Posted on 05/15/2004 4:44:23 AM PDT by Stephen25
This is what happened friday night, May 14th; apparently this guy is very angry at what I am doing. The following letter is the one I sent to lawmakers, Catholics, and conservative politicial groups. Feel free to pass it along to any interested persons in your circle; they can contact me for further details or a video, if they wish.
I went to the Gil Cedillo SB1160 rally May 14th at 7pm. It was held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Santa Ana.
As you may know, I have attended two other of these rallies and reported on them in various media outlets, radio stations and conservative websites, in order to keep this issue in the public eye.
I got a chance to meet Senator Cedillo on April 16th in San Bernardino; and although we didn't come to any agreeement, he was courteous enough to hear my concerns about his voting record, which opposes Catholic teaching. We spoke for about 5 minutes and had a very polite, respectful conversation.
At the Santa Ana meeting friday, Senator Cedillo was joined by Orange County Sheriff Mike Corona and Auxiliary Bishop of Orange Jamie Soto.
I spoke to two Cedillo adies on the way into the meeting; they both knew who I was, and they were perfectly friendly, although one of them told me I was not allowed to film inside.
At the end of the meeting, I was about to leave and saw a 3rd Cedillo aide who I had spoken to at the rally at Dolores Mision Church in Los Angeles in April.
I said hello, introduced myself, we shook hands; and he apologized for 'being so rough on me' last time. I assume he was referring to the fact that he's the guy who had asked me to turn off my video camera at that meeting (which was reported on KFI's John and Ken show).
He asked for my e-mail address, then our conversation turned to why I was at these meetings; I conveyed my Catholic beliefs and outlined the reasons I was there; which are summed up by Catholic Bishop Michael J. Sheridan of Colorado Springs, who just stated in a pastoral letter:
"Any Catholic politicians who advocate for abortion, for illicit stem cell research or for any form of euthanasia ipso facto place themselves outside full communion with the Church and so jeopardize their salvation. Any Catholics who vote for candidates who stand for abortion, illicit stem cell research or euthanasia suffer the same fateful consequences. It is for this reason that these Catholics, whether candidates for office or those who would vote for them, may not receive Holy Communion until they have recanted their positions and been reconciled with God and the Church in the Sacrament of Penance." [reference: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/may/04051402.html ]
This aide didn't seem to be satisifed with my reasons, and suddenly kept asking "WHAT IS YOUR AGENDA? WHAT IS YOUR AGENDA?" I again emphasized my reasons for being there. He asked me my position on this SB1160 drivers license bill and I stated I didn't agree with it, and that I was a supporter of Tom McClintock. He seemed to become agitated and continued to insist I have an ulterior motive.. I told him to read the Press Enterprise Article which had my statement, or read my fax that I sent to Bishop Barnes of San Bernardino, which outlined my concerns.
He then told me he can see through that, that he's a politician and that "I shouldn't lie in a House of God".
I told him I go to these meetings to keep this issue in the public eye; I told him that through the efforts of me and some other activist friends, we have gotten a lot of radio coverage on this issue, I told him he can listen to that coverage to hear my views, which I've never hidden.
He again asked 'what is your AGENDA' and asked why I am "following them around to all these meetings".
I told him I already answered his questions, and said that they are public meetings. He then told me that they are NOT public, and that I won't be allowed into the next one.
What had started out as a supposedly polite conversation in this church had suddenly gotten tense and ugly.
At that point I pointed my videocam toward him to document his statement that I will not be allowed into the next meeting.
In front of parishoners, he then angrily snapped "do not point that at me." I replied "Sir"... he angrily repeated "do not point that at me". He then stormed off past the Holy Water fountain and headed towards the altar.
The shocked parishoners who had witnessed this asked me who he was; I told them it was a Cedillo aide. He obviously has a short fuse and a temper.. and could no longer hide his apparent bizzare anger at me.
I also took still photos of this man with my 35MM camera. Outside, I flagged down Bishop Soto and spoke to him about what had occured. As far as my pro-life concerns, The Bishop told me that he had mentioned in his speech (in Spanish) that Catholics must not support abortion. I called the aide over to speak with the Bishop and myself; I wanted to clear the air and get everything out into the open.. but the aide refused.
As far as "my agenda": I will tell you what my 'agenda' is. I am a dedicated conservative Republican activist, documentarian, and proud pro-life Roman Catholic. I have never hidden who I am or what I stand for from Cedillo or anyone else.
I support sovereignty, sanctity of life, and all traditional conservative Christian values; and I'm not ashamed to shout it from the rooftops. I support good conservative candidates like CA Assemblymen Ray Haynes, Dennis Mountjoy, Senator Tom McClintock, Ken Maddox, U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and others with similar values.
By the way, I have sent the videotape of this aides' outburst to all of the above mentioned lawmakers; so they can see first hand the unprofessional, hostile way this man conducts himself.
