Joe Scheidler, "Anything he says sounds good and it's meaningless"
By Matt Anderson and Hilary White
Oslo, Norway; December 10, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Thursday, in Oslo, Norway, President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize - an award that was steeped in controversy due to criticisms over Obama's lack of concrete achievement, his involvement in two wars, as well as his sweeping support for abortion. One leader says Obama revealed his diplomacy is based on "the dictatorship of the majority, obtained by the manipulation of public opinion."
While most Nobel winners spend three days in Oslo, President Obama was scheduled to spend just 24 hours in Norway, a move that appeared to be an effort to downplay the reception of the award in a nod to the controversy.
As part of that 24 hour tour, Obama delivered a 35 minute, 4,000 word acceptance speech, which focused on the topic of war and human rights.
"War, in one form or another, appeared with the first man," said Obama. "At the dawn of history, its morality was not questioned; it was simply a fact, like drought or disease, the manner in which tribes and then civilizations sought power and settled their differences."
"The capacity of human beings to think up new ways to kill one another proved inexhaustible, as did our capacity to exempt from mercy those who look different or pray to a different God," he said.
The President went on to describe the necessary conditions for the procurement of peace, emphasizing that peace will only occur when every individual is guaranteed basic human rights. Citing the example of WWII, Obama praised the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights saying, "In the wake of devastation, they recognized that if human rights are not protected, peace is a hollow promise."
Further, he emphasized that the dignity of each individual is essential to peace saying, "Only a just peace based upon the inherent rights and dignity of every individual can truly be lasting."
Reactions to Obama's speech from pro-life leaders have largely focused on the hypocrisy of a President who supports abortion receiving a prize for peace and pontificating on war and human rights.
Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro, head of the Rome office of Human Life International, told LifeSiteNews.com, "This award is based on a total ethical relativism."
Barreiro cited the press release issued by Thorbjorn Jagland, president of the Nobel Prize Committee of Norway, announcing the granting of the prize to Obama that said, "His diplomacy is based on the concept that those who lead the world should do it on the basis of the values and attitudes shared by the majority of the population of the world."
He said, "The relativism of this statement should be evident to us. We are not speaking here of objective values, nor of objective natural law, but merely of values 'shared by the majority'.
"In other words, the dictatorship of the majority, obtained by the manipulation of public opinion."
Barreiro added, "We should not be surprised by this decision of the Nobel committee. In 2007, they granted this award to the former vice president of the US, Al Gore, a person notorious for his promotion of abortion and of a drastic decrease in world population."
Judie Brown, president of American Life League, told LSN, "We pray everyday President Obama heeds his own advice, and ends his blood-soaked war on the residents in the womb."
"The greatest "exemption of mercy" in today's world is that the tiniest preborn children - their young age their only crime -- are condemned to death. There can be no peace in a society that denies the basic human rights to life and equality from millions of its members."
Commenting on Obama's assertion that a "just peace" rests on the rights and dignity of the human individual, Brown said, "We agree with President Obama that only a just peace based on inherent rights and dignity of every individual can be truly lasting."
"For this reason we call on President Obama to end the hypocrisy of "choice," the injustice of "abortion," and the inhumane denial of equality and personhood to millions of human beings every day - including those human beings in the womb."
Further, pro-life Action League President Joe Scheidler pointed out the irony of the President's remarks. Scheidler said that Obama "even supports the non-protection of a living human being after it's born from an abortion," a reference to the President's vote, while serving as a senator in the Illinois Senate, against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act
"Anything he says sounds good and it's meaningless," said Scheidler. "In fact, it's so sinister because people believe him."
