Bishops rekindle anti-Catholic bias

I wonder if those Catholic bishops who think it's OK to hold the sacraments of their church over the heads of Catholic politicians have any idea of what happened during the presidential election of 1960.

Memories of that election came back to me the other day when I hung up the phone after a conversation with the dean of Wisconsin's congressional delegation, Rep. Dave Obey, the highly respected Wausau Democrat.

Obey and I were college classmates here at the University of Wisconsin back in the '60s, both active in the Young Dems at the time. Although we had both supported Hubert Humphrey in Wisconsin's presidential primary that spring, we worked our tails off for the guy who eventually wound up with the nomination - John F. Kennedy.

There was a lot of nastiness in that 1960 campaign, but none so serious as the charges that if Kennedy, a Catholic, was elected president, he would have to take orders from the pope in Rome.

And it was more than a whispering campaign. Voters received mailings telling them exactly that, and several anti-Kennedy politicians publicly made insinuations about the church's control over its members. Some people put red paint on quarters, supposedly describing how the coins would look once the pope had control of our presidency. We were astounded at the anti-Catholic bias.

It got so bad that Kennedy himself had to address the issue. That September he delivered a major address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. Here are some excerpts:

"Because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected president, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured - perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again not what kind of church I believe in - for that should be important only to me - but what kind of America I believe in.

"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute - where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

"I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish - where the public official neither requests nor accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials; and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all."

Ironically, nearly 44 years later, Obey, himself a Catholic, has been targeted by outgoing La Crosse Diocese Bishop Raymond Burke because Obey has voted pro-choice, contrary to the church's beliefs.

Don't Burke and those fellow bishops who "congratulate" him understand how they're playing into that anti-Catholic prejudice that was so prevalent back then and could easily resurface today?

Do they really want voters to pick candidates based on their religion?

If that's the case, then all those protestations back then by JFK, his supporters and, yes, the church itself sound terribly hollow.

bump for later. Looks interesting

"Rep. Dave Obey, the highly respected Wausau Democrat."

If this guy's cognitive functioning is so impaired that he actually refers to a democrat as "highly respected," of what value are his views on faith likely to be?

Don't Burke and those fellow bishops who "congratulate" him understand how they're playing into that anti-Catholic prejudice that was so prevalent back then and could easily resurface today?

Bah! Kennedy in essence said "Being elected is more important than my faith". He opened the doors to what we have now, where judicial nominees are targeted, and declined because of their faith. As if it were possible to separate the two! Shall we turn our backs on Christ's message and follow "that other message", the "anti-Catholic" [read Anti-Christ] sentiment? Just who is the author of that?!
Our culture is upside down!

So I guess we are being implicitly threatened. Always embarrassing to hear such impoverished thought from a "Catholic" JFK. It may be that an authentically Catholic politician couldn't be elected president in 1960 and certainly not in 2004. Who cares? This is not a Catholic country so I as Catholic know my "professional ceiling" is lower. There will always be a dominant culture in a pluralistic society; we can hope for equality before the law but the highest promotions in society will be hard to come by for a Catholic in this country. It's not fair but it's real life and the blessing of the Faith should more than make up for it.

Its one thing not to allow one religion or another to influence ones political ruling. But lets separate religion from morality. If you belong to a faith, that frowns on immorality, and you act immorally..then that faith has no choice but to separate itself from you. If you happen to be a politician...too bad, a church or synagogue is concerned for the soul...not for the state!

If you belong to a faith, that frowns on immorality, and you act immorally..then that faith has no choice but to separate itself from you.

Touché! FReegards.

Ironically, nearly 44 years later, Obey, himself a Catholic, has been targeted by outgoing La Crosse Diocese Bishop Raymond Burke because Obey has voted pro-choice, contrary to the church's beliefs. >>

Not contrary to the Church's beliefs. Contrary to moral law binding on all humans of all generations and which Obey is well aware of.

