Vatican Official: Democrats Becoming the Party of Death
As a consequence, we will see more and more the slogan "party of death" get thrown around by Catholic church leaders. Remember that this isn't merely an attack on the Democrats, but an implicit endorsement of the Republican party and Republican politicians who keep referring to themselves as the "party of life." We should expect Raymond Burke, former archbishop in St. Louis and current leader of the Vatican's high court, to play an important role in this political agenda.
Burke, who was named prefect of the Vatican’s Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature in June, told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire that the U.S. Democratic Party risked “transforming itself definitively into a party of death for its decisions on bioethical issues.”
Source: Reuters
Why don't we call Christianity the "Religion of Death" because it's primary symbol is a dead guy on a stick? Yes, I know that's a disrespectful simplification of both Christianity and the crucifix, but it's no more disrespectful or a simplification than Raymond Burke's characterization of the Democratic Party. What's good for the goose is good for the gander and if Vatican officials want to engage in that sort of cheap rhetorical propaganda — and especially in matters of domestic politics where their dogmas are irrelevant — then they should be happy to accept similar retorts in kind.
And if they object anyway... well, do we really have any ethical obligations to consider the wounded feelings of hypocrites?
He then attacked two of the party’s most high profile Catholics — vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — for misrepresenting Church teaching on abortion.
He said Biden and Pelosi, “while presenting themselves as good Catholics, have presented Church doctrine on abortion in a false and tendentious way.
Although I don't read all political speeches or statements in great detail (I'm not Sarah Palin!), I can't ever remember reading where Pelosi or Biden have "misrepresented" the Vatican's position on abortion. I suppose it's possible that they could have misunderstood it and then repeated that misunderstanding to others, but frankly I'm skeptical of that. After all, it's not as though the Vatican's position is all that complicated. It's wrong, but it's not complicated.
It strikes me as more plausible that the problem with politicians like Pelosi and Biden is that they are representing themselves as Catholics who refuse to abuse their political power by voting to impose Vatican teachings on the entire public. In a sense, then, they are through personal example telling people that it's possible to be a Catholic but still want to give citizens the autonomy and dignity of making their own choices in such matters. Perhaps this is contrary to Vatican teaching, in which case we should be thankful that these politicians aren't more "faithful."
Comments
What about Republican support for capital punishment and war? The Church is supposed to be against these, as well as abortion. Of course, the Church would rather condemn people to die of AIDS rather than use condoms…
Those Papal bulls that entitled the Spanish and Portuguese to divide up the lands hitherto undiscovered and enslave and pillage all the Muslims and heathens were pretty good too. It’s not stealing or wrong if they are “enemies of Christ.”
All religions are “religions of death”, because all religions are just death cults with fancy clothes, old books, expensive heirarchies, and organised indoctrination. That’s not disrespectful, it’s just being honest. And honesty is what kills bad ideas, which is why this sort of honesty is so shrilly attacked by the religious.
Christians believe that god gave mankind free will. Democrats are following gods example and letting women decide for themselves. If god wanted to force people not to have abortions, surely he could. So why are republicans so anxious to be ungod-like?
Name calling by the church of Paedophilea !
And, oh, by the way……aren’t the Catholic authorities getting real up close and snugly with the possibility of losing their tax-exempt status by their de facto endorsement of a particular political party and, consequently, of its candidates?
I mean, no, they haven’t actually stepped over the line, as far as I know. But aren’t they pushing the envelope here? As a tax payer, I’d feel a lot less taken advantage of if they limited themselves—at least those here in the jurisdiction of the U.S.—to general teachings about issues and principles, and let the Catholic faithful draw their own conclusions.
And, you know, it would be nice if the topic of war, particularly criminally undertaken war, most particularly the needless, often horrific maimings and killings of civilians, obviously including women and children, in said wars, would come up in their preaching and public statements from time to time too.
Chances? Anyone?
Yeah, I doubt it too. Apparently the born are somehow more expendable.