Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, seen here stumping in Ohio Sept. 17, has helped the GOP gain ground among observant Catholic voters. (Stephan Savoia/AP)
Churchgoing Catholics returning to GOP fold
Gov. Sarah Palin has outsized impact on an important bloc in key battleground states.
By Ben Arnoldy | Staff writer/ September 18, 2008 edition
Reporter Ben Arnoldy talks about the perils of politicians wading into Catholic theology regarding abortion.
Ben Arnoldy
Mark Duncan/AP
Joseph Biden, the Democrats’ veep pick, is a Catholic who may help his ticket hold its ground among less-observant Catholics.
Carson City, Nev.
Observant Catholics are returning to the Republican fold now that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has joined the GOP ticket – a shift that looks to be more enduring than a postconvention bounce. If the trend sticks, it will mark a partial setback for Democrats and the Obama campaign, who have vied vigorously for the pivotal votes of Roman Catholics.
Before the national political conventions, presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain were about splitting the votes of white Catholics who attend church weekly. That was a weak showing for the GOP’s Senator McCain; in 2004, President Bush carried this group 3 to 2.
McCain, however, has now opened a 16 percentage point lead among these Catholics, according to a poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center. Still, there is good news for Senator Obama among Catholic voters: He continues to gain among Hispanics, two-thirds of whom are Catholic, and he is even with McCain in support among Catholics who attend mass occasionally or never.
Catholics are an important subset in presidential elections. More than 40 percent of them are unaffiliated with either party. In key battleground states in the Midwest and the Southwest, they make up as much as one-third of a state’s electorate.
But Catholics are not a monolithic bloc of voters.
“There’s a contradiction: There is no ‘Catholic vote,’ and it’s important,” says John White, professor of politics at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Like most political analysts, he sees Catholics as key swing voters who are fragmented along ethnic lines – Hispanic versus European ancestry – and by frequency of church attendance.
“Democrats have to figure out how to reach church-minded Catholics. The problem for Republicans is how to reach out to people who don’t have ties to a church institution,” says Mr. White.
For decades, Catholics have been leaving their traditional home in the Democratic Party, with more-observant Catholics in the vanguard. But during the past four years, some of those recent Republicans reconsidered, swelling the ranks of the unaffiliated. McCain appears to have won many of them back.
“We have strong evidence that the Palin pick was the big part of it,” says Scott Keeter, director of survey research at Pew. Governor Palin’s large family and her decision to bear her fifth child despite a diagnosis of Down syndrome mean she embodies antiabortion beliefs dear to many observant Catholics. But McCain’s pick also reassured these voters on “a whole constellation of values issues that are important to conservative Christians,” he adds.
The question now is whether either campaign can advance its position beyond its 2004 levels with any of the Catholic subgroups.
Obama seems well on his way with Hispanics in general, trumping McCain 65 percent to 31 percent in a Zogby Interactive poll taken last week. Mr. Bush in 2004 got 44 percent of the Hispanic vote.
That leaves white, less-observant Catholics.
“To the extent that there would be a group within the Catholic population that is swingable, it would not be the frequent mass-attending [nor] those who never attend church,” says David Campbell, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. “In the middle, however, is a fairly large group of Catholics who still think of themselves as Catholic and they still go to church periodically.”
These “moderately committed Catholics” share many of the economic- and national-security concerns of the voting public at large, he says, but may be pulled by values issues more than secular voters are.
New political activism among liberal Catholics
Here the Obama camp might benefit from new political energy among Catholic progressives. Catholics United, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and other groups emphasize how Catholic social teaching applies to a range of issues, from war to the safety net for the poor. They also argue that economic policies may be the most effective way to combat abortion. A new study from Catholics in Alliance, for instance, reports that greater economic aid to poor families and increased male employment correlate with lower abortion rates.
Obama worked to insert language in the Democratic Party platform that speaks of helping women who decide to have a child. His campaign says America “can do more” to support new mothers needing pre- and postnatal healthcare, parenting skills, and income assistance.
“The key for the Democrats is to start to draw some clear connections between issues like abortion and the economic root causes of those issues,” says Chris Korzen, founder of Catholics United. “In places like Pennsylvania and Ohio – swing states – it’s a losing strategy to dichotomize social- and economic-justice questions. Social justice is the best way to resolve the abortion question.”
The Democratic Party’s defense of abortion rights has cost it Catholic votes, including that of Carol Marie Siedenburg. She came to a Palin rally last weekend in Carson City, Nev., to hand out antiabortion literature. Just over a decade ago she favored abortion rights and voted for Democrat Bill Clinton. But that changed, she says, when she started going to weekly mass and researched deeply her church’s reasoning on “life issues.”
“I don’t feel that any one party is perfect, but there are some issues that are more equal than others, [including] the issue of life,” says Ms. Siedenburg, who plans to vote McCain-Palin.
Catholics who attend mass every week, as does Siedenburg, are usually passionate foes of abortion. Regardless of Obama’s willingness to talk about a moral dimension to abortion, these voters struggle with his record in support of abortion rights, including a controversial vote in Illinois against the so-called born-alive infants bill. (The legislation sought to define every infant born alive – including one who survived an abortion procedure – as a human in the eyes of the law.)
A kinship with Sarah Palin
Yet a slim majority of Catholics overall actually favor abortion rights.
One of those is Cynthia Feyma. Until recently she was considering sitting out this presidential election. But last weekend she joined the crowd of thousands in Carson City chanting “Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!”
Ms. Feyma, who says she “occasionally” attends mass, feels a kinship with Palin’s values. (Palin, baptized a Catholic as an infant, now attends a nondenominational Bible church.) For Feyma, that means patriotism and personal character more than anything related to Catholic social teaching. “They have American values: What’s right for the US is No. 1,” she says of the GOP ticket. “She’s honest, down-to-earth, not a feminist.” As for fellow Catholic Joseph Biden, the Democrats’ vice presidential pick? Feyma says he’s not independent enough.
The Rev. Thomas Reese, a political scientist at Georgetown University, explains why Palin may be connecting with certain Catholic voters. “Catholic social teaching will win you about three votes, all of them in Boston,” he says. “Anyone for whom ideas matter made up their mind four years ago. For the swing voters, you have to connect to them … on the gut level.”
Indeed, Feyma and other newly energized voters at the rally didn’t cite Palin’s stance on issues, but rather her persona as an outsider and – as seen by the many “Rosie the Riveter” T-shirts – a can-do woman.
