Digest of Today's Posts (30 June 2008)

A Sad State of Affairs in Richmond

In Flag City USA, False Obama Rumors Are Flying

A Question for Sen. Obama

A Sad State of Affairs in Richmond

Amy Welborn and Patrick Archbold have additional (and damning) details on the troubling goings on in my former home Diocese of Richmond.

I can only shake my head in sadness ... there were such high hopes that things in Richmond would finally begin moving in the right direction once Bishop DiLorenzo was appointed. And I'm really torn on what should happen next. On the one hand, I agree with David Alexander (aka man with black hat) that Bishop DiLorenzo should probably resign as a matter of honor. On the other hand, his resignation would hand the Sullivanistas (the holdovers from Bishop Sullivan's 30-year tenure who have undermined Bishop DiLorenzo in this and other instances) exactly what they want.

Please pray for Bishop DiLorenzo, the Diocese of Richmond, Catholic Charities, and, above all, the victims of this abortion.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Catholic Charities of Richmond Helps Girl Obtain Abortion

Diocesan Blog Wars in the Diocese of Richmond (Cont.)

Diocesan Blog Wars in the Diocese of Richmond

Strange Happenings in My Former Diocese

Whatever Happened to ... Bishop Walter F. Sullivan?

Retired "Motorcyle Priest" Reprimanded After ''Offensive'' Sermon

Some Old Habits (and Old Priests) Die Hard

Richmond Bishop DiLorenzo "Suggests" Retirement for "Motorcycle Priest" [MUST READ]

Bishop DiLorenzo Enforces Appropriate Liturgical Practice in Richmond Diocese

Letter to the Editor

In Flag City USA, False Obama Rumors Are Flying

The Washington Post has an interesting (and somewhat condescending - stupid Ohio yokels don't know what's good for 'em) story about a nearby Ohio locality's confusion over Obama:

FINDLAY, Ohio -- On his corner of College Street, Jim Peterman stares at the four American flags planted in his front lawn and rubs his forehead. Peterman, 74, is a retired worker at Cooper Tire, a father of two, an Air Force veteran and a self-described patriot. He took one trip to Washington in 1989 -- best vacation of his life -- and bought a statue of the Washington Monument that he still displays in a glass case in his living room.

He believes a smart vote is an American's greatest responsibility. Which is why his confusion about Barack Obama continues to eat at him.

On the television in his living room, Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service. But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor's house, at his son's auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another version of the Democratic candidate's background, one that is entirely false: Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

"It's like you're hearing about two different men with nothing in common," Peterman said. "It makes it impossible to figure out what's true, or what you can believe."

Here in Findlay, a Rust Belt town of 40,000, false rumors about Obama have built enough word-of-mouth credibility to harden into an alternative biography. Born on the Internet, the rumors now meander freely across the flatlands of northwest Ohio -- through bars and baseball fields, retirement homes and restaurants.

***
Does he choose to trust a TV commercial in which Obama talks about his "love of country"? Or his neighbor of 40 years, Don LeMaster, a Navy veteran who heard from a friend in Toledo that Obama refuses to wear an American-flag pin? [ED.: Well, that's an easy one since we know the latter is true (although he appears to have flip-flopped again now that he has won the nomination and has to win over swing-state voters), and the former is merely the image the candidate wants you to believe. Nevertheless, I agree that false rumors are rampant (I've heard them myself), but this is NOT one of the false ones.]

***
Peterman hung the American flag on his porch first, in 1960, and the rest of College Street followed his example. By 1980, patriotic displays had grown into an unspoken contest of one-upmanship. Sixty flags planted in one yard on Memorial Day; a living-room window painted red, white and blue; a Buckeye tree decorated with Christmas ornaments celebrating Americana; a gigantic plastic unicorn perched on a front porch and draped in an American flag.

The entire block -- and, soon, the entire town -- shared in unabashed pride and gratefulness for the country that had given them this place. In 1968, a local congressman persuaded the House of Representatives to officially declare Findlay as Flag City, USA.

But with their pride came a nasty undercurrent [ED.: Oh, but of course. Can't have a small town full of a bunch of patriotic Americans in flyover country without there being some dark sinister component at work.], one that Obama's candidacy has exacerbated: On College Street, nobody wanted anything to change. As the years passed, Peterman and his neighbors approached one another to share in their skepticism about the unknown. What was the story behind the handful of African Americans who had moved into a town that is 93 percent white? Why were Japanese businessmen coming in to run the local manufacturing plants? Who in the world was this Obama character, running for president with that funny-sounding last name? [ED.: ... and who thinks we're all "bitter" over racial issues, and that we therefore devoutly "cling" to our religious beliefs and our guns? Yep, we're all skeptical of him because he's black and has a funny-sounding name, not because he disdains our values, all the while condescendingly proclaiming to "understand" them.]

[More]

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Democrats Fail to Learn Lessons of 2004 - Part 2: Why Red Staters "Vote Against Our Interests" [UPDATED]

Democrats Fail to Learn the Lessons of 2004

Attention Super-Delegates: Obama Cedes Ohio Valley?

Hey, You're Not Supposed to Say That

Rove: Hillary Over McCain; McCain Over Obama

Why North Carolina and Indiana Really Don't Mean That Much ...

Rich Lowry on Hillary the "Social Conservative" [UPDATED]

Why Is It Working-Class Whites That the Media Deems "Racist"?

