The Final US Election Thread

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I just find it astonishing that on this, of all issues, the Church is telling its members that to vote in a certain way is a sin which one must atone for. Frankly, I think it's insane.

Are they pretending that a McCain administration would somehow have done away with abortion? Because that would not have happened. Are they imagining that an Obama administration will lead to a rise in abortions? If so, they should have the wherewithal to make that argument.

And to pretend that one political party holds the moral high ground is equally insane and selective. The Republicans authorized torture during their watch, not to mention a war which the Pope himself has condemned. I've yet to hear Catholics who voted for George W. Bush being asked to atone for that particular sin.

Frankly, the whole thing is arbitrary and ill-conceived, and only robs the Church of authority. I think they're just having an ecclesiastical hissy fit because a majority of Catholics voted for Obama, despite clerical pressure not to do so.

I find your use of the term "insane" somewhat offensive. The Church is a part of my identity.

You are correct in assessing the likely efforts of a McCain administration on this issue, and you make telling points about how other inconsistencies undermine the efforts of the Church to communicate clearly and effectively on some moral issues. The Church does not agree with a number of the policy decisions made by the Bush administration and has spoken against them, but the pre-vote message from the bishops did not address this inconsistency -- which may well have washed out any effort made.

I certainly think you make a good point on the "hissy fit" comment, as your "parking lot priest" example in a later post underlines.

[Lemur]

I find your use of the term "insane" somewhat offensive. The Church is a part of my identity.

Hmm, I certainly don't mean that the Catholic Church is insane, but rather that this particular take on this particular issue* is insane. I never intend to insult or demean the Church, and I'm sorry if I gave that impression somehow.

Reading a bit further on the subject, it seems that what we have here is a few isolated priests allowing their political disappointment to overwhelm their good sense. There is a bit of movement from a certain Archbishop, but he's not the force behind these two priests' looniness.

I think the conclusion is obvious: Priests must not be allowed to watch Fox News immediately before services.

*And as it turns out, it was only a particular priest whose actions may or may not be within orthodoxy.