Identifying with a Republican leader may be new for some Catholic women.
“The gender gap persisted not because women chose the Democratic Party. But men moved to the Republican Party, and women essentially stayed,” says Lara Brown, a political scientist at Villanova University. “Palin gives these women who are culturally conservative an opportunity to say, ‘Wow, someone represents me.’ ”
Senator Biden has the ability to appeal on identity, too, argues Father Reese. “Biden is a real Catholic from a working-class background who’s comfortable talking to high-school-educated people. This is the most important swing vote.”
While Obama says “disingenuous” a lot, Biden will say “malarkey.” Obama can do more to connect with Catholics, Reese says, by pointing out that he was taught by nuns in Indonesia and that some of his community organizing back in Chicago was funded by Catholic groups.
Comments
2. paul | 09.18.08
It is the Media, the Obama - Network that inevidably will win. They have attacked Palin heartlessly. It will be up to the voter and the citizen to see if we can show them who really is boss.
We can fight back! Sign the petition to resits Media smears.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/womenforpalin
3. Nancy Reyes | 09.18.08
Your article failed to mention that the Catholic bishops are pointing out to “catholic” politicians that supporting abortion is not an option…or that supporting a radical abortion supporter like Obama is only acceptable if the alternative is worse.
For progressives, who talk to the media, the alternative is worse.
But if you discuss Catholics, shouldn’t you at least mention bishops?
4. Fr Bill Bauer | 09.18.08
A few months ago at (Anglican) church I was accused of being a “single-issue voter,” as if I am supposed to have more issues. I think it is important that the nation NOT pass laws to snuff me in my later years. It is also important that the nation no longer have laws that allow killing of babies who may be able to live, grow and invent or discover cures for cancer, AIDS, etc. How poverty stricken is the United States with 40,000,000 dead babies in our legal history.
5. Ruth | 09.18.08
Why would any Christian vote for this man, Barack Hussein Obama, who voted three times to with hold life saving measures for any infant who survived an abortion? This guy is cold, heartless, adjectives fail me.
Colorado
6. TJ | 09.19.08
I am a devout Catholic and there is no way I will vote GOP no matter who tells me I should.
Their lack of social policy for life issues after birth is disgusting. They do not care about pre natal care; nor do they care about health care after birth, the economy, the environment, employment, education.
The Catholic Church has taught its’ peoples well. They need to back off, quit moralizing and judging, and keep quiet. There are more issues than one.
7. Kevin Mc | 09.19.08
It astounds me that a member of the Assembly of God Church would be able to court Catholics. I grew up Catholic in the South (GA) and married a wonderful woman from Arkansas … whose family is Pentecostal. While we get along now (after years of rapproachment), their view of Catholics was extremely prejudiced. To fundamentalist Christians such as Pentecostals and Southern Baptists, Catholics are tantamount to satanists (as Bob Jones from S Carolina once said). If you think they have your interests in mind, think again.
That is like having African Americans think that Strom Thurmond would represent them well.
8. John Jakubczyk | 09.19.08
With all due respect to Fr. Reece, real Catholics and especially real Catholic men stand up for life, for women, and for family. Real Catholic men from working class backgrounds (my dad is a union carpenter by trade) do not hide from the truth that all people are created equal and have a God given right to life. Real Catholic men oppose the herd mentality of the pro-abortion extremists.
I am a real Catholic from a working class background and I can talk to people of all backgrounds. People want honesty. The honest truth is that abortion kills babies and harms women. It is no good for anyone.
If Joe Biden were a real Catholic man, he would be pro-life and vote pro-life and act pro-life.
But he is not. He is just another liberal politician who wants us to vote for him because he thinks he knows best.
No thank you.
9. Kevin Mc | 09.19.08
Why is it presumed that the pro-life vote should be Republican? As a pro life Democrat, I don’t understand why this party concedes the point.
There is actually a reverse correlation between the legality of abortion and it’s incidence. That is - countries who have outlawed abortion have higher rates than those in which the practice is legal. It is illegal in Peru and the they have one of the highest rates. Western Europe has the lowest rates in the world with Holland being the lowest (at 6.5 per 1000, vs over 21 per 1000 in the US).
This would suggest that the way to the lowest number of abortions is through better social programs as demonstrated in this study:
http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/node/20075.
Voting Republican may make you feel righteous, but it may actually result in more abortions.
Some points to consider:
–McCain voted against raising the minimum wage many times, going so
far as to filibuster to stop it. Don’t you believe that those
considering abortion would be less likely to choose that option if
they were making a living wage?
–Sarah Palin cut funds (by 20%) to the Covenant House Alaska, which
provides help to teenage mothers
(http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/02/palin_slashed_funding_to_help.html).
The Catholic Church has done a great job of assisting those
considering abortion. Do we want someone in the White House who does
not share that view?
10. Noel | 09.19.08
Good on you Sarah! As an outsider who is watching from afar the antics of the current election in the US cannot help but wonder at the toing and froing in respect of the stance that SArah has made in relation to Abortion. The Democrat do-gooders in Congress and the Senate who proclaim themselves as Catholic really need to get a reality check and see that what they support does not hold water with most of the voting population. Orthodoxy, be it Catholic, Anglican (Episcopalian) or whatever religion one supports, brings its own reward.The US Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and Clerics should take a stand with the recalcirant Catholics.
11. Allan | 09.19.08
I consider myself a practicing Catholic, attend Mass every weekend, pay attention to statements from the bishops and the Holy See, and agonize over how to be both a good Catholic Christian and a good American.
I will show up at the polls this November, but I will not vote for President. I will not vote for Governor or U.S. Senator either.
Why? I cannot resolve the conflict between a party which proclaims its commitment to pro-life (anti-abortion), but is also rabidly pro-gun and pro-capital punishment; and a party which supports more social supports for women (good), BUT is so adamant in its defense of abortion rights, and for the most part, doesn’t take a moral stand against capital punishment either.
For that matter, taken to its extreme, I can’t imagine how a practicing Catholic can aspire to a political career in this country given the inconsistencies of BOTH major political parties on life issues. No refuge in third parties either.
Some would say because the fetus, the unborn child, is truly innocent, and most - if not all - people on death row are guilty of heinous crimes, the abortion issue should supercede all others. I agree in theory.
