The President of the dissident group Catholics for Choice has his own spin on the subject of Catholics and how we vote:
As the election nears, many news outlets are repeating misinformation about what Catholics believe and what they can and should do when it comes to voting.Conservative groups have targeted a largely Catholic group of antichoice Democrats who voted in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, falsely claiming that the bill permits federal funding of abortion.
A Catholic Tea Party has been mooted, and conservative Catholic bloggers who represent a tiny minority of Catholics are manufacturing controversies in order to get in the news. To overcome their lack of influence and numbers, they have decided to condemn bishops, politicians and their fellow lay Catholics in equal measure.
In Massachusetts, the bishops conference issued an election statement elevating certain issues as being of paramount importance for Catholics. According to their statement, “the sanctity of life [and] the family based on marriage between a man and a woman” come before “religious freedom and the well-being of the poor” in importance.
The reality is that Catholic teachings and the views of Catholics are not closely aligned with the political priorities of the bishops, nor are they close to the views of the bishops’ conservative allies in the blogosphere.
Read on to discover what he claims are five myths about Catholics and voting.
Meantime, at the other end of the spectrum, there’s this lengthy interview with soon-to-be Cardinal Raymond Burke, who is quoted as saying:
“As a bishop it’s my obligation in fact, to urge the faithful to carry out their civic duty in accord with their Catholic faith.”“You can never vote for someone who favors absolutely the right to choice of a woman to destroy a human life in her womb or the right to a procured abortion.”
“So, the Catholic Church in teaching that sexual acts between persons of the same sex are intrinsically evil, are against nature itself, is simply announcing the truth, helping people to discriminate right from wrong in terms of their own activities.”
Archbishop Burke’s interview runs in several parts and can be viewed at this link.
posted October 28, 2010 at 9:42 am
Rumor has it that Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, is a close collaborator with David Jacobs, president of Jews for Ethnic Cleansing.
posted October 28, 2010 at 9:50 am
5 for 5!
posted October 28, 2010 at 11:56 am
Every individual human person is both a saint and a sinner simultaneously. Each of us have great talents and great graces — we also have great failings which can and do blind us and can lead us to sin. And our own individual mixture of grace and sin is what makes us unique both in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of God.
(You did notice that one man who was canonized by John Paul II — and I have forgotten his name — was a smoker! And I never will forget that religious sister — one I knew to have an awesome ministry — who promptly charged me in public of being a great sinner because I drive an SUV!)
Parishes (and dioceses) are like that as well. Each parish has its own corporate graces and its own corporate weaknesses and corporate blindness that that can and does lead to sin. Families who have to move between parishes/dioceses see this a lot.
Why do we expect political parties to be any different? Lord knows neither of them are perfect. Both of the two major ones in our culture promote a lot of policies that support our Catholic teachings but both of them also promote a lot of policies that our Catholic Church condemns.
I do agree with the basic premise of the original article. There is no Catholic block in my experience in the American voting scene.
My sense is that Roman Catholics here in the United States are just as divided as everyone else. If they live in a conservative area of the country, they tend to support conservative legislators. If they live in a liberal or progressive area of the country, they tend to support liberal and progressive legislators. Both of those rather polarized Catholic groups, however, do have an obligation to work for the changes within those structures that they and their church believe in.
In other words, if you are a Catholic Democrat, you have to be a “Pro-Life Democrat”: and if you are a Catholic Republican, you have to emphasize the “preferential option for the poor.”
Lots of fun!
posted October 28, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Never even imagined I was pro-choice until this year and three main coinciding ephiphanies:
1. Sr. Margaret McBride saving the life that actually could be saved, whilst a blessed 11 week unviable was heading to heaven regardless.
2. Eye-opening which ensued during the atrocious, vile, insane attack on Sr. Margaret. It was evident something was “rotten in Denmark” or extremely wayward/cultish faction hijacked pro-life. I realized the hypocrisy of these vocal few is a huge problem and actually damages decent and normal pro-life advocates’ success.
3. Working with a Rachel’s Vineyard advocate and most prayerful, pure child of God I ever met. She had an abortion and would do anything to help another woman make a more informed decision. She prayerfully pickets, holds their hand and actually help hands on with the baby. But, she firmly believes abortion must remain legal for a variety of reasons.
I never imagined, thought or learned as much about the reality of this issue until 2010.
And yes, I know the answer…. I was never properly formed lol.
posted October 28, 2010 at 1:45 pm
The 5 myths are simply that. The whole Huffington thing is filled with nonsense and outright error.
And yes, I doubt any Catholic whose conscience is properly informed and formed can come to the conclusion that life is ever a “choice” or disposable. Thank God Mary didn’t believe it was.
posted October 28, 2010 at 2:30 pm
We learned in Catholic school that something is deemed to be a myth because there is a degree of truth contained within it. Otherwise, it would wash away, like the unofficial teaching of limbo.
Similar to humor, no joke is funny unless there’s a shred of truth.
posted October 28, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Don’t know, but I’m surmising abortion was illegal back in the Blessed Mary’s day. And surely if something is illegal that means the act will never occur. Focus on legislation, problem solved.
posted October 28, 2010 at 3:02 pm
“So, the Catholic Church in teaching that sexual acts between persons of the same sex are intrinsically evil, are against nature itself, is simply announcing the truth”
No, it is simply re-iterating one of the HRCC’s official, biased policies. It’s nothing even close to the truth. In fact, I don’t think the HRCC can handle the truth. About a lot of things. So they make up their own tenets. No big whup.
posted October 29, 2010 at 3:50 am
How can you compare a George Soros funded group out to destroy anything truly Catholic with a Cardinal who repeats the truth of Jesus Christ.