Posted on 10/20/2008 7:10:15 AM PDT by OriginalChristian
Recently, the Archdiocese of New York held its famous Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, with both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama as guests. I watched the coverage today -- the story is all over the news, along with images of Obama and Edward Cardinal Egan sharing a laugh.
Something about that bothered me.
No, it's not what you think. I'm not upset that a Democrat and the cardinal were enjoying a conversation. This is not a partisan issue, and I would have had the same negative reaction if it were Rudy Giuliani or Susan Collins instead of Obama.
The truth is, the first thought that came to my mind was a simple one: What are we doing here? If abortion really is what we say it is -- the gruesome murder of unborn children -- do our actions reflect that belief? And if those who support abortion are guilty of facilitating such a horror, how should we respond to them?
If this were 1855, would we be inviting pro-slavery politicians to take a break from a hard fought race, and share a laugh and a meal? As one who finds courage and inspiration in the example of the Radical Republican abolitionists, I just can't imagine it.
But isn't that what we're doing today? I know that wasn't Cardinal Egan's intention -- of course not. (I also recognize that I'm raising these concerns after the fact.) However, in today's media driven society, images matter. The sight of Obama and the cardinal palling around sends the message -- whether intentional or not -- that the pro-choice senator is fine in Egan's eyes.
(Excerpt) Read more at lifenews.com ...
I agree.
Time for Catholics to be Catholics——it shouldn’t be that hard.
It apparently isn’t hard for Bishop Chaput, God bless him.
I can’t remember if it was C.S. Lewis or G.K Chesterson (someone can correct mne as to whom) who said: “What we need now are men with chests”. (interesting that the quote uses the heart for courage and not other discernable body parts)
Yes. what we need now are men with hearts of courage.
Jesus dined with sinners, but as far as my Biblical knowledge goes, not with Pharisees. (someone can correct me here, too, if necessary).
I didn’t write the headline, only copied it here.
I agree. I wasn't going to vote for President if a pro-abortion candidate were the Republican nominee.
After a while of losing, the pro-life party will realize they can’t win by nomnating “less blood thristy” candidates and counting of pro-lifers to vote for the lesser of two evils, so they will start nominating actual pro-lifers.
Excellent point.
I agree with both of you.
I vote for C.S. Lewis on the source of the quote. (Chesterton, given his build, might have said “men with stomach” to convey the same meaning :-). And I sigh for the days when our metaphoric vocabulary still showed some good taste.
Jesus dined with sinners, but in the context of calling them to repentance. He did also dine with Pharisees - it was at dinner with a Pharisee that the “sinful woman” washed his feet with her tears - and he called the Pharisees to repentance.
In this atmosphere, Cdl. Egan might have addressed all pro-abortion attendees at the dinner, gently but clearly describing Christian teaching on human life and reminding them to consider “Him who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.” That would be true charity.
You are so right!
If you agree, I must be right!
p.s., C.S. Lewis: “We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and then bid the geldings to be fruitful.”
Oh, I agree. It was painful to watch him sitting there expressionlessly, while McCain cracked one zinger after another.
I knew Cardinal Reagan a little when we lived in Connecticut and he was bishop of Bridgeport. He was very impressive in person. He wrote weekly theological pieces for the diocesan paper, which were entirely orthodox. But he also managed to get on with the politicians in Connecticut, who were turning very liberal and pro-abort.
He joined the March for Life in Washington and gave a talk in the Cathedral to participants there. Yet he reminds me in a way of Cardinal Law, whom I also knew even better back when I was living in Massachusetts. He was a good friend of my Aunt’s. Law was also solid, impressive, orthodox. Yet both these men seem to be unwilling to confront evil when it is powerful and influential. They sit back and let it work, rather than make waves.
Neither of these Cardinals was like Rembert Weakland, deliberately dissident, deliberately making trouble for the Church. Yet they refrained from speaking out when bad things happened. We saw what that led to in the case of Cardinal Law.
I guess even McCain was too polite to point out at the dinner that Obama never saw a baby he didn’t want to kill. That would have wrecked people’s enjoyment of their meal.
That's sad. Especially for a Cardinal to be sitting stone-faced while a non-Catholic says what the Cardinal should be saying ... well, it makes me like John McCain better, even if he didn't manage to slip in, "Infanticide Osama ... oops, I mean ..."
I’m late getting back-—
Thanks so much for that great quote!
You’re welcome! I went to bed early :-).
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