But, if one is so audacious as to suggest government should restrict a woman’s rights with regard to her own body (as many liberal religious people, and certainly secular people see it!), doesn’t it make sense to pair advocacy of pro-life, anti-abortion with the party that ALSO believes in a social safety net? Not every woman has the resources of Sarah Palin.
In other words, it makes no sense for the anti-abortion, pro-life cause to be championed chiefly in the G.O.P.
By the way, I truly see a parallel between anti-abortion, pro-life advocacy and the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court Dred Scott decision before the Civil War (when a Justice argued it was NOT for him to IMPOSE his anti-slavery, moral views on others!).
But we must remember a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade would NOT end legal abortions in the United States. The burden would be returned to state legislatures. And, doubtless, many bigger, industrialized states would retain abortion rights, and abortion mills would continue to operate. “Underground railroads” would sprout up to transport women from non-abortion states to states permitting abortions.
Doubtless, media would focus on women dying while trying to procure abortions, etc. The Republican Party would be torn asunder, as some newly energized feminists who voted G.O.P. on pocketbook or national security issues ran away from the G.O.P.
In other words, as much as I pray for an overturn of Roe v. Wade, pro-lifers could still win the battle, but lose the war. Because again, for the anti-abortion position to have ANY long-term chance of prevailing in America, it must be tied to a social safety net, profound advocacy for women, etc.
Otherwise, it’ll end up like Prohibition!
This is why - as a Catholic - I cannot forsee voting for President in my lifetime, and I’m 53. Ditto when faced with the same choice in candidates for Governor, both of whom favor both abortion rights and capital punishment.
Or the choice for U.S. Senate in my state, which happens to pit Joe Biden against a far-right, anti-abortion (but again, inconsistently pro-life) Republican candidate.
12. Bruce Roeder | 09.19.08
The Catholic Church does have a doctrine of porportionality.
As a Catholic, I am open to consider an argument proposing there is something of greater porportion than the violent death of over 40,000,000 innocent human beings. Is there one? Iraq War? Minimum wage? Death penalty? Immigration? Energy policy?
13. Leticia Velasquez | 09.19.08
There is actually a reverse correlation between the legality of abortion and it’s incidence.
Kevin Mc you are drinking NARAL koolaide!
Dr Bernard Nathanson,a former atheist abortionist turned Roman Catholic who with Betty Friedan got the NY liberal abortion laws passed, admitted that he lied about the number of illegal abortions before Roe v Wade. He justified it as a means to an end. The end of 50 million lives of innocent children.
YES I’m sure poverty, inadequate health care (did Barack mention his national health care plan would pay for abortions?) and unemployment contribute to the abortion rate, but if a Party won’t admit that killing a certain segment of society is morally repugnant they don’t deserve our vote.
Would you have voted for the National Socialist Party (Nazi) in Germany for their economic plan?
Then don’t vote for the pro-death Democrats.
14. Tim Norman | 09.19.08
The universal recognition of unborn children as persons possessing full legal rights is the paramount and over riding issue of our world. Acquiescence to the “culture of death” harms our civilization is unfathomable ways, yes even far beyond the 40 million children murdered by abortion each year throughout the world.
It is the the beliefs of mankind that are the great levers of civilization and which determine our future; will ours and our children’s be the culture of death?
It has been said that if you want peace, you must first have justice. The overarching injustice of our world today that cries out for remedy is the legalized murder of 40 million children per year. Voting Democrat will never end the carnage. Don’t be fools, Democrats are beholden to the “culture of death” and the blood of millions is on their hands. The only chance we have to end the carnage is to vote Republican.
15. Martin Hill | 09.19.08
Don’t Catholics understand that the kind of ultra-right fundamentalist religion practiced by Palin, and by McCain’s religious supporters, considers Catholicism to be a phony religion, along with Judaism and many others?
16. vern albrecht | 09.19.08
I to am a devout catholic.
unlike TJ I follow the teaching of the Church as outlined by the bishops
I think you are trying to bambozel us TJ
17. Joseph | 09.19.08
I am a Catholic whose Catholism goes back 2000 years when my family converted from Judisam to the floowers of Christ the Lord in Bethlehem, Palestine. I say for those Catholics that support the GOP because of their stand on abortion that they are treally pro -choice and not pro-life. I am a pro-life but stand for the whole life not just against abortion. How can you be against abortion but support the killing of million Iraqis and support the killing of many Palestinians, who are 30% christians and about 50% of the christians are Catholics? How can you support the number one terrorist state in the world that calls itself Israel, which has subjacted the Palestinian people and turned their towns to an open air prison with the support of our tax dollars?
18. joanne | 09.19.08
I am a Catholic and have voted for both Democrats and Republicans in my life. I was born and raised in Indiana. I have a solid 18 years of Catholic education under my belt (including college and graduate school). I attended a Pro-Life rally in Washington, DC, when I was in high school. But make no mistake, I will be voting for Obama this election, and am registered now as a Democrat. Democrats have as part of their platform ALL of the other areas I care about: health care, foreign policy, peace and justice values, economic policy that better supports the common good, and the environment. I am most certainly NOT a single issue voter.
While I wish there were not so many abortions in this country, I don’t think that taking away a woman’s legal right to choose will even solve the matter. There were still plenty of illegal abortions going on before Roe v Wade. A comprehensive approach is the best shot we have to reduce the number of abortions. And think about it: if a woman feels like she would end her pregnancy, it may be because she doesn’t feel she’d be able to raise a child.
That logically leads us to ask the next question, which I think Obama is best suited to respond to as president, which is why do women feel they can’t have the baby? I think it is astounding to me that so many pro-lifers would actually close their eyes to the reasons women choose abortions in the first place.
19. JD | 09.19.08
As a Catholic I have voted Republican because of the life issue these past twenty plus years in the hope that they would DO something. However, neither Ronald Reagan, George Senior or George W. have actually had the guts to even show up at the annual pro-life rally in Washington D.C. or propose or aggressively campaign for changes in the law. They have punted everything onto the backs of the Supreme Court with a 3 judicial appointments. This shows me that they have used the pro-life group simply as a voting block and have not real committment to the issue. There has been a total lack of political courage by the Republican presidents to actually push for new laws. McCain is even more moderate than the others. The Republican committment to life is lukewarm at best. So, this time I’m voting Democrat and hoping and praying that the social conscience of the Democratic party, which is more in tune with Catholic Social Justice values overall, begins anew the process of conversion on the question of life at conception. I see in Senator Obama a person who might change his mind on the life issue. The Democrats appear to understand that they have a problem with their pro-choice position. Maybe they are beginning to see the light? So this year I’ll vote on with the theme of Pope Benedict’s book on “Hope” and I’ll give “Hope” a chance with Obama this go round.
