Obama's Georgetown Request: Cover the Symbol of Jesus

by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

President Obama's "policy" speech at Georgetown University cost the school more than they bargained for. Whether not giving some thought to the President's request, or whether being complicit in the deed, the school covered the "IHS" symbol of Jesus above the dais where the President spoke.

Covered Symbol of Jesus "IHS"

The dias above, located in Georgetown's Gaston Hall, usually looks like this:

"IHS" Symbol of Jesus

One of my favorite hymns:

"Jesus, name above all names,"

... except for Barack Obama's, apparently.

What was Georgetown thinking? Their website says they have a "Catholic and Jesuit identity." The "IHS" symbol you can see in the above photo symbolizes the name of Jesus Christ.

Roman Catholics traditionally use “IHS” as an abbreviation for Jesus’ name. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “St. Ignatius of Loyola adopted the monogram in his seal as general of the Society of Jesus (1541) and thus became the emblem of his institute.” The Society of Jesus is the formal name for the Jesuits.

In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage,” Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications at Georgetown, told CNSNews.com.

Here's an interesting comment I read while researching this story:

A religious order covering up the name of Jesus for a secular cause! Jesus would roll over in his grave, if HE was still there! I don't think the "shepherds" in the Catholic church quite get it anymore; but the sheep do.

Fifty-four percent of Catholics voted for President Obama. Perhaps the Obama is just taking advantage of his political capital.

Jihad Watch has some insightful comments. Here's a tease. You can read the entire article here.

Georgetown is home to the Prince Alwaleed Bin-Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, which receives millions from Saudi Arabia, and has come under fire for this very fact, and Georgetown's Center of Contemporary Arab Studies is a den of Islamist apologetics. Also, I recall the following anecdote: While attending a class (Politics in the Arab World) taught by one professor Samer Shehata -- who thinks the U.S. should befriend the Muslim Brotherhood , incidentally -- we were discussing how the Muslim world needs to begin separating church (or mosque) and state, Shehata, quite sarcastically pointing to a crucifix on the wall (apparently forgetful of the fact that Georgetown is a private, Jesuit school) made a remark like, "Yeah, but what about that?" One wonders what role all of these factors may have played in covering up the name of Jesus.

Yep, we can't help but wonder about it. That's why many of us asked, for months in our blogs, knowing what we know about Obama's background, his families ties to Islam and to communism, why would we take a chance.