Obama Campaign Seeks to Close Family Gap [UPDATED]

Dems Are Beginning to Believe They Can't Beat John McCain [UPDATED]

Obama Delegate Admits the Obvious: "Bitter" Was Indeed a Big Deal

On Disliking Obama for the Right Reasons

What Obama Really Meant Was "They're Nuts"

Obama Disses Blue Collar Voters Again: Says They "Cling to Guns or Religion" Because They Are "Bitter" [UPDATED]

Obama's Problems in Pennsylvania Mirror His Problems in Ohio

Obama Attributes Support for Reagan by Blue Collar "Reagan Democrats" to "Anger Over Welfare and Affirmative Action" [UPDATED]

A Question for Sen. Obama

Christopher Blosser has posted a video over at Catholics in the Public Square that asks Sen. Obama "If, as you say, fatherhood begins at conception, when does life begin?"

Dale Price on Heller (and Tony's Temper Tantrum)

Dale Price, in his usual erudite manner, dissects one blogger's fairly predictable (and poorly reasoned) negative response to the Supreme Court's decision in Heller:

... This has provoked this remarkable cork-popping tantrum over at Vox Nova, which can be summed up as "I don't like it, and you're a bad Catholic if you do!" The reasoning employed to reach its conclusions would have to undergo substantial revision and improvement to rise to the level of "half-assed." It is so indiscriminate in its raging that it manages to misunderstand or misuse the following concepts: Positive law, the Enlightenment, principles of legal interpretation, Anglo-American history, Catholic principles of solidarity/the common good, the gay marriage decisions, to name but six fatal flaws. Oh, and there's the usual Morning Minion Papal Bull infallibly declaring anyone who disagrees with him Malum Catholicus. Which, for those of you unfamiliar with his style, is a feature, not a bug...

[More]

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Supreme Court Tells Us What We Already Knew

Catholic Priest Calls for "Snuffing" of Gun Shop Owner and Politicos Who Support 2nd Amendment

Digest of Today's Posts (26 June 2008)

Supreme Court Tells Us What We Already Knew

Deal Hudson: "Barack Obama and the Non-Negotiables"

(Digest of Yesterday's Posts (25 June 2008))

Supreme Court Tells Us What We Already Knew

The United States Supreme Court tells us that we have a constitutional right that (1) we already knew we had, (2) the Constitution plainly states we had, and (3) 200-plus years of a tradition of individual gun ownership in this country attests we had.

Feddie has the details on District of Columbia v. Heller at Southern Appeal: here, here, and here.


UPDATE
Obama's take on the Supreme Court's decision in Heller should be interesting. I'm betting he comes down on the side of not throwing away the "God and guns" vote in Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.


UPDATE #2
No sooner had I posted that update above than Christopher Blosser (via email) brought the following to my attention:

Obama Camp Disavows Last Year's 'Inartful' Statement on D.C. Gun Law

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Alexa Ainsworth Report: With the Supreme Court poised to rule on Washington, D.C.'s, gun ban, the Obama campaign is disavowing what it calls an "inartful" statement to the Chicago Tribune last year in which an unnamed aide characterized Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as believing that the DC ban was constitutional.

"That statement was obviously an inartful attempt to explain the Senator's consistent position," Obama spokesman Bill Burton tells ABC News.

The statement which Burton describes as an inaccurate representation of the senator's views was made to the Chicago Tribune on Nov. 20, 2007.

[More]

Deal Hudson: "Barack Obama and the Non-Negotiables"

Deal Hudson writes at InsideCatholic:

... Barack Obama's record puts him on the extreme wing of the abortion movement, and has already been labeled by one critic as the “infanticide candidate.” Despite this, polls show Obama gaining traction with Catholic voters, and Catholics in general are trending toward the Democratic Party.

Barack Obama’s stances on life and marriage issues are simply antithetical to Catholic social teaching. From the beginning of his candidacy, this has been Obama’s greatest vulnerability in attracting Catholic voters (“Why Barack Obama Will Not Win the Catholic Vote” 1/7/08). In the primary fight against Hillary Clinton, for example, Catholic resistance to Obama’s candidacy was obvious from the election numbers (“Obama's Catholic Problem” 2/27/08).

Only with the departure of Senator Clinton from the campaign has Obama picked up steam with Catholic voters. Clinton will surely use her clout with Catholics to help the Democratic nominee, which will help break down the resistance of blue-collar white Catholics to an Obama candidacy.

Obama’s breakthrough moment with Catholics came with the surprising endorsement of Prof. Doug Kmiec, a well-known pro-life Catholic jurist who served under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush (“Preacher Man: Barack Obama and the Gospel of Liberalism” 2/17/09). Kmiec’s reasons for supporting him echo those of Obama Catholics in general -- the positions of the GOP on the war in Iraq, fighting poverty, health care, and immigration are so objectionable that they feel justified in supporting Obama (“Doug Kmiec and the Lure of Obama” 2/20/08).

Kmiec’s position has been picked up by various Obama-friendly organizations devoted to influencing Catholic voters (“Catholics Organize to Elect Barack Obama" 4/2/08). Their strategy is obvious: Obama’s Catholics will do everything they can to avoid the infanticide question -- along with all that it symbolizes -- and will try to foster a moral equivalence between their positions on prudential matters and the non-negotiable life issues (“How Obama's Catholics Will Dodge the Infanticide Problem” 5/12/08).

The debate among Catholics then, is whether this list of prudential policy issues trumps the obligation taught by the Church toward protecting unborn life and families based upon the marriage of a man and a woman...

[More]

My Comments:
It's perfectly reasonable to point out that Obama is out of step with Catholic teaching by his falling short on the non-negotiable issues. In my mind, Obama's stances on those issues disqualify him from receiving my vote, and SHOULD disqualify him from receiving the vote of any Catholic (notice I don't say "MUST").

