Catholic Factor 2004 [presidential Election -- Bush vs. Kerry on abortion]

Catholic Exchange ^ | 3-13-04 | Ken ConCannon

[Salvation]

Catholic Factor 2004

03/13/04

I fully expect that during this election season we will hear much about our country’s so-called time-honored tradition of the "separation of church and state." Much of it will come from pro-choice Catholic politicians who will argue, as they always argue, that while they are personally opposed to abortion, they don’t believe that they have the right to impose their religious or moral views on their constituents, many of whom do not share the Catholic Church’s views on abortion.

I expect that the "separation of church and state" mantra will be louder than in previous elections for two reasons. First, the presidential election this year will most likely be between a socially conservative, pro-life president, George W. Bush, and a liberal, pro-choice Catholic contender, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. Feared by the abortion industry before he was elected president in 2000, and even more after he was elected, Bush has proven himself to be the most pro-life president since issuance of the Roe and Doe decisions 31 years ago. Feminist Gloria Steinem, no friend of the unborn, described the Bush administration thusly: "To my knowledge, there has never been an administration that has been more hostile...to reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right, and has acted on that hostility."

The Catholic Kerry, on the other hand, is a devout disciple of the abortion agenda. Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, attested to his devotion in an interview with the New York Times: "Even on the most difficult issues [e.g. partial birth abortion] we’ve never had to worry about John Kerry’s position." Since 1995, NARAL has given Kerry a 100 percent rating for his voting record in support of the abortion industry.

The second reason is the increasing willingness of some Catholic bishops to both privately and publicly confront pro-choice Catholic politicians who are members of their diocese. About a year ago Bishop Robert Carlson of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S.D., where pro-abortion Catholic Senator Tom Daschle supposedly worships, asked Daschle to stop advertising himself as a Catholic in his Congressional biography and campaign material. More recently Bishop Raymond Burke of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, told three pro-abortion Catholic politicians that they should stay away from the Eucharist. And Archbishop Sean O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston, where there are several pro-abortion Catholic politicians, has instructed those politicians to refrain from receiving Communion. Senator Kerry is a member of that diocese.

When Senator Kerry is nominated by the Democratic Party, as expected, he will be only the third Catholic nominated for the presidency by one of the two major political parties in the history of our country, and the authoritative nature of his Catholic religion will become fodder for liberal interest groups and commentators who consider themselves guardians of the "separation of church and state" flame. To these people the authority of the Catholic Church and its opposition to the relativism that is their only moral guidepost is frightening.

The two previous Catholic nominees, Al Smith in 1928 and John Kennedy in 1960, encountered serious anti-Catholic bias emanating from a suspicion that a Catholic president would yield his presidential decision-making authority to the pope in Rome. During the 1928 campaign the Ku Klux Klan burned crosses and circulated a ridiculous rumor that Smith favored building a tunnel between the White House and the Vatican. Smith lost by a large margin to his Protestant opponent. And Kennedy, a young, good-looking, charismatic war hero, barely eked out a victory after explaining to a televised assemblage of Baptist ministers in Texas that, if elected, his Catholic faith would not prevent him from acting in the best interests of the country.

Abortion wasn’t a political issue when Smith and Kennedy ran for office, and both were considered at the time to be practicing Catholics in good standing with their Church. Consequently, the anti-Catholicism of the day was directed at them and their right, as Catholics, to serve as President.

But abortion has been a major political issue for the past thirty years, one that should trump other issues for Catholics and others who believe the state has an obligation to protect innocent human life. Senator Kerry, who, through his actions, defines himself as something other than a Catholic in good standing, will not be the target of the anti-Catholic bias that his predecessors were. But his Church will be.


Concannon is a freelance writer from All Saints Parish in Manassas.

(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

[Salvation]

Kerry will meet staunch Catholic opposition!

[Salvation]

Catholic Discussion Ping!

Please notify me via Freepmail if you would like to be added to or removed from the Catholic Discussion Ping list.

[Salvation]

Pleasae ping your lists.