20. Mike Drabik, Toledo, Ohio | 09.19.08
As a Catholic who openly campaigned against John Kerry in 2004, I can say that McCain’s choice for his running mate did nothing from me. Sarah Palin’s anti-abortion views are important to me, but I need a full pro-life commitment including opposition to capital punishment and a clear statement on the use of euthanasia. I look for a gun control advocate and someone who admits that global warming is real and isn’t using the ‘drill-drill-drill’ mantra.
I am also none to happy that Ms. Palin is a Fundamentalist Christian. She walked out somewhere between the ages of 14 to 18. Yeah, she was just a kid then under mommy’s influence. However at some point a few years after that she could at least have read some of the works by Catholic apologists and perhaps may have come home. But she ain’t home and Fundies are, who are in the ascendancy, are known to harbor deep acrimony against the Catholic Church - still quietly calling her the ***** of Babylon and point-out the corruption of the Catholic Bishops and their cover-up of the sexual abuse of minors and sexual exploitation of the adults as proof. Of course they don’t want to say that many of their ministers (really mini-Popes) do the same thing.
Therefore, Ms. Palin doesn’t fit that bill for me.
Mr. Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden need only dump abortion, support for same-sex marriage, euthanasia and destructive human embryonic stem-cell research to get my vote.
Those may seem peripheral to many and one issue among many as those who Catholics who are in defiant dissent (e.g. Catholics Units, Catholics United, the Voice of the Faithful, and the Call to Action) are. But for me they are integral - a key part of my approach to social justice.
I don’t see the Dems changing anything here. The Goppers are out, too, I guess I’ll be voting for an alternative candidate if I can find one.
21. earthgirl | 09.19.08
Most of these blogs are either false, taken out of context, partially not true, unsubstantiated, hearsay and smear. If you read Thomas Jefferson, he knew that religious fanatics, as you all appear to be, has no place in making public policy. Remember, God, and God alone, has given us free will. “Thou shalt put false gods before me.” That also includes the U.S. government and state governments. Each person will answer to God and God alone. Not to a repub or dem. That’s one of the underlying messages of Sen. Obama. Think without prejudice, think outside of your box.
22. Sarah Bernhard | 09.19.08
What I struggle with is the unbridled hatred that emerges from Obama’s supporters. As they say you are a reflection of your leader. The following links are shocking examples and speak to what I consider the face of evil in the Obama campaign.
http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212173345.shtml
24. Canisius | 09.19.08
To Earthgirl your comments are so simple minded that they are laughable. So anyone who holds a strong moral viewpoint is a fanatic, I see. So in your world we must bow down to the dictatorship of relativism ie, there is no truth and you as a relgious person have no right to believe that there is. “Think outside the box” hmm does that mean I should take into account moral views that I find totally reprehensible. No matter how disgusting I am obliged to put aside my moral beliefs, and accept anything that anyone says as OK. Earthgirl one thing you should remember, once objective truth is discarded it will be replaced with only on thing and that is FORCE. However you are probably too busy believing everything Obama tells you
25. Catholic in LA | 09.19.08
Interestingly, I go to Mass with my family every Sunday. Whether other devout Catholics will admit it openly or not, MANY of us are pro-choice. I am not “pro-abortion” — I merely respect a woman’s individual rights, and pray that she chooses wisely. I am voting for Obama because I do believe that God gave us free will for a reason. I am using mine to protect choice for others. And I am spreading the word… when did so many of you “Anti-choice” Catholics become such hate-mongers anyways?
26. Norman Clark | 09.19.08
By voting for McCain/Palin we as Catholics would be voting for Capitol Punishment, illegal wiretapping, rendition, torture… I could go on.
As Catholics we must stop letting ourselves be used by the right-wing. Their form of christianity is nothing more than hate dressed as lamb!
Resist the urge to join their hate!
27. William | 09.19.08
Joanne, you ought to sue all those “Catholic” schools you attended for malpractice as they did a very lousy job. You and people like you are CINO (Catholic In Name Only).
28. Stephanie Page | 09.19.08
A little over 2000 years ago, the greatest being who ever walked this planet, someone who spoke of brotherly love and peace and the dignity of all men, enraged the political and religious right of the time, who feared and loathed this man and his inspiring message of a new world where all men were equal and free, so much so that they used coercion and deception and the corruptive political system of the period to bring about this noble leader’s downfall and eventual death sentence, a sentence carried out with such cruelty and torture that it is inconceivable to most of us today. The people of the time were given a choice by the local governor between this man, who the governor believed to be innocent of any wrongdoing, and a convicted murderer and instead of the obvious choice the crowd still screamed, “Give us Barabbas!”
A little over 2000 years later, political agendists masquerading as religious leaders and a political party that has shown itself to condone and practice cruelty and torture that most of the civilized world has long condemned as inhuman, is using the same methods of coercion and deception to dismantle the very foundations of freedom and justice for all from our country, the greatest nation since Rome but unlike Rome founded on the very principles of the dignity and worth of the individual that set that slain prophet’s teachings apart from all others before or since. And they are using a vast and duplicitous media and a lunatic fringe of supporters to once again convince the crowd to scream, “Give us Barabbas!”
The choice given us today is definitely not as obvious as it was a little over 2000 years ago but it is just as significant to the future of the citizens of the United States of America and mankind in general. The rest of the world has looked to our country as the model for freedom and justice, two attributes for which our current political leaders seem to have little use and our reputation has become damaged on their watch. The choice is as simple as the solution is complex: We can vote for hopeful and possible change (Obama-Biden) or for a certain continuance of the present regime’s policies ( McCain-Palin). A little over 2000 years later, are we a little more civilized and educated or can the crowd still be made to scream, “Give us Barabbas!”
29. Matthew | 09.19.08
It seems that the “Rabid Right” has touched many American Catholics. In case you forgot though, Jesus Christ was the most radical, liberal of all time. Simply read the gospels.
And while abortion is an important issue, it should be put in context with all the other issues of our time.
And for you anti-abortionists that are sure respond: How may children have you adopted? (Yes, I do have an adopted child).