However, Obama's failings regarding the non-negotiables does not translate into "Therefore, you should vote for John McCain", which is where I believe Hudson would like to go with his line of argument (although he doesn't do that in this particular piece). Fr. Martin Fox amply demonstrates the reason you can't use the non-negotiable stick this election year to drum up support on behalf of McCain: McCain himself is in violation of Catholic teaching regarding the non-negotiables via his position in favor of destructive embryonic stem-cell research.

If you're going to argue that a candidate's violating the non-negotiables makes supporting that candidate untenable, then NEITHER of the major party candidates is acceptable. I'll grant that McCain is BETTER overall on the non-negotiables (although, again, as Fr. Fox points out, "what significance should a morally serious Catholic voter give to the credibility of the 'more prolife' candidate's promises?"), but that's a different argument altogether than the one those focusing on the non-negotiables would like to make. At this point, we're left with the prudential analysis of which candidate is the lesser of grave evils. But the very fact that one must engage in that prudential analysis gives lie to the notion that one MUST vote for a particular candidate over the other.

As I've stated previously on this topic,

IF I decide to hold my nose and pull the lever for John McCain this November - and that's a VERY BIG IF - it wil ONLY be because I find the prospect of a President Obama "sign[ing] the FOCA, repeal[ing] the DOMA, repeal[ing] the Hyde Amendment, end[ing] the Mexico City policy, fund[ing] abortions at the federal level through Medicare, on military bases, through the UN, [etc.]" to be untenable.

It WON'T be because I'm foolish enough to believe that John McCain will nominate another Roberts or Alito to the Court (he won't) or will expend one ounce of effort or political capital to advance the cause of protecting the unborn (again, he won't). A vote for McCain is simply a vote to minimize the damage that will be done to the pro-life cause should Obama be elected.

For many (like myself), that MIGHT be a good enough reason to vote for John McCain; but I can truly understand why it might not be good enough for others.

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Fr. Fox on "For Whom Can I Vote" [UPDATED]

Doesn't He Have a Point?

Digest of Today's Posts (25 June 2008)

Fr. Fox on "For Whom Can I Vote" [UPDATED]

A Recommendation for the Diocese of Toledo

Joanna Bogle on "For God and Queen: The Quandary of the English Catholic"

Socialists Call for Pope's Arrest in Australia

Obama Continues to Act Like a Typical Left-Liberal Democrat Politician Re: Education

(Digest of Yesterday's Posts (24 June 2008))

Fr. Fox on "For Whom Can I Vote" [UPDATED]

I somehow missed Fr. Martin Fox's excellent series of posts from last week on Catholics and voting. I'm late to the game, but I think they still merit a link:

For Whom Can I Vote? (Part 1)

For Whom Can I Vote? (Part 2)

For Whom Can I Vote? (Part 3)

For Whom Can I Vote? (Part 4)

For Whom Can I Vote? (Part 5)

Well worth a read if you haven't read them already.


UPDATE
And let me just say that I am in complete agreement with Fr. Fox in opposing the notion put forth by some that pro-lifers are morally obligated to vote for John McCain. It's absolute hogwash to say that one MUST vote for John McCain or by implication support the election of Obama! (In fact, I reject the notion that, morally speaking, one MAY NOT vote for Obama; I think it quite clear that one SHOULD NOT vote for him, but it goes too far to say that Catholic teaching forbids one to do so.)

I would NEVER vote for Obama; but that in no way means that I am under some moral compulsion to vote for McCain. I've addressed the matter in detail, among other places, here.

A Recommendation for the Diocese of Toledo

The priests of the Diocese of Toledo are spending the current week in a convocation with Bishop Blair in nearby Huron, OH. Jeffrey Smith at Catholic Toledo has a very good recommendation (with which I wholeheartedly concur) for a topic of discussion.


UPDATE
By the way, you'll not find 2 bigger cheerleaders for the Diocese of Toledo and for Bishop Blair than Jeffrey Smith or myself. So, if we both think this is an area that needs improvement within the Diocese, it's not just idle criticism.

Joanna Bogle on "For God and Queen: The Quandary of the English Catholic"

Joanna Bogle writes at InsideCatholic:

... Recently a child in Scotland decided -- or, at least, it was announced in the press that he had decided, but it is possible that his parents had some influence on his decision, since he is only eight years old -- that he didn't want to affirm his loyalty to the queen when making his Cub Scout promise. The problem is that if you can't make the Promise ("to do my best to my duty to God and the Queen"), you can't really be a Cub Scout.

I daresay some special arrangement will be made for him, but what was the reason given for his refusal of loyalty to Her Majesty? He's a Catholic, and apparently feels very strongly about the Act of Settlement and the fact that it bans Roman Catholics from the throne or from marrying into the royal family.

Leaving aside for a moment the question of how much this eight year-old knows of our constitutional and religious situation as it has developed over the past few centuries, this does give us all an opportunity to explore an interesting question.

As is well known, the curious twists and turns of English history have resulted in a situation where, in the 21st century, there exists a law banning any member of the royal family from marrying a Roman Catholic without express permission from the monarch, and anyone in direct line to the throne from marrying one at all.

So are most Catholics now calling for a change in the law?

***
... Catholics in Britain are loyal to the crown. We honor the queen, and it is partly our faith that makes us do so. She sticks by things that matter to Catholics: God, personal and public responsibilities, service to others. She is a devout and regular churchgoer. She took her coronation anointing seriously. She makes sacrifices in order to fulfil her duties.

So frankly we aren't bothered in getting a change in the law, and we place a higher value in the stability of the monarchy and its constitutional value than we do any sense of mild irritation that we have about our technical status in the eyes of the law.

