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.
How about stating what the Church's teaching on capital punishment is.
Arguably, the death penalty is on the same moral level as abortion because both are questions about when it is acceptable to kill.
Equating the murder of an innocent human being, abortion, with the execution of a guilty criminal is asinine.
Thanks for your replies! I agree that being a Christian and pro-abortion doesnt make any sense.
As far as the death penalty question.; that is not a moral equivalent to abortion since thwe person is guilty; and it is not required that Catholics oppose it. Many leftist /socialist bishops try to push their liberal beliefs under the guise of Catholicism.
Capital punishment is not listed as one of the 5 'Non Negotiable' issues, which are: abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthenasia, cloning, and homosexual marriage.
Anyway.. if you want to see the pics of this rally go to http://www.americanpatrol.com
I believe the Pope made this same point in his encyclical "The Gospel of Life" ( I hope I am remembering the name correctly). He comes across as largely against the death penalty due to the possibility of error in human-run judicial systems, not because of the innocence of some criminals or their lack of continued threat to society.
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