That damn religious thing

At mass the other week¹, the priest began absolutely railing against politicians who have supported abortion, and basically condemning them to live out their days as lepers in their own denomination, and live out their death burning in hell. This is Christianity?

The New York Times, it seems, has heard a similar homily somewhere. They went to Scranton and asked a bunch of people what they thought.

This is really becoming a problem if you consider that when your pastor tells you something, you generally follow his lead. That can be helpful when you seek guidance, but dangerous when it is used to influence a political election. Especially when I imagine about 50 percent of the priests’ political views are probably in line with Democratic views.

“People should straighten out their religious beliefs before they start making political decisions,” (Matthew Figured, a Sunday school teacher at the Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church), 22, said on his way into Sunday Mass.

I would argue the other way around, Mr. Figured. The Times reports Figured is now leaning toward McCain after his bishop barred Sen. Biden from receiving communion in the area “because of his support for abortion rights².”

“Getting into Augustine and Aquinas — it is just not helpful,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, a progressive Catholic group running television commercials that emphasize the church’s social justice teachings.

Now, opening a debate with the Catholic church is probably going to be “distracting.” But, at the same time, it shows people who are not Catholic historians or theological scholars that the church itself has had differing views about when life begins.

I honestly wonder what answer you would get if you ask many of these Catholic voters so eager to be quoted about their views on abortion what they think of the death penalty. Would you get church doctrine: Only God can take a life? Or would you get the more standard: Let the killers burn in hell? An overwhelming number of Catholics, I think, would follow the church. But, and I think this holds true in Scranton — as you might see in the following quote — many would would rather see the murderers dead, like they screamed for Saddam’s head, and lulsted after pictures and video of his hanging.

The choice of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as Mr. McCain’s running mate had clinched it for him, Mr. MacDonald said. “She is anti-abortion, anti-gay-marriage, anti-Big Oil, a lifetime member of the N.R.A., she hunts, she fishes — she is the perfect woman!”

One parishioner ruled out voting for Mr. Obama explicitly because he is black. “Are they going to make it the Black House?” Ray McCormick asked, to embarrassed hushing from a half dozen others gathered around the rectory kitchen.

Wow, Scranton, The New York Times pegs you as sexist and racist, in the span of two paragraphs! I think they hit closer to the mark than you would have the world believe, sadly.

However inflammatory this might be, I think it is important to point out the fundamental — and therefore calcifying — difference between pro-life people and pro-choice people, because it really is comparing apples to oranges. Pro-life people are anti-abortion, but pro-choice people are not pro-abortion, they (or at least me) are simply not comfortable with mandating something based on religious belief.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … .

That is, of course, the de facto quote when arguing freedom of religion, but I don’t think it is too far of a stretch to say pro-life legislation respects the Catholic church and its view on abortion. A good measure of what I look for in a president is “The West Wing” episode, “Take This Sabbath Day,” in which the fictional president weighs his Catholic beliefs in deciding to pardon a man sentenced to death.

TOBY
Look, I… I spent the day…

RABBI GLASSMAN
You spent the day hoping the President wouldn’t call the Pope.

TOBY
You’re damn right. I did.

RABBI GLASSMAN
If he had commuted the sentence after talking to the Pope, the worst fears of every non-Catholic who voted for him would be realized.

Look, voting party line because of a candidate’s view on one single subject is not helpful to this nation. And, as that great Catholic Democrat once told us, we should not be asking what our nation can do for us, but what we can do for it. And right now, our nation does not need John McCain. It needs Barack Obama, and it needs Joe Biden, and it needs a forward-looking leader who is smarter than most Americans. Because by God, we do not need my neighbor, Mr. Old-Shirtless-Guy-Sitting-on-His-Stoop-at-5-in-the-Morning, in the Oval Office. We need an Ivy League graduate who rolls up his sleeves and fixes things.

The least we can do for America is see he gets elected.

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¹I am Methodist, but my fiancée is Catholic. I attend mass with her.↖
²Biden does not support abortion rights, he just does not think every last American citizen (and immigrant) should be subjected to his personal religious beliefs. How on God’s great green earth can a Christian argue with that? Oh, they find ways.↖