It has already become what it always was: a battle for power. Once the Obama administration realizes what sleeping dog they have kicked, will they back down? Will they compromise? Do they dare? To do so will be an admission not only to their colleagues, but to the whole country that the Catholic Church has been able to dictate public policy. Will the Obama administration dare to allow such a precedent to be set? The secularist state and the atheists behind it fear this more than anything else.
"How could it be?" the chattering classes will ask, "that those Catholics those superstitious, backward, homophobic, misogynistic, narrow minded, child molesting hypocrites could dare to challenge the American government???" Therefore the godless establishment dare not back down. If they yield to the pressure from Catholic bishops on this one-- what next? What if the Catholics flex their muscles over gay marriage? What if Catholics flex their muscles over abortion? What if Catholics flex their muscles over contraception?
They will look further: two potential Republican presidential candidates are outspoken Catholics. What would happen if the Catholics of the United States actually forgot their liberal-conservative divisions (and it looks like they are) and get behind one particular presidential candidate?
The secular, godless ruling class must be facing this showdown with trepidation. Furthermore, if any of them are even a little bit awake they will have seen the growth of the annual March for Life. They will have seen the youth, the vigor, the joy and the power of the Catholic Church in this country.
Even the most sluggish observer of the religious cultural scene will know that the Protestants are hopelessly divided. There is no national spokesman for the Protestants. The Evangelicals can be portrayed as pick up driving, nose picking fundamentalist hicks. The mainstream Protestants are on the side of the abortion loving liberals. Apart from a few intellectuals, the rest of the Protestants can be written off. They are not a threat.
But despite their best efforts, the secular elite cannot write off the Catholic Church. Only the Catholics put forward leaders on the national stage who are courageous, articulate and ready to take a stand. Only the Catholics have a nationwide infrastructure and communication system. Only the Catholics have the numbers who could be rallied to take a stand.
The question is whether Catholics will take a stand or not. You can learn more by going to the USCCB website to learn how to get involved. Go here to sign the White House petition.
If you don't who will?
So, HHS vs. IHS?
ReplyDeleteNo contest.
I certainly don't mean to be snarky or judgmental, so I hope my comment isn't taken in that tone.
ReplyDeleteI pay very little attention to politics. I think it brings out the worst in people, and it depresses me. I prefer to focus on good things, which help me stay positive as I carry my own cross, day to day.
That said, I have heard some things about the candidates, and what I have heard causes me to pause when I read your words, "two potential Republican presidential candidates are outspoken Catholics."
I hesitate to say anything, for fear of being flamed. But this is something I have wondered about a lot, and I ask, not as an anonymous commenter seeking to upset a stranger, but as a lifelong Catholic, faithful to the Magisterium and everything that the Church teaches.
Father, is Newt Gingrich REALLY "CATHOLIC"?
If you go through all the official steps to become a member of the Church--the sacraments--but live a life completely contrary to the teachings of the Church, are you really Catholic?
I KNOW I don't know the state of this man's soul, and I have no right to judge him. And I'm not. But is it judging a man to point out that his life is rife with scandalous behavior? That he, essentially, doesn't walk the talk?
He cheated on his second wife with a woman who, he claims, inspired him to become a Catholic. Apparently neither of them had ever heard of the commandment not to commit adultery. That might sound snarky, and while it is stating the obvious, is it not a valid point? How can you inspire someone to be Catholic by encouraging them to SIN?
His behavior is reprehensible. He acts like a man who is cheating on his wife and, when she confronts him about it, lies and makes her feel like she is going crazy. It's a horrible thing to watch, and it makes me sad when anyone holds him up as a representative of our faith.
I get that the godless contingent is ruining things. I'm not arguing that. But are "Christians" like this man going to do any better? He gives Catholics a bad name.
I know we're supposed to pray for him, and love him (and everyone else). But support him in his lies? Really? Accept as true his claim to our faith when he acts in a manner so shameful... Really?
Thank you, Father, for helping me understand this, and for everything that you do.
Newt Gingrich became a Catholic after his third marriage. We can only assume that his conversion and repentance were real and give him the benefit of the doubt.
ReplyDeleteI believe he is a real Catholic. Whether he is a good Catholic or not is another matter!