Sarah Palin is nothing more than a GOP gimmick. Would you really want this inexperienced woman in Washington with her finger on the “button”?
30. HGP | 09.19.08
Obama for:1 Freedom of Choice Act first priority (remove all restriction on killing babies unborn or partially born),2 for killing live baby survivors of botched abortions (Illinois Senate Bill 1082) in 2003 and on several other occasions he did not want any medical care provided to these babies,3 Obama is for his grandchildren being killed (he commented that he didn’t want his daughters punished with a baby), 4 He is for allowing the disabled to be dehydrated or starved to death (he told Tim Russert that he should have stopped Terri Schaivo’s family’s appeal to have her execution reviewed).
Who would be safe if he gets to be president? Obama doesn’t know the difference between killing the public and serving the public. Obama doesn’t deserve to be elected dog catcher.
31. Drs. William K. Gelok | 09.19.08
I wish we could close the Palindrome dream…….it so unimportant compared to the real economic and military problem///////////as Catholic i will not vote for an unexperienced nitwit………
32. Stephanie Page | 09.19.08
I am not surprised that many Catholics are ignoring the many pluses of Obama-Biden (both want to save the lives of our young men and women from being destroyed and wasted in a war that has already claimed over 4000 of them just to protect the oil interests of corporations and create jobs for Halliburton and Biden, despite any disagreements one may have on how he practices his faith, is a Roman Catholic) based on the single issue of abortion (which neither candidate personally advocates, but unlike McCain-Palin, do not wish to impose their morality on others and would like to keep the decision about whether or not to get an abortion right where it belongs, as a personal decision between a woman and her physician without fear of government intrusion), and at the same time ignoring all the minuses of McCain-Palin (both are perfectly fine with sending off our young to be sacrificed in a country of infidels who hate America and whose clerics preach the enslavement and/or total annihilation of all Christians and Jews as their ultimate goal and both McCain and Palin subscribe to evangelical religious beliefs that are considered heretical by the Catholic Church).
The fact is that the Catholic Church’s teachings and practices today, even though not nearly as evil and full of hate as the so called fundamentalist churches, bear about as much resemblance to Christianity as fool’s gold does to the real thing. The Catholic Church’s clergy have become the same as the Scribes and Pharisees who Jesus Christ called “hypocrites” in his time.
33. Al | 09.19.08
How many times I have read a comment that starts out “I am a ____” and then rants on with opinions/positions that are antithetical to the beginning premise. Anyway for the record, I am a Catholic who goes to Mass every Sunday. My neighbor said he was raised by the Jesuits and they taught him how to rationalize out of anything. Looking at the comments here, looks like a lot of people are doing that. God did, indeed, give us free will but also counciled us to have an informed conscience.
“Senator Biden has the ability to appeal on identity, too, argues Father Reese. “Biden is a real Catholic from a working-class background who’s comfortable talking to high-school-educated people. This is the most important swing vote.” — Really Father Reese, as some above who are real working-class Catholics have stated, Biden is no Catholic. Look at his record.
As for those pro-life democrats (abortion is,perhaps, a good approach to social justice by eliminating the problem before it starts but…) I will believe you folks to be pro-life when you form a coalition within the dem party to eliminate pro-abortion on the dem platform. As for you women who claim “choice”, you had that opportunity when you got pregnant. As for Governor Palin, you can see the goodness in that person. Women would do well to use her as a role model.
34. D. Anderson | 09.19.08
The women who would use Sarah Palin as a role model all died in the 11th. Century. Sarah Palin’s moral, political and social beliefs place her just one armband away from the Nazi Party.
As far as Catholics who think going to Mass every Sunday makes you a good Catholic, that well may be a good example of the Jesuits’ “rationalization out of anything”. There’s more to being a good Catholic than going to Mass regularly. There was a very revealing survey done several years ago at a Catholic University where young Catholics were approached and asked point blank a simple question: “Are you a Christian?. More than 70 per cent replied, “No, I’m a Catholic.” I think that says it all.
35. jl | 09.19.08
I read all these comments about the social and moral attitudes that the candiates have and wonder isn’t anyone thinking? The candidates are going to promise you the world if they and get your vote and after the election they will do what ever they want to do or what Congress will let them. I not for abortion, I believe it wrong to kill a baby, but lets remember that it is the mother choice on what she will do during her pregancy. I feel sorry for the candidate that get elected in November with shape our ecomony is in and the world situation all I can said to him is good luck.
36. Mary O | 09.19.08
I am a Mass-attending Catholic and an Ivy League educated attorney. I am a life long Democrat. I never supported abortion, but I was once pro-choice. I can’t be any longer. Human beings are being killed and they are helpless. I am responsible to help them as much as I can. To be neutral about mass murder, is to condone it.
Sadly, I did not reach my current prolife position by considering the babies. I got there because so many of my friends were women victimized by abortion. They were essentially forced into abortion by their boyfriends. For the men, the problem was solved and it cost them a couple of hundred dollars. They moved on to other women. My friends are still paying. Once I saw that abortion was not the great “right” for women that it was touted to be; I permitted myself to open my eyes to that which I had not wished to see - the effect of abortion on the children who are literally torn apart in the womb without mercy.
Still I stayed with the Democratic Party, hoping that their intolerance for my “kind” would soften. I was interested in hearing Obama speak with respect about the pro-life position. However, it is now crystal clear that neither Obama nor the Democratic Party will tolerate any dissent from their orthodoxy that abortion is to be permitted for all or any reasons, this despite the fact that most liberal European countries have limits on abortion. Why not adopt the Court’s holding in Roe that allows limits to be set based upon a trimester scheme? Why must we accept the extreme view of Doe v. Bolton that any harm to a women’s “psychological health” must trump all other considerations? And it is pro-life people who are derided as “extremists”?
On the other hand, I do not accept for a moment the fiction that the Republican Party is pro-life. Leaving aside the death penalty, which all politicians seem to support, there is the not-insignificant matter of war. War kills all kinds of innocent people, born and unborn. An unjust war is also mass murder. Oh yes I know, it’s a prudential judgment. Well my Republican Catholic friends, just as my Democratic Catholic friends need to open their eyes to the evil of abortion, you too must open your eyes to the evil of war and not hide behind things like “prudential judgment”. The Holy Fathers spoke out strongly against this war and we are responsible for the murder of the innocents that die in it, just as we are responsible for the murder of aborted children. Yet if I truly believed that the Republicans would end abortion, or at least the national “right” to abortion, I would hold my breath, screw my eyes shut, and vote for McCain in the hope that we could save some innocent life, even as we greatly increase the odds of other innocent life being lost.