Obey has directly contributed to the mass murder of millions of children. Even if he weren't Catholic at all, if he converted to Episcopaganism, he'd still go to Hell for an eternity in the Lake of Fire if he didn't repent his participation in murder.

he'd still go to Hell for an eternity in the Lake of Fire if he didn't repent his participation in murder.

Lake of Fire (great analogy) bump!

Dear johnb2004,

I guess the distilled message of this article is that if we Catholics wish to be loved, we just can't act Catholic.

If we remain Catholic, then we will have no one to blame but ourselves for anti-Catholic bigotry.

Got it.

sitetest

"sit down and shut up" bump

Obey is "highly respected" in his own mind, and the alleged minds of his still-in-the-'60's supporters, all of them doing the Garfunkel inhale regularly.

Obey's district consists of a LOT of fugitive left-wing radicals who graduated from UW-Madison and who are hugging trees Up North in Wisconsin.

Most folks don't realize just how left-leaning Up North really is. Don't be fooled.

It is also useful to remember that Madison, WI., is "10 square miles surrounded by reality" in the words of an ex-Governor of Wisconsin, the RINO Lee Dreyfus.

Now, if a RINO thinks Madison is liberal, you have a gauge...

As far as his non-Catholic rule, Kennedy even went as far as eating a hot dog on Good Friday at a Washington Senators' opening day game in April.

His picture, with dog in mouth made all the New York Papers. And this was pre Vatican 2

I can't understand those who deify kennedy. He was a scoundrel and he basically denied his faith.

Obey is a Catholic pro-abort

Name of Legislation		voted	score
Agreed To	Medicare Modernization Act: passage 11/21/2003	N
Passed	Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act: final approval by the House 10/02/2003	Y
Agreed To	Coercive abortion / United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 07/15/2003	N
Passed	Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act: passage 06/04/2003	Y
Failed	Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act: hostile motion 06/04/2003	Y
Failed	Abortion in military medical facilities 05/22/2003	Y
Passed	Human cloning ban: passage 02/27/2003	N
Failed	Human cloning ban: hostile substitute (clone and kill) 02/27/2003	Y
Passed	Abortion Non-Discrimination Act: passage 09/25/2002	Y
Failed	Abortion Non-Discrimination Act: hostile motion 09/25/2002	Y
Passed	Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act: passage 07/24/2002	Y
Failed	Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act: hostile motion 07/24/2002	Y
Failed	Abortion in military medical facilities 05/09/2002	Y
Passed	Child Custody Protection Act: passage 04/17/2002	Y
Failed	Child Custody Protection Act: hostile motion 04/17/2002	N
Passed	Shays-Meehan "campaign finance reform" 02/13/2002	Y
Failed	Abortion in military medical facilities 09/25/2001	Y
Passed	Human cloning ban: passage 07/31/2001	N
Failed	Human cloning ban: hostile motion 07/31/2001	Y
Failed	Human cloning ban: hostile substitute (clone and kill) 07/31/2001	Y
Failed	Abortion funding in federal prisons 07/17/2001	N
Agreed To	President Bush's pro-life "Mexico City Policy" 05/16/2001	N
Passed	Unborn Victims of Violence Act: passage 04/26/2001	Y
Failed	Unborn Victims of Violence Act: hostile substitute 04/26/2001	Y

Representative David Obey (D-WI 7th)

18th-term Democrat from Wisconsin.

ACU Ratings, Y 2000 = 4%

Key Votes

This article parallels the poll (Zogby) from yesterday were people were identifying themselves as Americans first and Catholics second.

Sounds like the priorities are out of order! Shouldn't they look something like this?

God
Family
Work
Country
Other interests

Their records show all, don't they? Even the warts! LOL!

I messed up on that list. Here is the re-prioritization.

God
Family
Country
Work
Other interests

If the author thinks that politicians should be politicians first and Christians later, he is gravely mistaken. Christianity is the belt that keeps America's pants up. We need more Christian politicians.