Bishops' electioneering.MANY OF US AMERICAN Catholics feel betrayed by the politicization of the Blessed Sacrament by the Vatican, a couple of US bishops and right-wing conservatives. The hypocrisy of this political effort is ruinous ru·in·ous adj. 1. Causing or apt to cause ruin; destructive. 2. Falling to ruin; dilapidated or decayed. ru to the moral authority of our church leaders. The clamoring campaign against abortion, compared to the exclusion and deafening silence on the death penalty, immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. , social welfare, preemptive war In political rhetoric "preemptive war" may also be used to refer to preventive war Preemptive war (or preemptive attack) is waged in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly and other church teachings is shameful. How can our leaders hold Catholic policy makers who support a woman's constitutionally protected reproductive rights Reproductive rights or procreative liberty is what supporters view as human rights in areas of sexual reproduction. Advocates of reproductive rights support the right to control one's reproductive functions, such as the rights to reproduce (such as opposition to forced be held to a different standard than they do the elected Catholic executives, legislators and appointed judiciary who support the constitutionality of the death penalty? Why haven't the leaders of our church held Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas to the same public scrutiny for supporting the execution of the mentally retarded who are securely incarcerated incarcerated /in·car·cer·at·ed/ (in-kahr´ser-at?ed) imprisoned; constricted; subjected to incarceration. in·car·cer·at·ed adj. Confined or trapped, as a hernia. ? Where is the outcry from the pulpit against the reduction in services to the young, poor, handicapped and mentally ill due to budget constraints, as taxes are cut for the wealthiest? Father Andrew Greeley recently stated that he polled a diocese to find that only six percent of its members were both pro-life and opposed to the preemptive war against Iraq. Does the "collateral damage collateral damage Surgery A popular term for any undesired but unavoidable co-morbidity associated with a therapy–eg, chemotherapy-induced CD to the BM and GI tract as a side effect of destroying tumor cells " of Iraqi women and children raise less concern in our consciences than the unborn? I would venture a guess that the same conservative Catholics who have found their political soul with the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition Christian Coalition, organization founded to advance the agenda of political and social conservatives, mostly comprised of evangelical Protestant Republicans, and to preserve what it deems traditional American values. also are in conflict with the church's teachings on the death penalty, Imagine if their pastors informed them that they would no longer be able to receive the Eucharist if they voted for politicians who supported the death penalty. As the Catholic church in America seeks to come to terms with its own scandal and cover-up, I think it is imperative that it doesn't become consumed only with the sins of sexuality. FRANK C. DAMRELL, III Modesto, California |
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