[Read the whole thing]

Dale Price also addressed this subject a couple of weeks ago.

Socialists Call for Pope's Arrest in Australia

A coalition of leftist interest groups is planning quite a welcome for the Pope when he goes to Australia for World Youth Day:

A SOCIALIST youth organisation has called for a citizen's arrest of the Pope when he arrives in Sydney for World Youth Day (WYD) next month.

Resistance, a member of the NoToPope Coalition, is advocating the pontiff's arrest on the basis of his continued stand against contraception.

Resistance spokeswoman Lauren Carroll Harris said the Pope's view constituted a conspiracy to murder, because the church's opposition to condoms leads to more people becoming infected with HIV.

Under Australian law, anyone can make a citizens arrest if they believe, on reasonable grounds, a person is committing or has just committed an offence.

"This short-sighted and dogmatic stance towards both contraception use and education has placed millions of people around the world in great danger of contracting the deadly HIV virus," she said in a statement.

"Without access to contraception many more lives will be lost needlessly every day around the globe."

***
The NoToPope Coalition, which includes members of Sydney's atheist, gay and environmental communities, plans to hand out condoms to pilgrims during the event, which runs from July 15 to 20.

Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive in Sydney on July 13 for his first visit to Australia.

(emphasis added)

Obama Continues to Act Like a Typical Left-Liberal Democrat Politician Re: Education

So, where's all this "change" we've been hearing about? Certainly not on the subject of educating our children:

CHICAGO — A landmark education program that provides opportunity to hundreds of families in the nation’s capital to attend private schools is under attack from Democrats in Congress.

Barack Obama told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in February that he was open to voucher programs, but just last week announced his intentions to squash the DC pilot program.

“Barack Obama prefers private education for his daughters but won’t give DC parents the same opportunity. Obama and Congressional Democrats want to slam the door on a progressive education program for low-income children. The teachers union is one lobby Barack Obama refuses to challenge,” said Brian Burch, President of Fidelis.

Despite pleas from parents, Democrats intend to eliminate all funding for the Opportunity Scholarships that have helped so many families in the nation’s capital.

“Vouchers are Change. Rather than subjecting kids to rotting schools, vouchers have brought change to hundreds of families, who opted for private or parochial schools. If Barack Obama had fought for this program, it would be saved. But he refuses to help these low-income families. By supporting the teachers union, he sadly has become the Status Quo Candidate on education,” said Brian Burch, President of Fidelis.

Back in February, it looked like Barack Obama would be willing to buck the teachers union and offer real change in education.

***
But by June, the teachers lobby got to him. He told ABC News last week: “We don’t have enough slots for every child to go into a parochial school or a private school. And what you would see is a huge drain of resources out of the public schools.”

[More]

Digest of Today's Posts (24 June 2008)

National Catholic Register on Why "America is Great"

Doug Kmiec - What He Said Then vs. What He Says Now Re: Constitutional Jurisprudence

David Brooks on "The Bush Paradox"

As a Native-Born Southerner ...

Fidelis on "Obama’s Catholic Problem" [UPDATED]

(Digest of Yesterday's Posts (23 June 2008))

National Catholic Register on Why "America is Great"

The editors of National Catholic Register write in the June 29-July 5 issue that "America is Great Because ..."

Doug Kmiec - What He Said Then vs. What He Says Now Re: Constitutional Jurisprudence

Prof. Francis Beckwith has the details at Southern Appeal.

This is an aspect of Kmiec's pro-Obama sophistry that Donald McClarey has also pointed out on more than one occasion.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
What is the "Pro-Life Position" Regarding Abortion?

Traumatized

Unrequited Love

Doug Kmiec: "After Meeting with Barack" [UPDATED]

Cranky Conservative: "But At Least He Says It with a Smile"

Doug Kmiec Again Places Platitudes Above Policy [UPDATED]

Prof. Bainbridge on "Obama, Abortion, & Catholics"

Prof. Rick Garnett on Kmiec's Latest Nonsense

Deacon Keith Fournier: "Why I Disagree with Doug Kmiec, Once Again"

Give It a Rest Already, Prof. Kmiec!

Deacon Keith Fournier: "No More ‘Left’ or ‘Right’, Time for a New Catholic Action"

Doug Kmiec's Newfound Celebrity Status Among Those on the Left

Doug Kmiec Soon To Be Sorely Disappointed

E.J. Dionne on Kmiec Being Denied Communion [UPDATED]

Deal Hudson on Prof. Kmiec and Blurring the Lines Between "Pro-Choice" and Pro-Abortion

Did Doug Kmiec Just Now Catch On That Obama and NARAL Are Politically Conjoined? [UPDATED]

Deal Hudson on "How Obama's Catholics Will Dodge the Infanticide Question"

Kmiec's Dishonesty [UPDATED]

Catholic Teaching and Political Risk Taking: When Credit Isn't Given Where Credit is Due [UPDATED]

Kmiec's Wishful Thinking on Obama and Abortion

The Curt Jester: "Shameless Garment" [UPDATED]

So-Called "Catholic Reaganite" Doug Kmiec Endorses Obama [UPDATED]

"No'bama for Me, Thanks"

Can a Catholic Vote for Obama?

Obama's Pledge to Planned Parenthood: “I Will Not Yield"

Deal Hudson: "Barack Obama's Catholic Problem"

"Why American Catholics are Supporting Barack Obama"

Catholics at the Ballot Box"

How the Catholic Left Will Tackle McCain

Why Does Kmiec Criticize McCain for Positions on Which He Gave Romney a Pass?