[Salvation]

Please

[cebadams]

>> Kerry will meet staunch Catholic opposition!

Why so you think so? There is an opportunity right now for Catholics to voice their opposition to Kerry and his agenda but it clearly isn't happening. For instance, where was the criticism on Ash Wednesday when Kerry used it as a photo op?

[Salvation]

You didn't read mine, eh?

[Salvation]

I don't think Kerry has been out of the Church's dart-board focus:

The Deadly Dozen

Blood On Their Hands: Exposing Pro-abortion Catholic Politicians

Kerry [Catholic} says he'll filibuster Supreme Court nominees who do not support abortion rights

PETITION TO EX-COMMUNICATE PRO-ABORTION CATHOLIC ELECTED OFFICIALS

Catholics Kerry and Kennedy have a 100% Pro-homosexual Record with the Human Rights Campaign! Page 10,11

Kerry says he alone hasn't 'played games' on abortion

AS KERRY EMERGES, SO DOES CONCERN THAT AS PRESIDENT HE MAY BE DENIED COMMUNION

Archbishop [Raymond Burke] Would Refuse Communion To John Kerry

Kerry raps Pope: Senator fuming over gay marriage order

(re Kerry & Kennedy) Boston Bishop O'Malley Says "It Is Not Our Policy To Deny Communion"

Catholics Attack Kerry on Abortion Stance

KERRY & GAY MARRIAGE

Kerry tells off the Pope

Kerry dodges constitutional ban question (Gay Marriage)

Kerry Signed Letter Endorsing Homosexual Marriage

Kerry Signed Letter Backing Gay Marriage

John Kerry: A Call To Service Excerpt (on being a practicing Catholic)

Well,well,well!["Catholics for Kerry" leader works for United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]

[Gerish]

I have never voted for a Democrat since they have aligned themselves with the pro-murderers long ago, but I have to laugh at Kerry. Almost as if you want to say to the Democratic Party - this guy is the best you could come up with?

[gbcdoj]

Separation of church and state is false and has been condemned many times by the Church.

55. The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church.—Allocution 'Acerbissimum,' Sept. 27, 1852.
56. Moral laws do not stand in need of the divine sanction, and it is not at all necessary that human laws should be made conformable to the laws of nature and receive their power of binding from God.—Allocution 'Maxima quidem,' June 9, 1862.
57. The science of philosophical things and morals and also civil laws may and ought to keep aloof from divine and ecclesiastical authority.—Ibid.
-- Pope Bl. Pius IX, The Syllabus of Errors

Since, then, no one is allowed to be remiss in the service due to God, and since the chief duty of all men is to cling to religion in both its reaching and practice-not such religion as they may have a preference for, but the religion which God enjoins, and which certain and most clear marks show to be the only one true religion -it is a public crime to act as though there were no God.
-- Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical "Immortale Dei"

That the State must be separated from the Church is a thesis absolutely false, a most pernicious error. Based, as it is, on the principle that the State must not recognize any religious cult, it is in the first place guilty of a great injustice to God...Hence the Roman Pontiffs have never ceased, as circumstances required, to refute and condemn the doctrine of the separation of Church and State.
-- Pope St. Pius X, Encyclical "Vehementer nos"

It would be a grave error, on the other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in his power.
-- Pope Pius XI, Encyclical "Quas Primas"

O Christ, that Heads of State may honor Thee publicly, that professors and judges honor Thee, that Thou be manifest in laws and the arts!
-- Vespers Hymn of Christ the King

Therefore it leaves untouched traditional Catholic doctrine on the moral duty of ... societies toward the true religion and toward the one Church of Christ.
-- Vatican II, Declaration "Dignitatis Humanae"

[Salvation]

Welcome to FR, newbie!

[cebadams]

Great list. But let's look at your list a bit -- Kerry clearly publicly exposes all sorts of anti-Catholic positions. His pronoucements clearly bring scandal to the Church. So where is the outrage? Burke would deny him communion, O'Mally would not. That appears to be it.

