Posted on 03/24/2009 1:26:23 PM PDT by NYer
You aren’t Catholic, are you? Individual priests did say something, and there were quite a few. Our priest read a very strong statement from our Bishop, without naming names (which they cannot do because it makes the statement political, and then they can lose their tax-exempt status).
The problem was that Obama people kept saying that Obama was pro-life because of his policies on social issues, and dim-bulb people got confused.
And another thing you have to remember is that a lot of people who self-identify as Catholics probably haven’t been to mass in years. They view it as an ethnic type category, rather than being committed to the Faith.
I am a Catholic and, I hope, a good one, but, from my own experience and from what I’ve heard from I’ve heard from paishioners at other parishes in the St. Louis Archdiocese, admonitions against voting for a pro-choicer were non-existent or weak at best until the publication of a pastoral letter from our interim bishop very late in the campaign after most minds had been made up. In any regard, it required a full-court press early on, which was not forthcoming. There are a great many Catholics in St. Louis who identify with the Democratic party because of their populist upbringing and it needed to be drummed into them that blind allegiance to a political party or a labor union does not trump conforming to the teachings of the Church. What I’m trying to say is that there was a lack of a coordinated effort and now we are looking at FOCA and the possible closings of our hospitals. It just galls me that the left is placing credit for their victory so gleefully upon the Catholic vote. I don’t blame the bishops — even they could not have predicted the utter duplicity of the man.
It is not their Catholicism or lack that is the problem, it is his stance on ebryonic stem cell research and his stance on abortion, including late term ones.
If I could name one thing that was not helpful, it was the US Bishops Conference statement which was way too wordy and confused people who didn't take the time to read the entire thing. Raymond Arroyo said that he told them at the time that people would go through it and pick out statements that justified voting for Obama, even though the conclusion of the piece was the exact opposite. I don't know why they couldn't have simply said "you may not vote for a pro-abortionist."
I have to tell you though, whether early on statements were made or not, I don't think it would have mattered. There are a fairly high percentage of people who only pay lip-service to the Church, and when push comes shove they will do what they darn well please.
We need better catechesis for the young. As Archbishop Chaput says, we are paying the price for the poor instruction of the 70's and early 80's.
Are you referring to Obama’s campaigning with Raila Odinga in Kenya and the subsequent atrocities carried out by OIdinga’s supporters? Or was there some other incident I am unaware of?
Yes.
Violence (by any means necessary and with whatever means available) is Standard Operating Procedure for these people.
First comes the desensitization to the Culture of Death (legalized abortion) then comes the cheapening of life for the old, disabled, feeble, etc (Terri Schaivo). From there it’s a small step to infanticide and murder, the latter becoming the tool for cleansing society of the politically inconvenient obstructions, like people of principle and faith.
Coming soon to a campus and/or neighborhood near you.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2212285/posts
Ben has had a good, moral upbringing and he knows how to define terms like "Just War" and "Unjust War" and "intrinsic moral evil." He knows he is sworn to defend the U.S. Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and therefore he is not obliged to "personal loyalty" to Barack Obama, nor is he the President's toy soldier.
However, he's young. His information and experience are so limited. And--- ah, Lord have mercy. I see conflict ahead.
interesting, thanks for the link.
More must take the same stand......many more.
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