Deal Hudson on "Douglas Kmiec and the Lure of Obama"

Douglas W. Kmiec on "The Moral Duty to Inquire"

Professor Bainbridge: "Will Catholic Reaganites Go for Obama?"

Deal Hudson: "Preacher Man: Barack Obama and the the Gospel of Liberalism"

"Sorry, Doug Kmiec, But This Catholic Isn't Buying Obama"

Ramesh Ponnuru on Douglas Kmiec and "Catholic Reaganites for Obama" [UPDATED]

Romney Advisor Says Obama "a Natural for the Catholic Vote"

Obama "Post-Partisan"? Ask John Roberts

Obama and the "Pragmatic Center"

David Brooks on "The Bush Paradox"

An insightful Op/Ed on "the surge" by New York Times columnist David Brooks:

... The whole episode is a reminder that history is a complicated thing. The traits that lead to disaster in certain circumstances are the very ones that come in handy in others. The people who seem so smart at some moments seem incredibly foolish in others.

The cocksure war supporters learned this humbling lesson during the dark days of 2006. And now the cocksure surge opponents, drunk on their own vindication, will get to enjoy their season of humility. They have already gone through the stages of intellectual denial. First, they simply disbelieved that the surge and the Petraeus strategy was doing any good. Then they accused people who noticed progress in Iraq of duplicity and derangement. Then they acknowledged military, but not political, progress. Lately they have skipped over to the argument that Iraq is progressing so well that the U.S. forces can quickly come home.

But before long, the more honest among the surge opponents will concede that Bush, that supposed dolt, actually got one right. Some brave souls might even concede that if the U.S. had withdrawn in the depths of the chaos, the world would be in worse shape today...

[More]

As a Native-Born Southerner ...

... I agree with Feddie 100%.

The image of the Confederate Battle Flag has, unfortunately, become tainted because of its association with white supremacists. It's a matter of good manners (something with which any true Southern gentleman should be primarily concerned) not to display something that causes such deep offense to so many of your fellow Americans.

Instead, if you're gonna fly a flag, fly the Bonnie Blue:



UPDATE:
And, by the way, I am amazed at the number of people I see here in Northern Ohio displaying the Confederate Battle Flag in their cars, on their homes, or on pieces of clothing. It's not a whole lot of people that do it, but enough to catch my notice.

What's up with that? Ohio has a proud history of contributing heroes to the Union cause. Virtually every town in the state has a monument to those who sacrificed their lives for the preservation of this Nation. So, what's going on?

Fidelis on "Obama’s Catholic Problem" [UPDATED]

Brian Burch writes on "Obama’s Catholic Problem" at the Fidelis blog.


UPDATE:
Rich Leonardi has more: "Dissent from Church teaching? Yes we can!"


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Bill Donohue: "How the Catholic Left Is Boxed in by Abortion"

"Progressive" Catholics Going to the Mat for Obama

Has Obama's Catholic Advisory Council Dissolved?

Kathryn Jean Lopez: "Catholics for Obama?"

Bill Donohue: "Catholic Left Hangs Itself"

Obama Catholics Blast Bill Donohue, Blame Conservatives for Failing to End Abortion

Obama’s Catholic Advisory Council [UPDATED]

The Curt Jester: "Shameless Garment" [UPDATED]

Deal Hudson on "How Obama's Catholics Will Dodge the Infanticide Question"

Can a Catholic Vote for Obama?

Deal Hudson: "Barack Obama's Catholic Problem"

"Sitting Around a Fire, Ted Kennedy's Wife Visits [Toledo Area] to Fire Up Catholics About Obama"

"Why American Catholics are Supporting Barack Obama"

Catholics at the Ballot Box"

How the Catholic Left Will Tackle McCain

Digest of Today's Posts (23 June 2008)

Deacon Keith Fournier on St. Thomas More

Conservatives Skeptical Re: McCain on Judges

Yep, That Describes My Position As Well

Thomas More's Children

(Digest of Friday's Posts (20 June 2008))

Deacon Keith Fournier on St. Thomas More

Deacon Keith Fournier writes about St. Thomas More at Catholic Online:

... He was an ordinary Christian who shows us ordinary Christians the way to living a unity of life in the midst of the creeping darkness and distractions of our own age. He held in harmony his vocation as the father of a family with his profession as a lawyer and his service in the highest of Political offices. He knew that there is a hierarchy of values which bring with them a hierarchy of duties and loyalties. His witness in life and in death challenges us to examine whether we do.

How did he do it? Quite simply,he prayed.He lived in a communion with the Risen Lord as a faithful son of the Church which is His Body.He was a man who loved the Lord in the Heart of the Catholic Church. His very real and sincerely lived piety has filled the books written about him and the writings he left for our own growth and edification. Perhaps a few of the many anecdotes can help to express the spirit of his true devotion.

Thomas would meditate on the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ every Friday, the day on which Our Lord suffered and died. This was only a part of how he integrated the pattern of the Liturgical year of the Church and Catholic life and culture into his own lived faith. He also practiced regular ascetical disciplines which he always offered in love to the Lord. In fact, even while he suffered in that Tower, awaiting a Martyrs death, he continued the regimen.

He knew, and he teaches us, that the Christian vocation requires our constant response to the Lord’s invitation to follow him and that we cannot get by on yesterdays’ decisions. During that brief time which he had with his family, after attempting to quietly resign rather than violate his formed conscience and before he was imprisoned, when his wife or children complained about their lack he would tell them that they could not expect to “go to heaven in featherbeds”. He taught them regularly to reflect upon the privation and sufferings of Jesus on our behalf and he prayed with them for the grace to join their own to Him on the Cross.

Thomas More was, in short, a Christian. That is the lesson of his life and of his Martyrs death.

