Last Friday, San Francisco archbishop Salvatore Cordileone actually took a stand for Catholic doctrine and held that Nancy Pelosi, who aggressively uses her power in government to push for unlimited abortion, could no longer receive Communion in his diocese.  The San Francisco Examiner responded with an editorial arguing that Nancy Pelosi, because she redistributes money from taxpayers, is the real Christian compared to an archbishop who has the temerity to stand for Catholic doctrines.

I won't rehash here the fact that being anti-abortion is one of the core tenets of the Catholic Church because I covered the topic in my earlier post about the archbishop's stand.  It's enough to say that abortion is not a tangential issue; it is central to the faith, and Nancy Pelosi has long stood in direct opposition to the Church's position.  While she's welcome to do politically whatever she wants, that doesn't mean the Church must accommodate her.

The Examiner speaks approvingly of Pope Francis and various American bishops who have decided that making nice with politicians is more important than standing by the religious principles they allegedly represent.  It offends the Examiner that the whole point of traditional organized religion is that it upholds standards of behavior.

The Examiner is horrified that Cordileone actually believes in and acts upon church doctrine:

In 2015, he attempted to force teachers and staff at San Francisco's Catholic schools to condemn gay rights, abortion and birth control as "intrinsically evil."

It's irrelevant to the biblical scholars on the Examiner's editorial board that, according to core Catholic doctrine, Cordileone is absolutely correct.  The Church must yield to the demand of San Francisco's leftists, both Catholic and otherwise.  In that vein, the Examiner's editors no doubt would approve of the two percent of Anglican bishops who don't believe in God.  This oxymoron is a virtue to the left.  Leftists want America's religious people to be like the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union: an arm of the state, rather than a moral bulwark that willingly opposes a too ascendant state.

Image by Andrea Widburg.

What really gets the editors' collective goat is that Cordileone has no harsh words for "right-wing politicians."  Their sin?  They don't use taxes for the poor:

Why don't Republican Catholics have to fear being cut off from Communion when they vote against health care or funding for the poor? Where was Cordileone's harsh judgment when right-wing politicians voted this week against a measure to ease the nation's baby formula shortage?

Pelosi has consistently fought on the morally right side of these issues. Why is she being singled out for punishment in her hometown, especially when she can still receive Communion in Washington, D.C. or Oakland?

As always when the left quotes Scripture, activists seek to convert personal religious obligations into government mandates.  I admit that I'm not overwhelmingly conversant with the Bible (either the Old or New Testament).  However, when I read through Bible verses about giving to the poor, I notice that not a single one says, "Rather than give all your possessions to the poor [e.g., 1 Corinthians 13:3], just have your congressional representative raise taxes on everyone to establish an inefficient government program that perpetuates the problem in order to keep the bureaucracy alive."

Nancy Pelosi is worth almost $115 million or even more (politics has been good to her).  She is not renowned for her charitable giving.  As far as Pelosi is concerned, she's doing her bit when she gives your money away.

The Examiner ultimately concludes that Nancy Pelosi, by giving away your money, is doing God's work, while Archbishop Cordileone, by abiding by the doctrine of the Church that he serves, is a failed Christian: "It is Nancy Pelosi, not Archbishop Cordileone, who reflects the true spirit of Christian care in the City of St. Francis."

When the left starts citing Scripture, beware.  It is not submitting itself to traditional faiths and acknowledging that there is a higher power than government.  Instead, it is twisting faith to make it bow to the government.  And if you doubt me, just read the editorial at the San Francisco Examiner demanding that the Catholic Church fire an archbishop for daring to believe in the core tenets of his own faith and acting accordingly.