[Salvation]

I think that's where we are with O'Malley right now. Pinging american colleen to get her input from the Boston Diocese.

We also have the bishop in South Dakota asking Daschle to stop taking Communion. Also Bruskewitz of Lincoln Diocese in Nebraska has spoken out on this. I know because my brother lives there.

There are a couple of other bishops who are stepping up to the plate too.

Can any of you help me with additional bishops, here?

[sinkspur]

Sal, that's wishful thinking. There are too many Catholics whose "daddy" voted Democrat, and they, therefore, will vote Democrat.

My mother, God rest her soul, voted Democrat to the day she died, in 1991.

She would have voted for Clinton, without question.

Some Catholics hold voting Democrat to be more sacred than Church teaching.

[Salvation]

So are you saying that you also vote Democrat? I doubt it because you wouldn't be here if that were the case.

Sometimes we learn/change in our journeys, correct?

For instance there are several screenames:
formerDem comes to mind.

[cebadams]

Interesting read over here:

Like the 2000 presidential election, the Catholic vote will be up for grabs in 2004. An October 2002, Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC) report maintained that Catholic voters were increasingly independent minded, refusing to be identified with either the Democrats or Republicans. The report, entitled "Beyond the Spin," analyzed the voting patterns of Catholic voters -- who make up nearly 25% of the electorate -- and found that "Despite a convergence of concern for social justice and the value of the family, they show an increasing independence and volatility in voting."

Catholics "are most concerned about bread-and-butter issues of personal economic security [and] [t]hey are influenced more by what the candidates will do about preserving Social Security and Medicare, improving health care and education, and fighting crime, than by church-defined issues of morality," the report read. On three highly charged issues, the majority of Catholic voters stray from the Vatican's line: 80% support the death penalty, 66% percent support legal abortion, and 56% percent support the practice of allowing doctors to assist in the suicide of terminally ill patients.

[gbcdoj]

Hi, Salvation.

[cont] The bishops ought to speak out against Catholic politicians who use "separation of church and state" to justify immoral activity and the lack of recognition of Christ's Church as the established religion of society(*). Having 3-4 bishops deny communion to some legislators who are the most egregious advocates of abortion is just not enough! The key issue here with legalized abortion, contraception (cf. H.V. §23), etc. is a denial of the Kingship of Christ on the part of many Catholics and other Christians, IMO.

(*) Of course, the establishment of the One, Holy, Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ as the only religion of the State is now impractical in most countries, but that doesn't mean the principle is not still existent.

[gbcdoj]

Bishop Wiegand in CA told Gov. Gray Davis not to take Communion.

I am from the Boston Archdiocese, Bishop O'Malley seems like a pretty good bishop but I believe his most recent statement was that pro-abortion politicians should not dare to approach Holy Communion, but they'd be able to recieve anyway if they did. Better than most, who haven't really said anything on the issue at all.

[formerDem]

"So are you saying that you also vote Democrat? I doubt it because you wouldn't be here if that were the case."

I drifted away from the church at about age 14. Had my "second conversion" in 1998. So, that is why I am a former democrat. I grew up hearing that the Republicans are for the rich and the democrats are for the poor. I vote for republicans now because I consider them the lesser of two evils.

[sinkspur]

No. I've never voted Democrat in my life. But, some of these old-line Democrats never change, and WILL never change.

[sinkspur]

Of course, the establishment of the One, Holy, Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ as the only religion of the State is now impractical in most countries, but that doesn't mean the principle is not still existent.

I prefer the United States Constitution, which forbids the establishment of a state religion, Catholic or otherwise.

[cebadams]

Another intersting article from 2000 here by Deacon Keith A. Fournier:

First, there is a lack of understanding, among Catholics, of the implications of their faith on their public life and political participation. That will take a lot of teaching—what the Church calls catechesis—to change. The bishop’s letter is helpful. However, few Catholics have read it. This task will require a dynamic movement of Catholic citizens and the building of mediating associations of committed Catholics.