If this Cedillo aide thinks I am going to be "ashamed" or afraid to express my beliefs because of his attempted intimidation and thuggery, he is very extremely misguided and sadly mistaken.
Senator Cedillo behaved very professionally and courteously when we met on April 16th. I suggest his staff take a lesson from Mr. Cedillo and act in kind. I have spoken on this issue on radio stations KABC, KFI, KBRT, KSPA, KLOS, KGO, KTIE and KRLA; and I will continue to do so.
If this Cedillo aide wants to try to intmidate me from speaking out and expressing my Christian conservative beliefs, I strongly suggest he study the 1st Ammendment which Senator Cedillo encouraged his constituents to practice; and realize that it applies to ALL people, even when he doesn't 'agree' with their views.
Good for you, keep up the good work.
Thanks! :-D The next meeting is May 23rd at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral in San Bernardino. 1:30 pm.
If any Freepers want to go, I will spring for Pizza! ;-)
Good work! I admire you. This man sounds a little paranoid and brittle, actually. I am truly concerned that this a liberal psychosis. I have heard too many reports lately about bizarre, brittle temper tantrums coming from leftists - usually from the water-carriers, not the hood ornament politicans. They cannot argue and cannot abide contrary opinions. At the bottom they are fractured and have just put coat after coat of good-feeling plaster over it, but it's never enough.
Oh yeah i almost forgot; I have been in touch with 2 radio hosts; For those in so. cal, listen for the audio of this meeting & exchange on Monday. Freepmail me for the station call letters. :-) I will post pics of this meeting tomorrow.
Good for you!
May God be your stregnth --and sheild. And May He raise up
a host of others inspired by your selfless acts of courage.
I fear the political house erected between 1787-1791 when
the Constitution and Bill of Rights were drafted and ratified. .. I fear that house has been divided too long
by the fraud perpetrated by a Ku KLux Klansman,and a
communistic leader of the ACLU,and the corrupted Court
constructed by FDR (1937-41,where the Klansman,Hugo Black,
the ACLU leader Felix Frankfurter, and justices Reed,Douglas,Murphy,byrnes and Jackson were appointed by FDR) I fear the fraud perpetrated in Everson,1947 shall
bring this nation to desolation.
Good work, Stephen! A very interesting report, too.
Good Report & keep up your good work.
Politicians are supposed to represent all the people in their districts, not just one side. This total division is becoming beyond the pale. When they don't even want you to attend their rallies because you might disagree with them, that lets you know that you will not be represented by them in any way at all.
I don't know if I get this: the pro-abort pol. holds a campaign event at a CATHOLIC Church, and the AuxBishop claims to have said that 'it's a sin to vote pro-death?'
Bizarre, all-around. Is your Diocese a part of Mahony-land?
How can any true follower of Christ, whos' gift to us is life, be for abortion?
I have found that when people get into positions of power many of them and their staff get extremely arrogant. The best way to annoy them is for people to point out their positions in public and show why they are wrong. Of course this requires persistance and timing. I salute you!
What about support for the Death Penalty? Can a real Catholic go against the Church on this? Arguably, the death penalty is on the same moral level as abortion because both are questions about when it is acceptable to kill.
bump
Keep up the good work. I recently criticized a spokesperson who was not a nun or priest for speaking on behalf of our Diocese, that people who supported abortion rights would not be denied Holy Communion in this Diocese. Rather, they were to be simply 'privately counseled in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.' The story appeared on the editorial page of the state's leading newspaper. The spokesperson writes for the Diocesan newspaper. I reminded him of the stance taken by a Cardinal in Rome, that Holy Communion should be denied to people supporting abortion, with a 'cc' to the Bishop. The guy wrote back and said he was too busy that week to respond in detail, but would do so the following week. I wrote back, thanking him politely for his response, but saying I actually had hoped to hear the response of our Bishop himself, also 'cc'd' to the Bishop. Nearly two weeks now, with no response from either.
In today's state newspaper, a Church official, I think in Colorado, is admonishing Catholics who receive Holy Communion if they even so much as VOTED for a pro-abortion candidate...
Much like you, I intend to keep fighting, until heard....
Thanks, I like your advice!
Your welcome. I'm always available to make suggestions for what others should do. LOL!
"What about support for the Death Penalty? Can a real Catholic go against the Church on this? Arguably, the death penalty is on the same moral level as abortion because both are questions about when it is acceptable to kill."
There is a problem with the concept here. This is a category error in logic.
The Catholic Church recognizes the right of the state to execute someone convicted of a capital crime when the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt of guilt is met.
Abortion is in no way comperable. Abortion is the slaughter of a complete innocent , without a trial, without a crime and most of the time on the decision of the mother based on convenience.
The womans right to chose except in the context of rape comes before the decision to bed, not after.
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