The Catholic Left Meets in Philadelphia

(Hat tip: Custos Fidei)

Deal Hudson reports at InsideCatholic:

The Convention for the Common Good was held in Philadelphia over the past weekend. When I wrote about the gathering in early April, Catholics Organize to Elect Obama, one of its co-sponsors wrote to me saying that I had mischaracterized their "non-partisan" effort to bring Catholics together to discuss public policy. Further, they told me I was welcome to attend.

I chose to decline, for reasons I'll explain.

The political preferences of the co-sponsors -- Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Network, a national Catholic social justice lobby -- are clearly for the Democratic Party and its presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama.

Alexia Kelley, the founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, was the religious outreach director for the Democratic National Committee during the Kerry campaign. Network, a Catholic social justice lobby founded by a group of 47 Catholic sisters in 1971, which lobbies Congress on everything but abortion. Bill Donohue has written recently about both organizations as part of the Catholic Left "boxed in by abortion."

In my view, the Convention for the Common Good was going to be nothing more than an extended diatribe against President Bush, the Republican Party, and John McCain. If this had been an invitation to a real discussion before open minds, I would have been happy to attend, but I was not interested in providing "bi-partisan" cover for their convention "platform," wholly in conformity with the Democratic Party.

According to a recent college graduate who attended the conference all day on Saturday, my expectations were largely realized...

***
When the platform was voted upon, the audience was given green, white, and red cards. They were told to hold up green for agreement, red for disagreement, and white for uncertainty. Every plank received unanimous support. It was announced that an amendment to support the ban on partial-birth abortion was going to be introduced at a later time, but it was never put up for a vote.

[More]

(emphasis added)

My Comments:
I'm guessing they decided against introducing the amendment supporting the partial-birth abortion ban because they know it wouldn't have received the unanimous support that the "other important issues" received. Better not to introduce such "divisive wedge issues" at all than have a non-unanimous vote that makes it plain for all to see that the convention's delegates really DON'T "give a s--t about the unborn" compared to those "other important issues".


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Convention for the "Common Good"

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

I Missed the Seminar [UPDATED]

Deal Hudson: "Catholics Organize to Elect Barack Obama"

Democrat Front Group Posing as Catholic Org Calls for End to "Christmas Culture War"

Hilliary!'s "National Catholic Steering Committee"

Democrats Set Their Sights on Winning Back Catholics

Mark Shea in National Catholic Register: "Richard Rich Lives"

Edwards Blogger Flap Discomforts Religious Left

Mark Shea: "Whores for Edwards Swings into Action"

Catholics in Alliance Respond With Letter to Editor

Continue to Raise Our Voices on Issue of Voting

In January's Catholic Chronicle - "Vote Your Values" Revisited

Vote Your Values

"NOT An Approved Catholic Voter Guide"

What's Missing?

Toledo Blade: "Catholic Voting Guide Gives Church Perspective"

Weigel: "An Electoral Battle of the Booklets?"

More From Amy Welborn on the "Dueling Catholic Voter Guides"

Columnist: "Christian Right Driving Wedge Into U.S."

More on Catholic Voter Guides

Dueling Catholic Voter Guides