Second, the constrictive nature of the current political categories and loaded political conversation impedes an authentic Catholic discussion. I, for one, am tired of the old tired labels of "liberal" and "conservative." They do not work. I loved the words of Cardinal George when he accepted the invitation to serve in Chicago: "The faith is neither liberal or conservative, the faith is true." The implications of that faith in the formation of political judgments and participation will not fit these labels, either. Period.

Third, there is a lack of a popular, authentically Catholic voice articulating the treasury of truth called the Church's social teaching. That is one of the vital tasks of our age—not only for Catholics, but also for all citizens. That treasury includes vital human insights on life, true freedom, family, subsidiarity, and solidarity that can help immensely in our common social task as Americans.

[PhiKapMom]

You got it! Very interesting article!

[Salvation]

My dad, at age 90, is an excellent example of that. Orthodox Catholic but always votes Democrat. Drives me nuts.

[Salvation]

Thanks, PKM!

[Salvation]

The Deadly Dozen

Canadian Prime Minister Taunts Church: "I Am A Catholic And For Abortion"
Catholic Church asks Tom Daschle to stop calling himself a Catholic
On Catholic Politicians and Faith
Vatican Urges Catholic Politicians to Vote Along Church Lines
Senator Santorum on Being Catholic and a Politician

William E. Simon, Sr. and Jr. Devout Catholics, Philanthropists and Politicians
Deadly Dozen senator taken to task over claims of Catholicism
THE BISHOP AND THE SENATOR [author links to FR thread regarding Daschle in her online column]
Blood On Their Hands: Exposing Pro-abortion Catholic Politicians
MI Gov Granholm Proclaims June "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month"

Colorado Governor To Media:'WE LOVE OUR CHURCH' [Gov. Bill Owens
U.S. Senator Brownback and Commentator Dick Morris Join Catholic Church
PRIEST REFUSES COMMUNION TO KNEELING PRO-LIFE POLITICIAN [Richard Black, Virginia]
Kerry [Catholic} says he'll filibuster Supreme Court nominees who do not support abortion rights
Pope to MPs: Stop gay marriage

Vatican - Considerations regarding ... homosexual persons
CONFUSIONS ABOUT POLITICAL JUDGMENT AND THE MORAL LAW
Prelate says politicians who back abortion shouldn't go to Communion
Bishop draws fire for targeting Chrétien
Kennedy likens Vatican stance on gay unions to 'bigotry' (oh, go get a job, you little creep)

Ignorance or Malicious Intent? "No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to..."
George Weigel on Authentic Catholic Citizenship, and the Duty of Catholic Politicians to Behave as Catholics
Conservative Catholics urge Church to challenge "dissenters"
[Robert F., Jr.] Kennedy to speak at Festival of Faiths (Environmentalism as religion)
Faithful Catholic Politicians

Catholic Bishops Eye Possible Crackdown of Pro-Abortion Pols
PETITION TO EX-COMMUNICATE PRO-ABORTION CATHOLIC ELECTED OFFICIALS
It is Time to Excommunicate the Politicians
Church vows to fight gay marriage: Catholics pressure pols
Should politicians toe their church line?

Church May Penalize Politicans
Catholic politicians facing dogmatic threat
Bishop appeals to Catholic lawmakers [Wisconsin]
New St. Louis Catholic Archbishop Warns Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians of Excommunication.
Bishop Objected to AIDS Walk

Wisconsin Catholic Lawmakers Seek Victim Status In Feud With Bishop
Bishop Burke discusses the letters he sent to Catholic politicians
Congressman Places Internal Pro-Abortion Docs in Congressional Record
Flynn: Dems ignore Catholics
Granholm gay rights order "a slap in the face"

Calif. Bishop To Gov. Davis: Pick Abortion Or Communion [formal excommunication?]
California Bishop to Gov: Oppose Abortion or No Communion (New Title)
Sacramento Bishop Challenges Governor on Abortion; Tells Davis to Stop Receiving Communion
Granholm's Bible-thumping Sure to Rile GOP
Bishop: No Communion for Abortion Backers

