Catholics in the Political Sphere

Catholic Vote is back with another great pro-life TV commercial, “Imagine the Potential 2”, a follow on to their earlier ad that showed a child who had everything going against him before he was born but grew up to be our current president.

[Thanks to Amy Welborn.]

This is what a real Catholic congressmen sounds like. US Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Fortenberry take Hilary Clinton to task for her admiration of the racist Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. Here’s what Fortenberry had to say:

Your remarks last month, when you called Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, a person whom you enormously admire, were stunning to me. Margaret Sanger clearly embraced bigotry and racism. She advocated for the elimination of the disabled, the downtrodden and the black child. In one of her writings, she said, “Today eugenics is suggested by the most diverse minds as the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems.” I don’t believe these ideologies have a place in our pluralistic society. And you went on to say that you will use American foreign policy in your position to further reproductive rights, which includes abortion, across the globe.

Madame Secretary, I don’t believe we should use American foreign policy to export abortion. This will undermine, in my view, our foreign relations in many areas throughout the world, including Latin America and Africa and among Muslim peoples. Promoting the international abortion industry is an imposition of our own woundedness upon others. Abortion has caused tremendous grief in this society, and its export I believe will be seen as a form of neocolonialism that is paternalistic and elitist and an assault on the dignity especially of the poor and vulnerable. I believe women deserve better, women throughout the world deserve better.

Awesome!

Clinton’s response?

Well, Congressman, let me say with respect to your comments about Margaret Sanger, you know, I admire Thomas Jefferson. I admire his words and his leadership and I deplore his unrepentant slaveholding. I admire Margaret Sanger being a pioneer in trying to empower women to have some control over their bodies and I deplore statements that you have referenced. That is the way we often are when we look at flawed human beings. There are things that we admire and things we deplore.

Apart from that, how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln? In other words, Clinton says that if we ignore the racist, classist, genocidal stuff, Sanger was pretty cool. Unbelievable.

Of course, she might already have practice overlooking such things: “I admire Bill Clinton. I admire his words and his leadership and I deplore his unrepentant philandering.” Sounds like something she might have said.

[Link via Amy Welborn.]

So, according to the liberal media and various left-wing and Catholic-hostile punditry, if the Pope is supposed to excommunicate (or keep excommunicated) public figures who hold views that are antithetical to the Catholic faith (i.e. anti-Semitism), would those same journalists and pundits be consistent with others who hold views that are antithetical to the Catholic faith?

Like pro-abortion politicians?

Yeah, didn’t think so.

One thing is for certain. All those “pro-life” Catholics who insisted that an Obama presidency would be better for the unborn and would reduce abortion are going to be held accountable if, as I am firmly convinced, that was a load of hogwash. In four years, it will be their responsibility to prove to the rest of us that their faith in Obama was not misplaced. We need to make ensure we don’t forget to hold them to it.

A couple of days ago I posted a video from a group called The Catholic Vote, essentially urging Catholics to consider the important role we play in the public square when we do our civic duty with our Catholic moral principles in mind, including when we vote. It was non-partisan and quite well done.

Last night I received a boilerplate comment on that post—which I did not put through because my blog is not a billboard for other people’s political gamesmanship—darkly warning:

If you forward this video or link to the website in your official capacity you may be in violation of IRS regulations and Church policy.  You will also be distributing materials that contradict Church teaching.

The first part is just pure baloney designed to scare priests and lay employees of the Church and other non-profits from engaging their free speech rights. The second part is also baloney because this is what they claim contradicts Church teaching:

Among other things, the video glorifies US economic and military power. This runs contrary to Catholic Social Teaching which emphasizes a preferential option for the poor and solidarity.

What this shows is that this is nothing more than the same old liberal “progressive” wing of the Democratic Party at prayer who create a moral equivalency between abortion and a graduated tax rate; who reject the Church’s actual teaching on pacifism, just war, and self-defense; who prattle on about “single-issue” voting when what they’re really interested in protecting is the Big Government, Nanny state, tax-and-spend handouts as embodied by today’s Democrat Party.

Further proof is found in more dark warnings that some of the people behind Catholic Vote are— gasp — Republicans who, they proclaim breathlessly, “even supported republican Senator Rick Santorum over Bob Casey, a pro-life Catholic democrat, during the 2006 election cycle.” Yes, Rick Santorum, a pro-life Catholic Republican. I’m supposed to be dismayed by that?

I won’t dignify this blatant attempt at obfuscation, fear-mongering, and partisanship disguised as non-partisan Catholic citizenship by giving them a link to their site. Let’s just say, it’s the same old group of politically liberal Catholics who’ve been trying to provide cover for the rabidly pro-abortion Democratic Party in the last few election cycles. They claim to be “united” for the “common good”, if you know what I mean.

All they’ve done with this stunt is make me more supportive of Catholic Vote.

Update: Going back over the video, I’m struck by how duplicitous this Democratic operative is. In fact, the video spends more than 80 percent of its time talking about how life and family are the most important issues facing us. Then it says “The strength of our nation is not only in its military or economic power, but in our commitment to moral values.”[emphasis added] This does not in any way glorify US economic and military power, but subordinates it to a morality that is compatible with Catholic teaching (and not just “Catholic Social Teaching,” but the whole seamless garment, if I may use that term correctly.)