Catholicism Is Not Just About Abortion
Catholic Democrats in Congress have issued a statement on the effect of their religion on their political views. They use the Clinton era line on abortion, that they will seek to minimize if not criminalize it, but primarily focus on how the Democratic message meshes with Catholic morality: care for the poor and the sick, avoiding unjust war, and ensuring education.
As badly needed as such a statement is, the problem is that it's not just Republicans who are trying to overemphasize abortion. The Church itself (at least, the American Catholic Bishops, as the Vatican has remained more holistic) has developed a laser-like political focus on abortion. The theology behind this is called "disqualifying issues." The idea is that there are some issues that are so central to Catholic teaching that someone who ignores them is irredeemably morally wrong no matter how many other values they uphold. As long as "disqualifying issues" remains the line of the American church, Catholic Democratic politicians can continue to expect virulent attacks by Church leaders.
There are signs that the Church might be growing more reasonable. The Bishop's conference has committed itself to fighting for immigrant rights and Los Angeles archdiocese bishop Cardinal Roger Mahoney has instructed his priest to go so far as to protect immigrants from Immigration Service searches. A showdown with INS over immigrant rights could be exactly what the Catholic Church needs to demonstrate its moral relevancy in America today.
As an aside. I found the statements by William Donahue about the Church staying out of politics pretty amusing. Make no mistake about him, he is a hard-core conservative. His organization bills itself as a "Catholic Anti-Defamation League" but they routinely issue Pat Robinsonesque statements that undermine Catholic legitimacy. No doubt he's as anti-immigrant as most conservatives, and the irony that he now finds himself attacking the church — even using the sex abuse scandal as a weapon — is simply delicious.
[Mar 07, 2006] | [religion] | # | G