Legislators can't have Eucharist, bishop says: Don't serve supporters of abortion rights, euthanasia
Wisc. Bishop Tells Pro-Abort. Catholic Pols: Change Your Stripes or Stay Away from Holy Communion
Diocese targets Granholm on abortion
NJ Governor McGreevey a devout Catholic, yet diplomatic {Barf Alert}
Communion ban on lawmakers who back abortion starts furor

Bishop's ban ignites church-state debate
(MI) Governor's effort is first step to give gays special benefits, weapon against religion [Granholm]
(Louisiana) LA Archbishop aims call at some Catholic politicians [Hughes]
Hughes exhorts Catholic pols to toe line
The end of Catholic politicians

Maher's Moment: A look back at Bishop Maher's Denial of Communion to a Pro-Abortion Politician [Lucy Killea]
Bishops rekindle anti-Catholic bias
TREND? "Pro-Abort Politicians "Shouldn't Dare Come to Communion", Madison Bishop Backs Burke
Dolan lauds result of bishop's actions against lawmakers
Catholics Kerry and Kennedy have a 100% Pro-homosexual Record with the Human Rights Campaign! Page 10,11

Bishop Burke: Just Doing His Job
AS KERRY EMERGES, SO DOES CONCERN THAT AS PRESIDENT HE MAY BE DENIED COMMUNION
Massachusetts Democrats Back Gay Marriage Edict
Archbishop Would Refuse Communion To John Kerry
Leading His Flock: Has the new archbishop of St. Louis crossed a line?

Kerry raps Pope: Senator fuming over gay marriage order
Denial of communion raises stakes for bishops and pro-choice legislators
Roman Catholic church raises some eyebrows by warning politicians
Kerry dodges constitutional ban question (Gay Marriage)
Kerry Signed Letter Endorsing Homosexual Marriage

Kerry Signed Letter Backing Gay Marriage
Could Jennifer Granholm be the St. Thomas More of our time?
Church's embrace of Sebelius angers anti-abortion advocates[Kansas]
Kansas Catholic Bishop Says No to Pro-Abortion Politicians at Events [Sebelius]
Bishop calls on Catholics to snub pro-choice speakers [Arbp James Keleher, Kansas City, Kan.

Governor fears unrest unless same-sex marriages are halted (GAY MARRIAGE HOMOAGENDA CIVIL WAR).
The Deadly Dozen

Blood On Their Hands: Exposing Pro-abortion Catholic Politicians
Kerry [Catholic} says he'll filibuster Supreme Court nominees who do not support abortion rights
PETITION TO EX-COMMUNICATE PRO-ABORTION CATHOLIC ELECTED OFFICIALS
Catholics Kerry and Kennedy have a 100% Pro-homosexual Record with the Human Rights Campaign! Page 10,11
Kerry says he alone hasn't 'played games' on abortion
AS KERRY EMERGES, SO DOES CONCERN THAT AS PRESIDENT HE MAY BE DENIED COMMUNION

Archbishop [Raymond Burke] Would Refuse Communion To John Kerry

Kerry raps Pope: Senator fuming over gay marriage order

(re Kerry & Kennedy) Boston Bishop O'Malley Says "It Is Not Our Policy To Deny Communion"

Catholics Attack Kerry on Abortion Stance

KERRY & GAY MARRIAGE

Kerry tells off the Pope

Kerry dodges constitutional ban question (Gay Marriage)
John Kerry: A Call To Service Excerpt (on being a practicing Catholic)
Well,well,well!["Catholics for Kerry" leader works for United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]
Catholics Can't Back Laws Contrary to Life, Insists Pope
San Francisco's Catholic Mayor Shakes Up His Church on Gay Marriage[Gavin Newsom]

[gbcdoj]

The US Constitution allows the States to establish churches - the Congregational Church was established in Massachusetts until 1833.

Why shouldn't Christ's Church be established as the religion of the state, sinkspur?

