The Cleveland Plain Dealer ironically stands up strongly for Catholic bishops who hold all Catholics to the same moral standard.
But Kerry and a lot of far less famous Catholics argue that they shouldn’t have to give up the Eucharist just because their views on a few hot-button issues differ from the teachings of the church. They’ve got a “church life” and a “state life,” and they believe in maintaining a strict separation. Their faith is personal, they say, and they don’t believe in imposing their Catholic beliefs on anyone else. Man, that has got to be confusing. Not everyone can juggle diametrically opposed positions with the dexterity (or the brazenness) of a John Kerry. But even he is just an imitator. It was another Massachusetts Catholic who, in 1960, whipped up the magic formula that’s been used ever since to make the hypocritical sound noble.
