Sympathy For The Devil (Catholic Establishment's PC Anti-DP Crusade Exposed Alert)

Frontpagemag.com ^ | 11/20/2006 | Joseph D'Hippolito

[goldstategop]

The Catholic Establishment's PC anti-Death Penalty Crusade runs counter to biblical teachings, centuries of Church doctrine, common sense and above all, the cardinal principle of justice. A murderer shouldn't be allowed to live precisely because the murdered person has been already deprived of the one gift the Church claims to cherish: life. Why should the murderer's life be more equal than the victim's? To that the Catholic Establishment can offer no answer. Taking an innocent life is a wicked deed. Multiply that by the hundreds of thousands of Saddam Hussein's victims and because of that, his execution would not serve to bring about the fullest measure of human justice possible in an earthly existence. But it would bring a measure of closure to those suffering the loss of their loved ones and it would serve as a deterrent to others contemplating committing similiar deeds. And then there is the fact the murderer once executed, can never murder again. On all these grounds, the death penalty then, is both the imposition of human justice and well as an act of mercy for the community. The Catholic Establishment might want to remember its opposition to the death penalty amounts to showing mercy to the cruel when its necessary to be showing mercy to the merciful by upholding the severest punishment sanctioned by God towards those who are unremittingly evil by nature.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Hardastarboard]

“I couldn’t worship a god who is less compassionate than I am.”

How very convenient. Judging God based on your own "moral" precepts. I would suspect that the woman that spoke this also supports abortion at any phase. How would she reconcile that with God's view of the matter? By saying that it's a personal choice that God should stay out of, since he's a middle aged white male?

[goldstategop]

The Church has been corrupted by the moral relativism so fashionable among the "enlightened" in our post-modern societies. And its leaders wonder why the pews are empty of the devout? Methinks they ought to go look in the mirror.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[logos]

Revisionism runs rampant, especially in the post-modern church, protestant as well as Catholic.

Everyone in the western world, even non-Christians, has heard the Biblical phrase "God is love". And while that is a true statement, its only half of the story. God is also justice.

A true - and more complete statement - is that God is love constrained by justice, and justice tempered by love. The bottom line is that God is love and justice in equal measure.

That said, I have a serious problem with the death sentence - not because it's unjust or unloving - but because it is so unevenly meted out. Far more people who justly deserve the death penalty avoid it because they can afford the legal representation to skate around it than there are people who are executed. Justice unevenly or unfairly applied is not justice.

Even with that quibble, however, only a morally confused person could argue that Saddam does not deserve to be executed for his many crimes against man and humanity.

[goldstategop]

Good point. God is a God of mercy but He is also a God of justice. They are both sides of the same coin. You cannot have a truly righteous society if it doesn't protect the innocent by severely punishing evildoers. Your observation about the death penalty needs to be tempered with the qualification that it needs to be applied EVENLY. Only the most morally obtuse person could argue Saddam, or any other murderer for that matter, doesn't deserve to be held accountable for his transgression against God. I am of the view that if someone takes an innocent life without justification, like self-defense, that person's own life should be forfeit as a matter of course. A just society is the only one that is truly a merciful society.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[livius]

This, unfortunately, is something that has to be understood from the point of view of internal Church politics. Most Catholics would agree that the DP is not a good thing in itself, but that it is necessary either to protect society from a particular criminal or to maintain social order in general in societies made up of fallen mankind, as are all human societies.

The radical anti-DP position is a leftist position that was thrown into the mix primarily to cloud the Church's opposition to abortion. Most of the poast-Vatican II left-wing clergy (including some bishops) were just fine with abortion and really resented being forced to preach or teach against it. I remember how the lefties used to refuse to read Cardinal O'Connor's annual pro-life letter.