Nonetheless, since at least 1980, every four years, the Republicans have dragged out a song and dance that goes something like this: “Justices Blank and Blank are really old and sure to retire soon; we just need a couple of justices and we will overturn Roe. Our opponents are truly terrifyingly evil. If they get in office, our only chance for life will go down the drain forever.” (I read something like this on a Catholic site the other day, and I wanted to laugh but I felt too much like crying.) Here’s the problem with that analysis: It has been close to 30 years. The Republicans have held the White House for all but eight of those years. Of the nine justices on the Court, seven were appointed by Republicans. Can anyone honestly say that there has been even one less abortion because the “pro-life” party held the White House for all those years? On the contrary, it was while the “pro-life” Bush was in office, that federal funding for stem cell research, which had been prohibited during the pro-choice Clinton years, was approved for the first time (by Bush sua sponte), thus opening up the floodgates. It seems that Republicans function better as pro-life protectors when they are the watchdogs, rather than when they are left in charge.
But one can hardly blame the politicians. They do what it takes to get elected. We are responsible. We are responsible because we deify “our” candidate and demonize the opposition. We are responsible because we refuse to open our eyes to the evil in “our” party’s position. We are responsible because we are not what we should be: Catholics first and Democrats or Republicans only second.
So what is to be done? This year, I refuse to put my faith once again in Caesar, rather than in Christ. This year I will force myself to recognize that choosing the lesser of two evils, is still choosing evil. To register my opposition to abortion and to unjust war, I will be writing in the name, “Ron Paul”. And if that is a bad thing to do, may God be merciful to me and to all of us.
37. Madame DeFarge | 09.19.08
Mary O is absolutely right. The GOP controlled the White House, the Supreme Court and Congress for six years. In all that time, did they pass a meaningful anti-abortion law? No! Bear in mind that Bush managed to get vast chunks of his agenda signed into law, too. If he had really wanted to get abortion outlawed, he’d have tried to do it and probably succeeded, given the spinelessness of the Democrats. But he didn’t. Why?
I have come to the conclusion that the GOP is stringing us on with its pro-life talk. It hasn’t backed it up with any kind of significant action on the federal level. Justice Roberts even wrote that Roe v. Wade was settled case law, hardly the actions of the pro-lifers people imagine them to be. But boy, does thumping the pro-life drum gather donations and votes for the GOP!
Abortion levels have risen under Bush because vast swaths of our country are slipping down the economic ladder into poverty. That’s what’s driving up abortion! If women knew that they had the resources to take care of their children, they would not feel trapped and be tempted into aborting them. Abstinence-based education also isn’t helping, as not knowing about contraception means more accidental pregnancies, which inevitably means more abortions.
I’m voting for Obama and a Democratic ticked because I think he would promote sensible policies that will actually lower the abortion rate and save the lives of babies, instead of mouth feel-good pro-life rhetoric and never back it up with any sort of action that would reduce the incidence of abortion.
38. Diana D | 09.20.08
One of the things that makes me angry is that our government is not doing enough to provide free or low-cost birth control to every woman and man in the US. This should be extended to teens as well. Teens that have the information on how to protect themselves from STDs & pregnancy tend to wait longer to have sex! Why? Because they realize that to have sex you must be responsible. Many parents feel uncomfortable to talk about sex because they don’t know the facts. Look at what happen to Ms. Palin’s daughter. Since the Bush administration cut funding on comprehensive teen sex-ed programs STDs & teen pregnancies have shot through the roof. The US has the highest rates of teen pregnancies in the world! Many of those end in abortions. So, I believe that abortion should be kept safe, legal and a last resort. Give women and men the means to prevent pregnancy, so that they will never have to resort to an abortion. I am pro-life and I want all life that comes into this world to be cherished and loved.
39. Neil Newton | 09.20.08
Feminists who hate Palin should instead direct their anger towards the Democratic Party nominating Obama instead of Clinton as the presidential nominee and towards OBAMA himself who did not select Clinton as his running mate in the first place.!
40. psd18nms | 09.20.08
I am a church-going Catholic “in good standing”, and I do not support the McCain-Palin ticket. I am over 50 and female and did not agree with Hillary Clinton’s proposals to lead America. I am a college-educated Democrat, retired from a corporate job with a pension, and living in suburbia. I do not support abortion, but know that abortion is far down on the list of issues Americans need to be concerned about.
If we will end racism by not discriminating on the basis of skin color and worship styles; if we will optimize the potential of all citizens through equal educational opportunities, fair employment, and a living wage; if we will honor all human life at every stage, the issue of abortion is automatically minimized because we will be demonstrating that we care about all human life. The issue of crime will also be minimized if we but care to treat all people fairly.
41. s | 09.20.08
The palindrome you’re closing would be “Harrass Ssarrah” then?
Imperfect I knoe. But aren’t we all?
This is not an easy election. Mary O said it well.
God First/ Country Second.
Pro Deo then Patria. But I couldn’t see a vote for Ron Paul as being well spent.
42. Emerson | 09.20.08
Actually, no Catholics support abortion. Canon (Law) 915 provides for immediate excommunication for any Catholic who obtains an abortion, assists that person or performs an abortion or any persons acting to support availability of abortion.
Yes, I know many bishops don’t talk about it because they don’t want a bunch of people no longer coming to church (read donating) once they know it doesn’t count for them anymore anyway since their fate is sealed.
And there is another caveat of Canon 915: the person must be aware of that canon law and its consequences.
Gee…everyone reading this is now aware of it.
The “CHOICE” now, Catholics, is whether you stay Catholic or not because of your stand on abortion…or support for candidates who support it.
43. Peter N | 09.20.08
The trouble with a lot of comments on this article is that they don’t go deeply enough into the differences between the candidates’ policies. Take the last paragraph in Madame Defarge’s piece: the Bush administration has taken steps to reduce abortions where it has the power to do so, such as reinstating the Mexico City Policy which denies funding to those organizations that promote abortion abroad, and refusing to fund the UN Population group which condones forced abortion in China.
In contrast, Obama is for federal funding for abortions even here in the US, and not just for rape, incest and the life of the mother as is presently the case. How is this expected to reduce the number of abortions?
