The Case against "Catholic United" # 1

The Case against “Catholics United” # 1
cinops be gone Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 A.M.
Your love, Lord, reaches to heaven;
your truth to the skies.
Your justice is like God’s mountain,
Your judgments life the deep.

Time in Partnership with CNN has an article by Amy Sullivan, dated Sat., Oct. 18, 2008 titled, How Catholics Are Judging Obama and the Democrats. The author believes that at this year’s Al Smith Dinner, Obama’s presence on the dais at the Waldorf-Astoria is just a sign that this may be the Democrats’ best year for Catholic support in decades…. p. 1 of 4 pages.
They are the largest single constituency in the electorate (33 million voted in 2004) and have aligned themselves with the winner in every presidential election going back to 1960, with the exception of 2000. … 1

{In the year 2000, Al Gore won more Catholic votes than George Bush but in Florida he won with a large majority of the Catholic votes, thanks to the effort of many in the pro-life movement especially, Priests for Life.}

By 1984, … Reagan attended alone (The Al Smith Dinner), and, on Election Day, captured 61% of Catholic voters, the largest share that any Republican presidential candidate had ever earned. No GOP candidate has matched it since….

{In 2004, Bush won about 52% of the Catholic vote.}

In a hierarchical tradition like Catholicism, debates don’t happen very often. Right now, however, American Catholics are going through a revival of the arguments that took place in the 1980’s between bishops who believed abortion ought to be the top political and moral focus of the church and the camp led by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin that argued for a more “consistent ethic of
life.”…
But just last fall, the American bishops released Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility, a document that reminded Catholics that “all life issues are connected.” Over the past few years, archbishops around the country have spoken out in favor of immigration reform, opposing the use of torture, and advancing policies that focus more on the poor. 3

As a result, many Catholics can now argue that neither party fits precisely with Catholic social teaching – the Democratic position on abortion is still unacceptable but so are GOP positions on education and health care and the war in Iraq…. – as of this past February – 41% of Catholic voters called themselves Independents, an 11- point increase since 2004. And in opinion polls, Catholics are even divided between Obama and McCain… 3

{We will compare the above six prudential issues with the five absolutely evil life issues. In fairness to his presidency, Bush has come out in favor of immigration reform but he has done something historic: his faith-based initiatives for the poor. A Democratic elected Presidency would not have started this.}

George H. Kubeck, OPL (We will continue.)