Insisting that opposition to the death penalty be included in all of the bishops' statements on pro-life matters was a way of getting back at what they perceived as the dread "conservatives," who were generally anti-abortion but had no objection to the death penalty, and thereby trying to reduce support for anti-abortion statements (since "conservatives" would then find themselves having to support something they did not agree with). It was also an attempt to curry favor with secular leftists, who are pro-abortion but anti-death penalty.

A lot of docile but not truly leftist bishops simply went along with whatever the dominant lefties in the USCCB wanted; and a few who were not liberal, such as Chaput, seem to have some obsessive personal objection to the DP. But their lumping together of the DP and opposition to abortion is not accurate from the point of view of Church teaching, although this has also been clouded by the fact that the Church is in Europe and Europeans are opposed to the death penalty because they see it as something American and they hate Americans.

So it's a complicated situation. I think the current pope is trying to sort it out, because throwing the death penalty in with abortion definitely clouds the issue and he is aware of this.

[goldstategop]

The Church has always held abortion is wrong. It has never, until recent times, taken that view with regards to the death penalty.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[madprof98]

So now the Holy Father is "the Catholic Establishment"??? John Paul is a saint. It is sad that so many Catholics today - many of them self-described as orthodox - are hellbent on attacking the reverence for human life that he taught us.

[goldstategop]

I don't believe reverence for life ought to be extended to murderers. So yes, the Church isn't beyond criticism for ignoring the age-old principle of JUSTICE.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[jonno]

bump

[Tribune7]

only God can take it away,” Martino continued.

So how did Saddam manage to murder all those people then?

[livius]

Exactly. The death penalty has been considered legitimate, although certainly not something to crow over, but something necessary to protect society. It was the emergence of the left, which became powerful in the Church after Vatican II, that confused the issue.

[Neidermeyer]

It is sad that so many Catholics today - many of them self-described as orthodox - are hellbent on attacking the reverence for human life that he taught us.

---

Christ had absolutely no problem with criminals being crucified, for the same reasons cited here ... man must meter out justice; and death for a murderer maintains social order and shows reverence for the life taken by the murderer. You've all seen the bumper sticker , "If you want Peace work for justice" ,, guess what ,, that ones true...trouble with that one is the large number of people with warped sensibilities that don't see true justice for what it is , they are always working for the "rights" of the bad guy.. and against the society they should be working at protecting.

[weegee]

The Left has subverted many Christian churches, not just the Catholic Church, since WWII.

Even today the Left seeks to twist the voting power of those who still believe. We are told that we must empower the socialist agenda of health care, cars, internet, etc. for the poor because we need to be compassionate with the poor. EXCEPT there is no charity in paying Caesar his taxes.

[khnyny]

The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty and abortion. There is a congruence in their philosophical views on these issues and I don't see the problem with that, they are a religious institution and support the concept of life being sacrosanct. The Old Testament was "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", but Christ was/is the New Covenant.

That being said, the Church does not outlaw capital punishment per se, but you have to understand that the Church looks at everything through the prism of their being a religious institution, not a governmental body.

The title of the article is revolting, btw, just another example of Catholic bashing and ignorance.

[khnyny]

Ping.

[goldstategop]

There is NO congruence. The unborn are innocent who do not deserve to be deprived of life. On the other hand, murderers are evildoers, who by virtue of already having taken an innocent human life, deserve to have their own forfeit. There is both a moral and legal distinction. One the Church has always acknowledged but which for reasons which only it knows, the present day Establishment has chosen to overlook.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[steve8714]

This is an extension of the Bernardin "seamless garment" argument.

[aimhigh]

but you have to understand that the Church looks at everything through the prism of their being a religious institution, not a governmental body.

Just another way of saying the Catholic church is blind. The church has different responsibilities than governments. The church shouldn't be circumventing the government in fullfilling it's responsibility to "execute wrath on him who practices evil. (Romans 13:4).

[khnyny]

One of the tenets of Christianity is repentance and salvation through Christ by sinners.

The Church doesn't "circumvent" governments. That sounds like the argument that the Communists used to use, lol. Too funny.