Catholic Church asks Tom Daschle to stop calling himself a Catholic

Weekly Standard (via Matt Drudge) ^ | April 17, 2003 | SB00

[SB00]

TOM DASCHLE may no longer call himself a Catholic. The Senate minority leader and the highest ranking Democrat in Washington has been sent a letter by his home diocese of Sioux Falls, sources in South Dakota have told The Weekly Standard, directing him to remove from his congressional biography and campaign documents all references to his standing as a member of the Catholic Church.

This isn't exactly excommunication--which is unnecessary, in any case, since Daschle made himself ineligible for communion almost 20 years ago with his divorce and remarriage to a Washington lobbyist. The directive from Sioux Falls' Bishop Robert Carlson is rather something less than excommunication--and, at the same time, something more: a declaration that Tom Daschle's religious identification constitutes, in technical Catholic vocabulary, a grave public scandal. He was brought up as a Catholic, and he may still be in some sort of genuine mental and spiritual relation to the Church. Who besides his confessor could say? But Daschle's consistent political opposition to Catholic teachings on moral issues--abortion, in particular--has made him such a problem for ordinary churchgoers that the Church must deny him the use of the word "Catholic."

[Bigg Red]

I'm disappointed that Daschle has failed miserably at practicing his religion.

Too funny, Bigg Red!! : )

It is funny, indeed, friend, but the credit goes to alnick. I was just responding to his post.

[plain talk]

Romans 4:8: "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

[Kenno]

This just calls out for an Onion-type headline: Human League calls on Tom Daschle to stop calling himself a human.

[Campion]

Where does Romans 4:8 say that Jesus doesn't take away sin? More to the point, why don't you want to believe the Gospel when it clearly says that Jesus takes away sin? Isn't it much better to have your sin taken away, than merely covered up?

[nicmarlo]

: )

[sorroworechoes]

I just want to post these lonely Scriptures real quick for all of the people who think that human beings are constantly sinning, and that people can't stop sinning:
Revelation 22:
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Jesus speaking, Matthew 19:
17"You can get to Heaven if you keep the Commandments."
18 "Which ones?" the man asked .
And Jesus replied, "Don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie,
19 Honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself!"

Jesus speaking, Matthew 5:
17 "DON'T misunderstand why I have come. It isn't to cancel the laws of Moses and the warnings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them and to make them all come true.
18 With all the earnestness I have I say: every law in the Book will continue until it's purpose is achieved.
19 And so if anyone breaks the least Commandment, and teaches others to, he shall be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But those who teach God's Laws and obey them shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven."


Jesus speaking, Matthew 7:
21 Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They MAY refer to me as 'Lord' but STILL won't get to heaven.
For the decisive question is whether they OBEY my FATHER in Heaven.
22 At the Judgement many will tell me, "Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast out demons and to do many other great miracles."
23 But *I* will reply, "You have NEVER been mine. Go away, for your deeds are evil."


Jesus speaking, Matthew 4:
17 "Turn FROM sin, and turn TO God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."

[sorroworechoes]

I am not Catholic but I LOVE the Catholic Church. To me, they ARE more like Christ. If we love God, we will obey God, certainly obey those 10 Commandments. It's all about walking the walk, and not just lip-service.

[Fred Mertz]

Ping!

[sorroworechoes]

I say the 10 Commandments because they're God's Laws, not man's laws. Man's laws aren't worth the paper they're written on.

[JohnnyZ]

Still got that "new baby" smell; wecome to FR!

I am not Catholic but I LOVE the Catholic Church.

Membership is open to all :)

You just need to steal a Protestant's unadorned cross, a unitarian's Question Mark, and a Mormon's third wife for use in the initiation ritual.

Just kidding about the first two, by the way.

[nicmarlo]

While he is still within earshot, if he hears me ridicule his commander for sending him on the mission, does that not negate whatever good will I attempted to convey and lower his morale?

Yes; much the same way, IMHO, as if someone would pat me on the back, say I'm "righteously devoted Christian" and then, as I begin to walk away, I hear that person say "Jesus was a blasphemer."

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

But Daschle's consistent political opposition to Catholic teachings on moral issues--abortion, in particular

but he loved the popes view on the war

[plain talk]

Romans 4:8 said "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." This states that the Lord will not count our sin against us. Also, Romans 8:10 states "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." These verses indicate to me that Christians still carry around a sinful body while in this world. Because of Adam not all of this sinful nature is changed. While I see the result of forgiveness to be as if we were perfect I don't see us as perfect while on this earth. Our standing is as if we were perfect yet we aren't perfect.

I agree that forgiveness results in our sin essentially being taken away and that we have a zero sin register with respect to the Lord. Our account with the Father has been cleared. The slate is cleaned. If this is the extent of your argument - I agree! I am pointing out a finer distinction which is probably way over all our heads anyway. My point is we will all be held to account for everything we do and think, good and bad, which is plainly stated in Revelations. This means works and the sins we commit are reviewed and judged and these never go away. You don't want to call these bad works and thoughts "sins" because you say they have all been removed. OK. Does this help?

[sorroworechoes]

Thanks I appreciate the welcome!
And, yes, I think you guys(Catholics)are great.

[TEXASPROUD]

Add me next time.

[RAT Patrol]

I will. Here's another story that might interest you:

Pope's ruling bars....

[sorroworechoes]

To explain myself a little further.
Unlike some people, I DON'T believe that Catholics are trying to "earn" their way to Heaven. I think they want to obey God because they LOVE God. Novel concept. It's that simple. If He is our Father, we will obey Him. I'm not saying Christians don't occasionally sin. But occasionally is a far cry from chronic.
To me, Catholics REALLY DO MEAN "Thy Kingdom come, THY Will be done On earth as it is in Heaven."

[MeekOneGOP]

Methinks O'Reilly's right: Daschole's on the slippery slope down; he's washed up, finished. (tra la la la la) : )

. . . la la la la

I'll hafta change my Tag Line to:

Bu-bye da$$hole !

[GretchenEE]

It is most satisfying to see the Catholic Church take a stand against this hypocrisy. I must say I've never heard of such a move but it fits.

I pray Tom lets God get a good grip on his heart before it's too late.

In the fear of the Lord, there is wisdom.

[TheGeezer]

A minor consideration: while "pedophilic priests" has a nice alliterative ring to it, the term is not appropriate. In most cases, the priests who engaged in illicit sexual practices did so with same-sex TEENAGERS, not prepubescent children. Most of the illicit abuses, therefore, were merely homosexual abuses and NOT pedophilia. In Europe, where the age of consent in many nations is 16, most of these cases would be merely gross aberrations of homosexual men who also happen to be priests.

Also, the number of cases are relatively small in number. Less than 2% of all priests in the U.S. have been accused of this serious sin. That means that 98% of priests are innocent and doing a great job.

Finally, recall that it is a liberal press -the same press that repeatedly tries to spin things badly for our nation, the military, and the president - that coined the term "pedophilic priests" and that has misreported aspects of this scandal - even grossly exagerating matters. After all, if the liberal press can call into question the moral authority of the world's number one opponent to abortion (the Catholic Church), even if it has to distort facts to do so, don't you think it would? It is the press - most notably operations like the Boston Globe - that label as pedophilia things that are really simply immoral homosexual seductions.