattle University. Davis, a known Communist , has also spoken in support of same-sex marriage and abortion.

Hosting controversial speakers to get students thinking and generate discussion may not be new for college campuses. However, Seattle University happens to be a Catholic institution. As a private institution, this university should know better to uphold practices of the Roman Catholic Church, and should ensure that its speakers do as well. Seattle University not only has the ability to cancel the event, but has a responsibility to do so.

There is no excuse for having Angela Davis speak. The petition, titled 5 Reasons Why Communist Activist Angela Davis Should NOT Visit (Catholic) Seattle University, includes information on Davis, mentioning her involvement in the Black Panther Party, and that she was, for a period of time, on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

The Daily Caller has also covered this nonsensical invitation and mentions that her presentation and book signing “will ostensibly be about prison reform.” It is a wonder that a speaker more fitting for a Catholic university to discuss “prison reform” could not be found.

The event is to take place on October 17 and is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Justice in Society. The university website describes the event with the title: “Power to the Imagination! Power to the People!” From the website:

Educator, Writer, & Advocate Angela Davis will inspire your imagination and desire for a better world and ignite your advocate within.

The WordPress for the Seattle University School of Law, “Access to Justice Institute” portrays Davis as an activist. The biography is not only lengthy, but glowing. That she was on the FBI’s Most Wanted is mentioned, but not the reasons why. If one were only to read about Angela Davis here, they would never know most of the unpleasant, but nevertheless important, details of her past.

The Cardinal Newman Society does explain her inclusion on the list for a time, which was for being on the run after the kidnapping and murder of a judge in California. The article also notes how she was arrested on October 13, 1970, and that the Center for the Study of Justice in Society will be hosting a screening of “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners.” Well, that seems to have an obvious angle.

The petition has reached 7,072 signatures as of Wednesday early afternoon, with a goal of 15,000. And, John Ritchie, the director for TFP Student Action, tells me that “local pro-life Catholics in Seattle are hoping to organize a protest if Davis ends up going.”

The petition, before providing the contact information for Seattle University, closes with this:

TFP Student Action director John Ritchie stated: “If these reasons are not ample and sufficient grounds to cancel Angela Davis’ appearance, will any anti-Catholic or sinful position be outrageous enough to disqualify any speaker from receiving a warm welcome at Seattle University?”

“Everyone knows that Communism is responsible for killing about 100 million people.  And countless people still suffer from its death grip in Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam and China.  So why does this ideology continue lurking in the halls of liberal academia with impunity?” Ritchie asked.  “Even worse, why is a Catholic university allowing Davis on campus when she publically merges abortion and same-sex ‘marriage’ with Marx?”

TFP already has a piece on their website explaining how Catholicism and Communism cannot be compatible. It is not just that Catholicism and Communism are incompatible. The murderous history of Communism cannot be compatible with any Christian denomination, or any religion. After all, Communist regimes are certainly not ones which have allowed for much freedom, religious or otherwise. Dare I go further and say then that Communism is incompatible for anyone who loves freedom and liberty, regardless as to if they have any or no faith. Therefore, Angela Davis, who may be an influential speaker and a vice-presidential candidate, is not worthy for any university in this freedom-loving nation to host.

Perhaps more importantly, what it comes down to is that Angela Davis supports mass murder. She supports mass murder by being a Communist, whose regimes committing murdering its people on overwhelming scales. She also supports abortion, another travesty.

Some may claim that a university is a beneficial place to hear various kinds of speakers and presentations, even those such as Angela Davis. That being said, a private and religious institution, as Seattle University is, cannot be that kind of a place. Angela Davis, by being in support of gay marriage and abortion, by being a Communist, holds disdain for the values of the Catholic institution of Seattle University. It is not likely that a pleasant sort of dialogue will happen. Angela Davis is being given a platform for her views. Regardless as to what she may mention, Seattle University is giving her that platform. I have already said that perhaps no university in the United States should host her. A Catholic institution should especially know better.