Conservative Catholics endorse Ted Cruz as Trump alternative

(RNS) More than 50 conservative Catholic activists and political leaders have come out in support of Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in an effort to shore up Catholic backing for Cruz as an alternative to Donald Trump.

Among them is a priest from South Carolina who may be skirting the edges of his own church’s policies against clerics becoming involved in politics.

Trump is currently leading the three-man GOP field and has drawn strong primary support from Catholic voters despite his controversial rhetoric and past stands on key issues like abortion rights, which he once supported.

The Catholics endorsing Cruz, led by Princeton professor Robert George and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, cited Cruz’s opposition to abortion and gay marriage and his advocacy of religious freedom as the reasons for their support.

“No one has been stronger than Ted in standing up for religious liberty and other fundamental constitutional freedoms,” said George in a statement posted Friday (March 18) on Cruz’s website. “He will foster a culture, from the top down, that honors the Constitution – the one thing that, despite our differences, binds us all together as Americans.”

While Trump was not mentioned by name in the endorsement, George and some of the other signers have also been leading the charge against the New York real estate magnate.

Several of them were among dozens of Catholics who signed an appeal earlier this month in National Review that said while they understood Trump’s appeal for some Catholics, he was “manifestly unfit to be president of the United States.”

That was before Sen. Marco Rubio, who many Catholic conservatives were backing, dropped out of the race following a drubbing by Trump in his home state of Florida.

Cruz, a senator from Texas, is the son of the Cuban immigrants but he is a Southern Baptist, not a Roman Catholic. His father, Rafael Cruz, was born Catholic but became a born again Christian in the 1970s and is known for his fiery preaching.

One of the Cruz endorsements comes from Monsignor Ed Lofton, pastor at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Summerville, S.C.

“I am very pleased to give my personal endorsement to Ted Cruz for President of the United States,” Lofton said in the statement.

“The Church must not be silent as the nation chooses the leaders who will shape its future. I am personally working for the election of Ted Cruz, and I urge fellow Catholics to join me in giving Ted Cruz our support and our votes.”

But Deacon Greg Kandra, a blogger at the Catholic news site Aleteia, wrote that he was “a little surprised to see such a vocal and enthusiastic endorsement of a candidate by a Catholic priest.”

Kandra noted that the Catholic Church has strict guidelines against clerics holding office or taking “an active part in political parties.”

He also pointed to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops policies stating that church organizations and their representatives should “not endorse or oppose candidates, political parties, or groups of candidates, or take any action that reasonably could be construed as endorsement or opposition.”

Other signatories of the Cruz endorsement include Brian Brown, head of the National Organization for Marriage, Ryan Anderson of the Heritage Foundation, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

I'm not a Republican, nor a Democrat, but an AMERICAN.

This country was formed by armed citizens standing together to take a stand against scofflaw tyranny and establish a Democratic Republic based on the Rule of Natural Law.

The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions ~ John Locke 1690

We no longer have that, nor do we have the unified culture that established, defended, and supported (many with their lives!) this fluke in human history, i.e. the experiment of self-government vs. divine right of kings.

Most of the electorate don't even know - or more importantly CARE - about what it meant to be an AMERICAN.

Race, creed, religion, ideology and national origins were placed in a backseat to the cause, and from the advent of the Declaration of Independence on, the USA redefined humanity, until now.

Today 99% of what is happening in this country, from the top to the bottom, is one form of tyranny or another, and like Zombies people are imploding Left & Right...

It's no longer just about politics, it's now a War of SANITY vs. INSANITY!

Suspension or subjective enforcement of American Jurisprudence, i.e. Rule of Law (The lunatics agenda), has subverted our entire culture to the point that narcissist, sociopaths and psychopaths have been allowed to gain positions of leadership, power and avarice and are becoming the NORM...

Moreover, this is a cultural phenom and since the hate America tribe is in control of popular culture, via Hollywood and the Lame Stream Media, they have effectively grown to have a free hand to brain-wash ALL generations from JFK on, with the explicit consent and support of the DnC and their agitprop academic wizards.

Equivocation and Sophistry currently rule the land; a mad penchant for inaction, delay, obfuscation, circular reasoning - whatever it takes to keep the fantasy plates spinning on the sticks and prevent them from falling to reality.

Empty rhetoric to fill empty minds.

That is until now; Trump is a breath of fresh air in this multi-generational nightmare, and no one has punched a whole in this maladious Cult of National Psychosis like Trump since President Reagan...

The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That’s the only difference,” he said. The two parties ... are becoming one corporate party, with two heads wearing different makeup, and that is not a good enough choice for the American people. - Ralph Nader

I read the comments with much interest. I figure I am just as much a Conservative Catholic as anyone else here can claim.