I mean this in all seriousness: I do not know why a faithful Catholic would vote for a Democrat at the national level. The values of the modern Democrat party stand in such stark contrast to the morality of the Church. If one believes as a Catholic in the sanctity of life, or in the power and reality of the sacraments, then how one can support a party that belittles and denigrates those values is literally beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI do not say this to be hysterical or hyperbolic. I say it because I think it is true. Dare I say that a Catholic voting for a Democrat is like a Jew voting for Hitler.
There. I said it.
The problem is that the Catholic vote put Obama in office. People are voting with their pocketbooks (bad economy) or their race. If you want peace, vote for social justice.
ReplyDeleteAfter our bishop's spoke in favor of universal health care, this is the thanks we recieve?
ReplyDeleteThe Catholic Church has no business, none, telling me how to vote, or what political opinions I should have. I have found the level of hysteria expressed in my own parish, by my Pastor, over the HHS insurance mandate to be excessive to the point of being ridiculous. It is no more than an expression of purely political hatred of the President, and makes me begin to question why I ever became a Catholic in the first place. Right now, I'm ashamed to be Catholic.
ReplyDeleteA petition?
ReplyDeleteFrankly I find it disconcerting that anyone would be talking about a petition, or for that matter a vote.
How bad does it have to get before we move beyond what is little more than noise, noise this illegitimate government won't listen to?
The bishops need to stop compromising with the government. Shut down the institutions if necessary. Painful, sure, but the pain may serve as remedy for hypocrisy. The bishops have been for all sorts of things that this government has done, all for them taking our money to pay for this stuff, as long it is straight out of the individual's pocket.
A return to the catacombs may be in order.
Many people may not know this, but Hitler was a Catholic. Yes, he was not a practicing one and he murdered many, many cahtolics in the concentration camps. Including a great number of Priests. The interesting question is how many lapsed Catholics will be trotted out to say they have no problem with the rules or Catholics like Pelosi who will say its just fine! 5th column stuff for sure. We have to be louder and make our presence known that we will not stand by and let the government dictate to the Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteThe sexual abuse crisis weakened the faith of Catholics in the hierarchy and magisterial authority.
ReplyDeleteGiven this weakness, pro-abortion/Culture of Death advocates seized the moment to advance their agenda. They thought the Church was too debilitated to resist, and would compromise itself.
Their hubris in now being chastened. The Supreme Court's decision in Hosanna-Tabor, which was decided 9-0, rebuked the Administration's claim that religious organizations enjoyed no special protections in the public sphere under the 1st Amendment.
The battle over the contraception mandate is the next step. The HHS announcement is a rallying cry for believers. More than half of our nation's bishops have already spoken out. Religious leaders who claimed the Administration would respect their conscience have been shown where the truth actually lies.
Do not be deceived by claims that this is merely an opportunity for conservative to attack the left. The issue transcends politics. The very existence of the Church in the public sphere is at stake.
There is nothing new under the sun. The old enemy has again raised its head at our moment of weakness.
We must take heart that when political ideologues from either the left or right challenges the Church's rights, it is they who have been consigned to the dustbin of history.
Bear Paw. No one is telling you how to vote. We are encouraging Catholics to rise up and protest an unjust law and protest an attack against one of our basic liberties--the freedom of religion.
ReplyDeletePosted this earlier today, or thought I did. Anyway, as Solzhenitsyn said in 1973, "When Caesar, having exacted what is Caesar's, demands still more insistently that we render him what is God's - that is a sacrifice we dare not make!"
ReplyDelete"Only the Catholics put forward leaders on the national stage who are courageous, articulate and ready to take a stand."
ReplyDeleteBut far fewer Catholics agree with their own leaders teachings than do Evangelicals, probably. The Bishops have spoken so softly for so long they have lost authority. Look at New York: where was the Catholic laity in the gay marriage skirmish? In California it was the Mormons who carried the day.
I am on your side on these issues, but I don't think you have a clear picture of the larger Catholic culture's apathy. "Hopelessly divided" Evaneglicals are far more monolithically orthodox than Catholics in basic beliefs. See the Vanity Fair survey ruckus. The Bishops have failed to teach for a generation. Now that the rift is apparent they are calling people to service, and they don't get that the secular culture one em over while the clergy was busy... imitating the culture.
I believe he is a real Catholic. Whether he is a good Catholic or not is another matter!
ReplyDeleteRhetorical double-talk if there ever was such a thing.
The time for standing on the sidelines is over; I have already signed petitions and contacted elected officials. The battle is just beginning. Waiting for Archbishop Sartain to join the fray but I think he is waylaid but the issue of marriage here in Washington.
ReplyDelete