PrintSeptember 21, 2008
Mass-going Catholics
For the Democrats, the election season has become disturbingly unpredictable as traditional Democrat voting blocks become more unreliable. The steadfast and important Catholic vote is one of them. Of course, the blame for this outrageous lack of support isn't placed at the feet of the party's increasingly lackluster presidential candidate, but squarely on the shoulders of the voters. It's their fault. A NYT article cites racism:
One parishioner ruled out voting for Mr. Obama explicitly because he is black. "Are they going to make it the Black House?" Ray McCormick asked, to embarrassed hushing from a half dozen others gathered around the rectory kitchen. (Five of the six, all lifelong Democrats who supported Mrs. Clinton in the primary, said they now lean toward Mr. McCain.)
Mr. Madonna, the political scientist, said of the Catholic vote in white, working-class Scranton, "This is a tough area for Obama and some of it is race."
A single ignorant comment by one individual is hardly evidence of a widespread racist sentiment. We know racism is cruel and unjust. We also know that racism as a label is often used by the Left to shame Americans, all Americans, especially when the electoral going gets rough. The election has shifted drastically from a ‘sure thing' to the use of every Left-wing tactic, and broad-brush name-calling is one of them. But in fact, the NYT article isn't about racism, it's about abortion. And this year, when it comes to the Catholic vote, it is all about abortion. The progressives know it.
The abortion issue among Catholics has only been complicated by ignorant comments made by Democrat politicians, which have driven a deeper wedge into the Catholic vote. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's erroneous remarks about Catholic teaching were among those that didn't help:
Pelosi on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" was asked when human life begins. She said:I would say that as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition ... St. Augustine said at three months. We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose.Her response, however, mangled Catholic doctrine, charges a new letter from 19 Catholic members of Congress."We are compelled to refute your error," the letter said.
The MSM has used the word ‘contradictory' to finesse the fact that Nancy Pelosi, a woman who is Catholic, was plain wrong. Whether the Left believes it or not, the Catholic Church does do its best not to become involved in secular politics, but when supposedly Catholic politicians make utterly false statements about the Church's teaching, Catholic bishops have no choice but to respond:
WASHINGTON-Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William E. Lori, chairman, U.S. Bishops Committee on Doctrine, issued the following statement:
Recently we had a duty to clarify the Catholic Church's constant teaching against abortion, to correct misrepresentations of that teaching by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on "Meet the Press" (see www.usccb.org/prolife/whatsnew.shtml).
Along with Pelosi, Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden also had to be corrected as well:
Senator Biden did not claim that Catholic teaching allows or has ever allowed abortion. He said rightly that human life begins "at the moment of conception," and that Catholics and others who recognize this should not be required by others to pay for abortions with their taxes.
However, the Senator's claim that the beginning of human life is a "personal and private" matter of religious faith, one which cannot be "imposed" on others, does not reflect the truth of the matter. The Church recognizes that the obligation to protect unborn human life rests on the answer to two questions, neither of which is private or specifically religious.
For the Church and Mass-going Catholics, it's about life, not about politics, and progressive Catholics know that the discussion must be shifted away from Church thought and teaching on Morality and back to politics where the Left's social agenda is more secure and eclectic:
"Getting into Augustine and Aquinas - it is just not helpful," said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, a progressive Catholic group running television commercials that emphasize the church's social justice teachings. "It would be wise for them [Democrat politicians] to focus on how policies they are going to implement as leaders are going to move forward the church teachings they say they believe in."
That's the trick for progressive Catholic politicians, "to move forward the church teachings they say they believe in." In other words, if the Church teaching on abortion doesn't fit the politics-ignore it.
But there's a further complication, which drives Liberal Catholic politicians to make erroneous religious statements while the MSM uses panic-stricken election year race bating. That complication is Sarah's Palin's choice not to abort her son because of Down syndrome. Sarah's choice, like Catholic Church teaching, transcends national politics. Mass-going Catholics can see that the abortion issue has a new face, and that face is less than a year old.