***
On his day, we Catholics, indeed all faithful Christians who live in the contemporary West, face a similar challenge to that which faced St. Thomas More. The attacks on true marriage are well underway. We are being invited to compromise for our own convenience and tempted to accept the rulings of Judicial Oligarchs and Alchemists who think that they can change the nature of this institution by the stroke of a pen. Their collaborators in political office, some of whom are apostate Catholics, are now beginning to wield the figurative sword of temporal power against us...

[More]

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Thomas More's Children

A Man For All Seasons: The Feast Day of St. Thomas More is 22 June

Actor Paul Scofield - Who Won Oscar for Portrayal of St. Thomas More - Dead at 86

Prayers for a Friday of Lent

Birthday of St. Thomas More

St. Thomas More on the Distribution of Wealth

Conservatives Skeptical Re: McCain on Judges

(Hat tip: Brian Saint-Paul at InsideCatholic)

From The Washington Times:

For decades, Republican presidential candidates have rallied the party's base by warning against a federal judiciary filled with liberal appointments, but many conservative activists and pollsters are skeptical that the issue will work well for Sen. John McCain.

Long-standing distrust of Mr. McCain and the composition of the Senate fuel the conservative doubts, although some Republicans think the judges issue can help their party win the White House, particularly in light of the recent 5-4 decision that gave foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay the right to go to court.

***
Rob Haney, a Republican Party committee member from Arizona, Mr. McCain's state, said any judicial appointments would have to pass muster with a Democrat-led Senate. Under such a scenario in 1987, President Reagan had to replace his Supreme Court nominee, Robert Bork, with Anthony M. Kennedy.

"With the probable Democrat gains in the Senate, coupled with the liberal Republicans already there, such as Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Arlen Specter, what does it matter that McCain says he will appoint conservative judges?" Mr. Haney said. "He will take what the liberals give him."

[More]

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Doesn't He Have a Point?

If Elected, McCain Should Nominate a Senator to Fill a Supreme Court Vacancy (cough ... Brownback ... cough) [UPDATED]

Obama’s Laughable Judicial Philosophy: His Ridiculous Response to McCain's Speech on the Judiciary

McCain's Justice Advisory Committee

Brownback Previews McCain Speech on Judiciary [UPDATED - Must-read text from McCain's speech]

The "McCain Saved Alito" Meme

Blast from the Past: McCain and the Supreme Court

Manuel Miranda Endorses John McCain

Byron York: "More McCain and Judges"

Robert Novak: "Is McCain a Conservative?" (Confirms Story on McCain and Alito)

McCain: Alito "Too Conservative"

Opportunist McCain Woos Conservatives on Judges

Yep, That Describes My Position As Well

Tertium Quid links to an Op/Ed in The Washington Post that perfectly describes my view on climate change:

I'm not a global warming believer. I'm not a global warming denier. I'm a global warming agnostic who believes instinctively that it can't be very good to pump lots of CO2 into the atmosphere but is equally convinced that those who presume to know exactly where that leads are talking through their hats.

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UPDATE:
Brilliant: "An Inconvenient Tragedy"

(Hat tip: Darwin Catholic)

Thomas More's Children

Rich Leonardi has a post on Thomas More's children over at Ten Reasons. He also has a few questions:

... What happened to More's children and their descendants? Did they keep the faith? Did they become recusants under Elizabeth and during "penal times"? Are they still Catholic? Are they active in the Church? If anyone knows, feel free to share information in my comment box.

Digest of Today's Posts (20 June 2008)

Bill Donohue: "How the Catholic Left Is Boxed in by Abortion"

A Man For All Seasons: The Feast Day of St. Thomas More is 22 June

(Digest of Yesterday's Posts (19 June 2008))

Bill Donohue: "How the Catholic Left Is Boxed in by Abortion"

The Catholic League's Bill Donohue has a piece on left-leaning Catholic interest groups at InsideCatholic:

... Try as they may to find matters that rival the life issues, the Catholic Left continues to come up empty. When the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted overwhelmingly on June 13 to affirm the Church's teaching on embryonic stem cell research, the Catholic Left could not summon the courage to congratulate them.

Of the four Catholic Left groups that have been making some noise this presidential season -- Catholics United, Catholic Democrats, NETWORK, and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good -- only the latter even mentioned the bishops' vote. And the best it could do was to reprint a ChicagoTribune story on it.

***
All of these examples come down to one thing: In 2004, the Democrats lost because they got their clocks cleaned by values voters. Now Catholic Democrats are determined not to let this happen again -- hence the sudden interest in "God talk" and attempts to neutralize the abortion issue. But at the end of the day, few will be fooled by such shenanigans. Even those who try to establish parity between the moral significance of global warming and killing children in the womb have to know that they're engaged in a fool's exercise.

Just recently, John Kelly, Catholic outreach liaison for the Democratic National Committee, gave away the store when he wrote, "The Democratic Party realizes that life does not end at birth and must be supported and nurtured through a society built on the common good."

How refreshing. If the Democrats are willing to admit that life doesn't end at birth, then they are conceding that it begins some time before birth. And whether that point is at conception, or at quickening, or at some other time before birth, it makes it morally indefensible to justify some, if not all, abortions.

It is for reasons like this that abortion will continue to haunt the Catholic Left. They've boxed themselves in, and there's no way out.

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A Man For All Seasons: The Feast Day of St. Thomas More is 22 June

“…it would be hard to find anyone who was more truly a man for all seasons and all men…”

~ Erasmus, 1521

22 June, the feast day of St. Thomas More, martyr and patron of lawyers, civil servants, politicians, statesmen, "difficult marriages" (and this blog), falls on a Sunday this year. Therefore, I am going to commemorate the feast of this great saint and martyr a couple of days early.