[deport]

Holy cow....... with all those links I thought Uncle Bill had returned......... LOL

[Salvation]

I've been collecting them for quite awhile.

Trouble is I think I have some repeats in there so have to edit it.

Hope your eyes are OK now. LOL!

[sinkspur]

Why shouldn't Christ's Church be established as the religion of the state, sinkspur?

Because, in a constitutional republic, the Baptist Church, or Mormonism, could be established as the State Church, if so desired by the people's representatives.

No thanks. I'd prefer to have the state mind the state's business, and allow us all to worship as we please.

[nickcarraway]

Also posted here: Catholic Factor 2004

[SuziQ]

Hogwash. Consider the source! Catholics for a Free Choice is a group whose membership could probably fit in a phone booth. They are funded by major foundations which have always been anti-Catholic; I believe the Payboy Foundation is one of its biggest supporters.

Any poll they do is going to be skewed to return answers favorable to the group's point of view, so I don't believe any of its findings.

[SuziQ]

DOH! Payboy Foundation = PLAYboy foundation!

[lainde]

Bump for reference. Great collection...thanks!

[Salvation]

Sorry, I missed that!

[Salvation]

CFFC (Catholics for a Free Choice) is a dissenting organization and not endorsed by the Catholic Church. They do not speak for Catholics or for the Catholic Church.

Check out this link for dissent:

http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/

[not-alone]

thanks for all the links

[Desdemona]

I grew up hearing that the Republicans are for the rich and the democrats are for the poor.

I heard that too as a kid. Now, of all my relatives, the ones who go to church, for the most part vote republican. The democrats, with a few exceptions, have all fallen away.

[old and tired]

The Philadelphia Catholic Standard and Times published an article after the 2000 election. I can't remember it exactly, but I think it was something like 80% of weekly Mass attendees voted for Bush, monthly like 65%, and never was like 30%. I think, with Catholics as a whole, the vote was pretty evenly split, with Gore having a slight advantage. I can't remember if these numbers were for the country or just the Philly area.

[ravingnutter]

I believe the Playboy Foundation is one of its biggest supporters.

Correct (other sources of funding listed as well)...

According to records filed with the IRS, Catholics For a Free Choice, of Washington, DC, has received thousands of dollars from the Playboy Foundation.

Source

[blackie]

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

[MeekOneGOP]

[Columbine]

Thanks!

Very interesting article. I wish the Bishops would get on with it.

[cebadams]

From a Detroit News article May 2001:

In the 2000 election, Bush made large gains among Catholic voters. According to Voter News Service exit polls, Bush lost the Catholic vote to Al Gore by three percentage points, 50 to 47. By contrast, Bill Clinton's margin among Catholics was 16 percentage points in 1996 and nine points in 1992.

   Wagner said those gains were largely the result of Bush's success among the 42 percent of Catholics who regularly attend mass.

   "Among religiously active Catholics, who have a discernible political identity in contrast to the nonreligiously active, Bush won by 55 percent to Gore's 24 percent," Wagner wrote, citing private polling by his firm, QEV Analytics, and Penn Schoen & Berland Associates Inc. "This was the best Catholic showing for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972, equal to Ronald Reagan's 1984 showing and better than his 1980 showing."

   Wagner's findings are supported by broader trends: The more religious a voter is (based on church attendance), the more likely the voter is to be a Republican. At the two extremes, voters who attend services more than once a week voted for Bush by 63 percent to 36 percent, according to the Voter News Service, while those who never attend services voted for Gore, 61 percent to 32 percent.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

As a divorced Catholic, Kerry is forbidden to receive communion from the Church. Exception being an anullment, which Kerry tried to get. Anullment meaning "No Marriage," despite two Kerry kids coming from that marriage, but I digress.

So, can Kerry receive communion? Is he receiving communion when he's not supposed to?

[cebadams]

From Slate:

Kerry's hometown archbishop, Sean O'Malley of Boston, has in the past given Kerry Communion but recently said, "These politicians should know that if they're not voting correctly on these life issues that they shouldn't dare come to communion."