The first response was simply a diatribe against Catholics and nearly caused me to exit the thread.

The fact is this [according to me] ;>) :
Neither candidate is perfect - but who on earth is perfect???

I see Donald Trump as smart, a capable executive, has a decent family. However, his persona is one of egotism and narcissism - “I love me to death.” But, he is correct on loving his country and being righteously angry about the current political leaders in the country. I still hope he will show more maturity in his actions and verbiage on the campaign trail. Tone down your vulgarity please.

As for Ted Cruz - he is the most reliable Conservative and really will defend the Constitution and our rights. He does not have an appealing, warm, persona, however, and that will reflect upon his ability to gather support in an election. And one more thing - his continuing insistence that he is the only true Conservative running does get a bit tiresome. It sounds a bit like bragging, to me - like he thinks he is perfection.

So, we have two candidates who each have high opinions of themselves - which intrinsically is neither good or bad.

The essay by Weigel etal, esteemed Catholic writers all, is worthy of every Catholic's
thoughtful consideration. I had given it as much the day it came out, and while I claim no
such distinction as they, I found their argument not convincing.

They state: "the Republican party has been a vehicle — imperfect, like all human
institutions, but serviceable — for promoting causes at the center of Catholic social
concern..." and then go on to list 4 areas: 1) life issues 2) religious freedom 3) marriage
4) limited government. I don't accept that the GOP has been successful on any of these,
although individuals within the ranks have voiced correct stances. Does Trump represent
a dismantling? Where is their evidence?

In the previous email I quoted his evolution on abortion (of course not fully correct, nor
Catholic), but as Fr. Pavone says: "Even if one argues that it is politically beneficial and
even necessary for him to make that change in order to have a shot at the Republican
nomination, it still does not follow that his change of views on abortion is not real and
sincere," and Cruz's characterization of Trump's stance is not accurate, as I cited.

Trump gives no indication of rolling over on religious freedom - quite the opposite. He
states that the Supreme Ct ruling on homosexual marriage was a mistake and needs to be
handled by the states. And limited government? Are they saying Bush 1, Bush 2 are
proponents of this? It's laughable. Precisely because of their globalist agenda are they
miles from subsidiarity. It is Trump who argues for local control, as he does regarding
Common Core which the GOP & Bushes favor, something missed by our esteemed writers.

They state: "at the beginning of the current presidential electoral cycle, it seemed possible
that further progress in defending and advancing these noble causes was possible through
the instrument of the Republican party. That possibility is now in grave danger. And so
are those causes" In great danger because they may be out of power? How has the GOP
promoted these "noble causes"?

They say: "His appeals to racial and ethnic fears and prejudice are offensive to any
genuinely Catholic sensibility. He promised to order U.S. military personnel to torture
terrorist suspects and to kill terrorists’ families" Racial and ethnic fears? These are the
words of the Left, of the Media. They provide no evidence. Isn't that the tactic of the
Left? The smear? Isn't this beneath such writers as these? And regarding "torture", surely
good Catholics can accept waterboarding and other tactics permitted by international
agreements? Another cheap shot, the sweeping statement of "killing families". Trump
says that families, knowing of the terrorist plots, are not necessarily given safe passage
anywhere, but can be considered co-conspirators, on a case-by-case basis. Trump holds to
the strategy of unpredictability, so that those who would do us harm do not know what
our response will be. This strikes me as effective leadership.

They say: Trump represents "vulgarity, oafishness, shocking ignorance, and — we do not
hesitate to use the word — demagoguery". Demagoguery: a leader who makes use of
popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power. Our esteemed
writers are setting aside reasoned analysis and labelling Trump with pejoratives, but not
different from the media, the Establishment politicians, the Wall Street Insiders, Leftists
generally.

These writers are largely connected to the National Review, which publication came out a
month ago with an entire issue, by all the writers, saying why we must all be saved from
Trump. These writers fail to understand the plight faced by the average American, I think
because of their comfortable positions, their circle of friends, their pleasant lives. This
doesn't make them defective people, only lacking in understanding of what the mass of
Americans are facing after 8 years of Obama. They are as comfortable as the bishops in
the chanceries, who, with probably some exceptions, look down upon Trump and wail.
And who among them came to the defense of free speech when Trump was mobbed by
the Soros-funded mobs in Chicago? Who will protect these writers in their comfort when
the gangs of the Left gather through the spring and fall? And who will protect these
writers from the globalists, eager to sign the TPP deal and put the final nail in the coffin
of the middle class?

Globalism is not a Catholic principle, and for us,
Trump is the lone voice against globalism.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.