As he went to his death, ordered beheaded by Henry VIII for refusing to swear the Oath of Supremacy declaring the King head of the Church in England, More humbly stated that he would die "the King's good servant, and God's first."

From the Patron Saints Index:

Memorial: 22 June

Profile: Studied at London and Oxford. Page for the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lawyer. Twice married, father of one son and three daughters, and a devoted family man. Writer. Friend of King Henry VIII. Lord Chancellor of England, a position of power second only to the king. Opposed the king on the matter of royal divorce, and refused to swear the Oath of Supremacy which declared the king the head of the Church in England. Resigned the Chancellorship, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Martyred for his refusal to bend his religious beliefs to the king's political needs.

Born: 1478 at London, England

Died: beheaded in 1535; head kept in the Roper Vault, Saint Dunstan's church, Canterbury, England; body at Saint Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, England

Canonized: 1935 by Pope Pius XI

Patronage: adopted children, diocese of Arlington Virginia, civil servants, court clerks, difficult marriages, large families, lawyers, diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee Florida, politicians, politicos, statesmen, step-parents, widowers

A Prayer to St. Thomas More:

Thomas More, counselor of law and patron of statesmen, merry martyr and most human of saints:

Pray that, for the glory of God and in the pursuit of His justice, I may be able in argument, accurate in analysis, keen in study, correct in conclusion, loyal to clients, honest with all, courteous to adversaries, trustworthy with confidences, courageous in court. Sit with me at my desk and listen with me to my clients' tales. Read with me in my library and stand always beside me so that today I shall not, to win a point, lose my soul.

Pray that my family may find in me what yours found in you: friendship and courage, cheerfulness and charity, diligence in duties, counsel in adversity, patience in pain -- their good servant, and God's first.

Amen.

Quotes:

"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."

"What does it avail to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by Faith, but also know by reason: what does it avail that you know Him if you think little of Him?"

"The things that we pray for, good Lord, give us grace to labour for."

~ Saint Thomas More

From the Medieval Saints Yahoo Group:

Thomas More, Knight, Lord Chancellor of England, author and martyr, Lay Franciscan

Beheaded in 1535; head kept in the Roper Vault, Saint Dunstan's church, Canterbury, England; body at Saint Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, England Beatified in 1886;

Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935 as the "Martyr of the Papacy"

Commemorated June 22, feast day formerly on July 6 (with fellow martyr, St. John Fisher)

Patronage: adopted children, civil servants, court clerks, difficult marriages, large families, lawyers, politicians, statesmen, step-parents, widowers

In art: English Lord Chancellor carrying a book; English Lord Chancellor carrying an axe

SAINT THOMAS MORE, Martyr (1480-1535)
http://magnificat.ca/cal/engl/07-06.htm

Saint Thomas More, born in 1480, was the precocious and amiable son of an English magistrate. Very well educated and brilliant, when he was placed at the age of fifteen in the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury, he soon attracted the Archbishop's attention, and was sent by him to study at Oxford. He debated interiorly for a long time as to whether he should become a priest, but decided otherwise with the approbation of his director.

The practice of civil law was not enough to absorb all his time or energy. The author of the famous satire "Utopia," wrote poetry while still young, in both English and Latin. He had completely mastered Latin, as he had also the Greek tongue, "by an instinct of genius," as one of his preceptors said. Saint Thomas in 1505 married a virtuous and beloved wife who, after bearing four children, three daughters and a son, died six years later. His second wife, older than himself, took excellent care of the household and of the children; but it was said she could not grasp the sense of her husband's subtle humor, which was a characteristic trait of his cheerful disposition.

Saint Thomas came under suspicion by King Henry VII when he strove in the Parliament to reduce the burden of excessive taxes which the people bore, though he never spoke against the king. But his capacities were appreciated, and when Henry VII died, his 18-year-old son, who was to become Henry VIII in 1509, showed him great favor during the first twenty years of his reign. Saint Thomas was knighted in 1521, and was made Speaker of the House of Commons in 1523, High Steward of Cambridge University in 1525, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the same year. Nonetheless, the king's protege foresaw what could easily happen to anyone who did not agree with his sovereign; he said to his son-in-law in 1525, "If my head could win him a castle in France, it would not fail to go." In effect, when in 1530 the order was issued to the clergy to acknowledge Henry as "Supreme Head of the Church, insofar as the law of God would permit," Saint Thomas immediately resigned as Lord Chancellor.

His resignation was not accepted. Two years later, in May 1532, after he had lost the royal favor on several counts — his reticence concerning the king's divorce, his non-attendance at the king's illegal marriage, and his formal non-recognition of any future children of Henry and Anne Bolyn as rightful heirs to the throne — he was permitted to retire. The king, the apostate Archbishop Cranmer, and Anne Bolyn were all excommunicated in that year.

Saint Thomas lived in retirement from the age of 52, his revenues considerably diminished, and his health somewhat uncertain. When the king decided to require of the laity, as well as of the clergy, the oath supporting his alleged "supremacy," he wanted to obtain first of all the signature of Thomas More, to make of him an example. The Saint declined to sign the oath and thereby brought upon himself a sentence of incarceration in the Tower of London, and a short time afterwards, of death. He was beheaded in 1535, after having said, with his ordinary humor, that "he did not consider the severing of his head from his body as a circumstance that should produce any change in the disposition of his mind."

Saint Thomas while in retirement continued to write a number of religious treatises of great value, including an unfinished one on the Passion. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII and canonized by Pius XI in 1935, with Cardinal John Fisher, who was martyred like himself in the same year and for the same reasons. That year was the 400th anniversary of their death.