44. Robert Amstadt | 09.20.08
TJ’
The GOP social policy is more of What Would Jesus Do than the Damncrat pro-killing, anti-family, anti-American policy. The welfare giant has ruined more families (especially black families) than anyone could imagine. The health care scam espoused by the Damncrats would make us more equal-by giving all of us the suffer-til-you die health care system of socialist countries.
Lastly, no tax or health care policy can make up for the pro-killing attitude of heartless, souless criminals like Obama, Bide, Kennedy, etc.
Good Night!
45. Peter N | 09.20.08
Madame Defarge also repeats Howard Dean’s false claim that abortions have gone up during the Bush administration. In fact, the Alan Guttmacher Institute’s
recently released figures show that they declined 8 percent nationwide between 2000 and 2005, the latest year for which the AG Institute (which is affiliated with Planned Parenthood) has complete data.
Abortions in 2005 were just over 1.2 million, the lowest they have been since 1976. And the abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1,000 women age 15-44) was down to 19.4 per thousand — the lowest since 1974, the first full year following Roe v. Wade.
46. conchita | 09.21.08
for those who will vote for Obama and pray that Obama will change his stand on the abortion issue-Please wake up!!!. He has voted against keeping babies alive after a botched abortion! And for the IVY league attorney- keep in mind 9/11 when the terrorists came and killed innocent americans. We are fighting the war outside the country and we should be thankful that after 9/11, we are safe inside America to “exercise our freedom of speech and pursue our happiness” be it harmful to our neighbors. I should thank President Bush for the safety INSIDE the United States!!
47. TJ | 09.21.08
If the Catholic Church insists on making an issue of abortion in this election, I will change my religious affiliation before I change my vote for the Democratic ticket.
They did it the last election and I was so disgusted with them I stayed away from the Church for many, many months. I am very proud of the contributions of our Representatives in Government who happen to be Catholic. They have articulated the teachings I remember from my childhood about social policy and being my brother’s and my sister’s keeper, and I will not castigate them for endorsing the Pro Choice position. Pro Choice means, too, that a person is not required to terminate life in old age or illness or in utero because the fetus is either not perfect or is not wanted. I see in my community a Catholic hospital who provides free or Medicaid delivery of unwed teen mothers at a high incidence and has not taken a position on the increasing incidence of child abuse that results in the death of a child almost one every week. I see no strong admonitions against this or against violence against women from the Catholic Church in my community or in the community at large. Do not speak to me about the morality of Pro Choice until you can take the same strong stand and opinions about the disrespect for an unjustified war that kills millions of people, the silent agreement that violence against women is tolerated, and that the murder of the innocent children, ages 3 months to 2 years, from physical and other abuse is a “norm”.
Senator Biden has authored a bill Violence Against Women that set the standard for providing shelters and safe refuge for women and children and he fights for funding every year. He and other Democrats have legislated civil rights, women’s rights, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Family Leave Act, Pre Natal Care, and just about everything that pertains to and addressed a Respect for Life that offers women a serious alternative to abortion.
48. Catholic and pro-ALL-of-Life | 09.21.08
What would Jesus say about the mean-spirited comments on this web site?
A Catholic Vision of the Common Good
“Unlike the vague and simplistic references to the common good that often pervade our public debates today, the Catholic Vision of the common good is as clear as it is challenging. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which the Vatican released in 2004, notes that the specific “demands” of the common good are deeply connected to the fundamental dignity and rights of the human person:
‘These demands concern above all the commitment to peace, the organization of the State’s powers, a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment, and the provision of essential services to all, some of which are at the same time human rights: food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation, basic health care, the freedom of communication and expression, and the protection of religious freedom.’” (2004)
So, for Catholics and other people of faith, we have to read and vote our conscience on all of the issues. Jesus had concerns about poverty, care for the sick, freedom of expression, etc. The Pope did a good job there, and as a Catholic, I’m called to vote my beliefs — which are connected to my church. I’m also pragmatic: Roe v. Wade is as unlikely to be changed by the GOP as it is by the DNC, no matter what happens with the “Supremes.” However, poverty/social justice and other issues run up against far less filibustering tactics. It’s also a proven fact that education/less poverty are key to fewer abortions. (see the study listed above, for just one of many.) McCain has voted against SCHIP (healthcare for our children,) equal pay, the Violence Against Women Act, and many of the other social justice programs that fall squarely in our court if we listen to the teachings of Jesus & The Church.
I’ve talked to my Cardinal and priests about these dilemnas, and I feel I can vote with a good Catholic and American conscience on November 4.
Please see the non-partisan: http://catholics-united.org/?q=node/211
49. D. Anderson | 09.21.08
If you want to talk about killing babies the Republicans win hands down in their willful mendacity. Most mothers refer to their children as their “babies” regardless of age. The only reason the Republicans and the so called Christian Right want to ban abortion is because the more babies that are born the more they will be able to send off to be slaughtered and maimed 18 years afterwards to defend the interests of large corporations and oil fields as they are doing now. The pro-lifers and fundamentalists who call the Democrats baby killers also, for the most part support wholesale murder, under the guise of capital punishment, which is not surprising since they are the very hypocrites Jesus referred to as ‘white sepulchers’, beautiful outside and corrupt and decaying inside. The pro-lifers who are so concerned with the rights and safety of the unborn, don’t give a damn about children and the quality of their lives after they are born.
50. Geri Young | 09.21.08
What about the fact that Obama has no military experience? Everybody talks about Palin’s “finger on the button” (should that even happen-it isn’t like McCain’s on his last legs you know- or he would not even be running) but Obama’s finger on the button would not be a comforting thought to me. In addition, the thought that McCain would continue to allow the torture of prisoners of war after what he went through himself in Vietnam is ludicrous. I personally think that Mrs. Palin (no matter her faith) has more in common with me as a working wife and mother than an upstart Senator in his first term, and a Senator who has been in the Congress so long he has forgotten what it is like to really work for a living.
I am voting for McCain/Palin.
51. Catholic Defender | 09.21.08
Joann, there’s your problem. As Bishop Fulton Sheen said, if you want you children to leave the Catholic Church, send them to Catholic School. You conveniently left out which Catholic college you attended, but if you let us know, I’ll bet it has a gay and lesbian “club”, shows the Vagina Monologues, and is not listed by the Cardinal Newman Society as an acceptable Catholic college. So, you see, Joann, your vote for Obama makes sense. You learned from your “Catholic” education that you could fabricate your own definition of Catholicism and completely disregard the teachings of the Magisterium. But remember, the Magisterium couldn’t care more about your salvation. And Obama couldn’t care less!
