Obama's Catholic Advisors - 3

Obama’s Catholic Advisors – 3
cinops be gone Saturday, June 21, 2008
Here is the text of Obama’s National Catholic Advisory Council’s letter to Bill Donahue, President of Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights:
“Dear Mr. Donohue:
We write in our individual capacities and not on behalf of the campaign. Last week you labeled many of our friends and some of us, as “Catholic dissidents” because we support Senator Obama.
Unlike the Catholic League, the U.S. Bishops advise careful consideration of candidates’ positions on a broad set of issues. While abortion and other life issues are of fundamental concern, the bishops teach that particular issues must not be misused “as a way of dismissing or ignoring other serious threats to human life and dignity” such as “racism and other unjust discrimination, the use of the death penalty, resorting to unjust war, the use of torture, war crimes, the failure to respond to those who are suffering from hunger or a lack of health care or an unjust immigration policy” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, # 29). Our bishops go on to point out that “these are not optional concerns which can be dismissed.”
Across these issues Senator Obama offers much to the well-informed conscience, which helps explain why many Catholics are supporting him.
As Catholics, we view abortion as a profound moral issue. But what have nearly three decades of Republican promises to end abortion accomplished? Other aspects of the conservative Republican agenda have been carried out with fervor, such as weakening of the social-safety net, privatization, deregulation, destruction of labor unions, and belligerent and aggressive foreign policy. But ending abortion remains the perennial promise, one that is too often hijacked by partisan operatives who seek only to divide voters. Many Catholics are fed up with the divisive tactics and empty promises around this issue.
Senator Obama recognizes that abortion presents a profound moral challenge, tied in part to a loss of sense of sacredness of sex and lack of parental involvement. On the campaign trail he regularly calls on parents to turn off the television and has called on fathers to meet their family responsibilities. Regrettably, these clips are not included in your press releases.
Senator Obama has also reached out to Americans on both sides of this issue & embraces practical proposals designed to reduce the number of abortions in this country, including comprehensive health care and sex education, better health care, economic support for women, & promoting alternatives like adoption.
Like other American, we have watched as many candidates brought to office on a so-called pro-life platform insisted on policies that have left lives of millions more of our brothers and sisters at risk from war, uncontrolled pollution, deeper poverty, and a growing economic equality. Not this year.
This year there many Catholics – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – who won’t let that happen again,
We are proud to be counted among Senator Obama’s Catholic advisors. Collectively our experience spans decades of scholarship and service working for and with the Catholic Church on a broad set of issues under the “consistent ethic of life.”
We were drawn into the campaign by Senator Obama’s vision for the common good, his profound message of hope, and his ability to unite citizens across class, race, and even party lines. We are excited about his promise as president, and we commend him to our fellow Catholics.
Mr. Donohue, you work to fight legitimate cases of anti-Catholic bigotry in this country and should be applauded. But when you smear other Catholics with whom you disagree, you betray your own cause .Our measure of what it means to be a “good” Catholic is not defined by the narrow pronouncements of partisan operative; but rather by the rich teachings of our Church and our informed consciences.”
George H. Kubeck, Duplicate and or translate in to Spanish or Vietnamese.