"These things, good Lord, that we pray for, give us Thy grace to labor for." --Saint Thomas More.

--------------------------------
More on St. Thomas More at:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0622.htm#thom
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14689c.htm
http://www.cin.org/farmor.html

Links:
Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II, naming St. Thomas More the patron of politicians and statesmen

Saint Thomas More - Open Directory Project (links to practically everything you'd want to know about St. Thomas More)
Center for Thomas More Studies
Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) - Luminarium
St. Thomas More on The Franciscan Archive
St. Thomas More on the Patron Saints Index
The St. Thomas More Web Site
Thomas More Online
Sir Thomas More - Oregon State University Philosophy Dept.
Thomas More Law Center
Thomas More Society
The St. Thomas More Society
Amici Thomae Mori
The Life of St. Thomas More by William Roper
Saint Thomas More - The King's good servant but God's first! (The Angelus)
"Thomas More For Our Season" by Judge Robert Bork
Saint Thomas More: A Father for All Seasons - Essay on Thomas More as a model Christian father
A Man For All Seasons (DVD available from Amazon.com)
A Man For All Seasons Study Site
Thomas More's England: A Guide Book (hat tip: Rich Leonardi)
Chelsea Old Church - Sir Thomas More

Prayer to St. Thomas More for Conversion of Pro-Abortion Politicians
Litany of St. Thomas More, Martyr and Patron Saint of Statesmen, Politicians and Lawyers (pdf version here)
Prayers of St. Thomas More (Psalm on Detachment; A Devout Prayer Before Dying)
Novena to St. Thomas More

Digest of Today's Posts (19 June 2008)

"Progressive" Catholics Going to the Mat for Obama

Proof That Abortion Increases When Republicans Are In the White House?

Doesn't He Have a Point?

(Digest of Posts (18 June 2008))

"Progressive" Catholics Going to the Mat for Obama

Todd Aglialoro reports at InsideCatholic:

The "Catholics for Obama" blog yesterday reproduced a Commonweal article by Gerald Beyer, a young theology professor from St. Joseph's University in Philadephia. "Yes You Can: Why Catholics Don't Have to Vote Republican," as the somewhat confused title suggest, purports to refute the idea (held by, oh, about six people tops) that Catholics are morally bound to pull the lever for Republicans, but is really an apologia for supporting Barack Obama. As such it contains all the conscience-salving half-truths, equivocations, and appeals to fuzzy rhetoric that characterize the Douglas Kmiec crowd.

***
Last note: this piece appears to be part of a growing and disturbing trend. I don't recall Kerry or Gore having Catholics go to the mat like this for them.

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Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Has Obama's Catholic Advisory Council Dissolved?

Kathryn Jean Lopez: "Catholics for Obama?"

Bill Donohue: "Catholic Left Hangs Itself"

Obama Catholics Blast Bill Donohue, Blame Conservatives for Failing to End Abortion

Obama’s Catholic Advisory Council [UPDATED]

The Curt Jester: "Shameless Garment" [UPDATED]

Can a Catholic Vote for Obama?

"Sitting Around a Fire, Ted Kennedy's Wife Visits [Toledo Area] to Fire Up Catholics About Obama"

"Why American Catholics are Supporting Barack Obama

Catholics at the Ballot Box

How the Catholic Left Will Tackle McCain

National Catholic Reporter's Joe Feuerherd to U.S. Catholic Bishops: "Go to Hell"

Romney Advisor Says Obama "a Natural for the Catholic Vote"

Proof That Abortion Increases When Republicans Are In the White House?

Maybe there's something to the notion put forward by left-liberals that when Republicans are in the White House there is an increase in the rate and/or number of abortions.

After all, George W. Bush is in the White House and here's this news story reporting that "the number of abortions among girls aged under 16 rose by 10% ... in 2007". That would be pretty damning evidence backing up the left-liberal case-in-chief against Republicans and their policies.

... Except for the fact that the news source is the BBC and the increase in abortion is among young teens in England and Wales.

... Where there's been a Labour government for the last decade.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
"Poverty and Abortion: A New Analysis"

Number of Abortions Lowest in Decades

National Review Online: Mainstream Media Continues to Distort on Abortion

Pro-Life Quote of the Day

Doesn't He Have a Point?

I don't think it means he's prudent in supporting Obama, but doesn't Discalced Yooper have a point about supporting McCain?

If ending abortion is dependent on voting for McCain then God help the victims of abortion, seriously. I don't think ... any ... Republicans a year ago would have seriously maintained that elected McCain was essential to advancing the pro-life cause. Most Republican pro-lifers in fact had horses other than McCain.

Yep.

If the pro-life cause is what animates your political activism, then you're $&*#-out-of-luck this election season.

IF I decide to hold my nose and pull the lever for John McCain this November - and that's a VERY BIG IF - it wil ONLY be because I find the prospect of a President Obama "sign[ing] the FOCA, repeal[ing] the DOMA, repeal[ing] the Hyde Amendment, end[ing] the Mexico City policy, fund[ing] abortions at the federal level through Medicare, on military bases, through the UN, [etc.]" to be untenable.

It WON'T be because I'm foolish enough to believe that John McCain will nominate another Roberts or Alito to the Court (he won't) or will expend one ounce of effort or political capital to advance the cause of protecting the unborn (again, he won't). A vote for McCain is simply a vote to minimize the damage that will be done to the pro-life cause should Obama be elected.

For many (like myself), that might be a good enough reason to vote for John McCain; but I can truly understand why it might not be good enough for others.