52. Jeff | 09.22.08
Natural reason alone tells you that without the right to life, no other rights matter. The Church teaches us that we must form our conscience before we vote our conscience.
“If you are not with me, you are against me”. (Matt 12, Luke 11)
I am voting pro-life.
53. Norbert Raszeja | 09.23.08
I am amazed that so much attention is paid to Sarah Palin. Granted that she is displaying great political acumen as is evidenced by her time of public service both as mayor and governor and her ability to use “the bridge to nowhere” to her advantage even after initally supporting it. But if some bishops object to Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi as being wishywashy Catholics, what about Sarah Palin being an apostate? I have found a few articles in reference to being baptized and raised in the Catholic Church and of her conversion to the Assemblies of God and now she is beyond denomination. Are apostates more acceptable than poorly formed Catholics?
54. Romillio | 09.23.08
I think you are a bunch of crazy single minded fanatic Americans, just like the Taliban and other crazy Muslim lunatics.
You fight for fetuses lives, but by voting Republican, you will help to kill them later on, with all the Republican disregard for human life, and that is not including the kids they daily kill in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I think you really are pro-fetus; but not pro-life, life includes all humans in the womb and out of it, and not only the white Christian ones.
You seem to listen the Gospel by St. *******.
55. D. Anderson | 09.24.08
Catholic Defender, that’s YOUR problem. I wouldn’t send my worst enemy to any college approved by an organization as prejudiced and full of hate as the Cardinal Newman Society. The College of Cardinals has been the greatest enemy of Christianity since this insidious organization, the world’s first corporation, hijacked the Roman Catholic Church many centuries ago. The Catholic Church under their rule has long ago ceased to be Christian in any shape or form but instead has become a self-serving monolith of evil and deception which collaborated with the Nazis to protect their property, and looked the other way as millions were sent to their deaths. The Catholic Church and the Republican Party are made to order for each other.
56. Murphdog | 09.24.08
I keep reading in these blogs the feeling of contradiction many Catholics feel about voting Democrat for social justice issues but feeling queasy about abortion. There’s also an obvious bias among many that it is up to government to enforce equity in society, and that those opposed are heartless (a.k.a. Republican). I also find it curious that many don’t feel comfortable supporting the war in Iraq. My $0.02.
On the war: Was Jesus truly the pacifist he has been made out to be? PJPII stated, “No to war. It is always a defeat for humanity. International law, dialogue, solidarity between states, the noble exercise of diplomacy: These are methods worthy of individuals and nations in resolving their differences”.
This is all well and good, but where diplomacy and dialogue fail, and international bodies (U.N.) prove feckless, and international law fails to provide just results (open to IAEA inspectors, in violation of 12+ U.N. resolutions, and a military that fires upon no-fly zone enforcing aircraft) I feel comfortable in choosing the lesser of two evils.
PJPII’s argument is one of pacifism, and ignores the incredible brutal inhumanity of the Saddam Hussein regime, that used mustard gas on tens of thousands in two Iraqi towns just to make a point; and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I can’t honestly believe that diplomacy or kind words would ever have made a difference. WWJD? I honestly don’t know, but as the USCCB stated, “given the complexity of the countless elements and arguments on either side, people of good faith could arrive at differing conclusions as to the moral justification of our armed interventions.”
A great many things have been said about the Iraq war, that it was unjust, or even “illegal” (whatever that means in any international sense); that it was about oil, or that we killed millions of Iraqis (utter nonsense). My view is that if the war was unjust, then the Iraqi regime was innocent. If the Iraqi regime was not innocent and the war is still considered wrong, then the actions must have exceeded the justifiable threat. We could argue until we’re blue in the face about the justification for its preemptive nature, but I would argue that despite the many errors and tragic losses of the war, in historical perpective it is minute, and what we left is a far greater good than what existed before. And as C.S. Lewis opined, there are extremes of patriotism and extremes of pacifism - neither are correct.
On Pro-Choice Catholics: this is nothing more that moral relativism. (Who am I to judge?) Yes we are taught not to judge others, but we are taught to take principled stands against evil. The lengthy waffling of how a vote for Obama will somehow decrease abortions on demand through social justice programming is to stare blindly at the facts: despite what the man says, his actions (and lack of action) define him. If he truly abhorred abortion, he would fight within his own party to defeat it. In every single opportunity he has had, he either done nothing or has actively fought to defend its practice in EVERY circumstance, even the extreme of fighting not to recognize babies born after botched abortions as persons under the law. Sickening.
On Social Justice: Jesus was an advocate of separation of church and state (”render unto Caesar…”). He also said, “For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them”…and…”If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven”. This involves two things: first, society is imperfectable, and second, doing right involves choice. Government-based social-justice initiatives involves the taking from those who have and giving to those who do not, by force mostly, in the name of doing good. The extreme left of course is socialism, which is an obsession with reducing all forms of justice to some form of materialist standard, and ends up creating wards of the state.
In my view, the Democratic-left are well-meaning but do more harm than good. After I’m done paying Uncle Sam 30% of my paycheck, only then can I consider charitable givings. The government appropriates money from its citizens, pays itself, then distributes the rest (in a mostly wasteful manner). I am not against all taxes; I am not a libertarian. But I reject the government playing the charitable nanny, which has always been done better by non-profit charities and organized citizens.
57. Murphdog | 09.24.08
Let me add a bit more wisdom from C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. Think of Pelosi and Biden when you read this, Catholics who seem reluctant to “impose” their faith on others, least of all themselves.
“Let him begin by treating the Patriotism or the Pacifism as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely the part of the ’cause’…The attitude which you want to guard against is that in which temporal affairs are treated primarily as material for obedience. Once you have made the World and end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of wordly end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamplets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours.”
The right goes to extremes of patriotism, and the left to extremes of pacifism.
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1. jim | 09.18.08
re: argues Father Reese. “Biden is a real Catholic from a working-class background…” Senator Biden’s working class background is complete myth … he went to the most expensive private prep school in his state and his family has no working class roots other than living in a working class town; this myth has been repeated enough by him that many believe it and repeat it often …