I Voted for Obama. Will I Go Straight to. . . ? (Yes)(barf alert)

Washington (com)Post ^ | 2/24/2008 | Joe Feuerherd

[markomalley]

Like most Maryland Democrats, I voted for Sen. Barack Obama in the recent Potomac Primary. By doing so, according to the leaders of my church, I put my soul at risk. That's right, says the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops -- tap the touch screen for a pro-abortion-rights candidate, and you're probably punching your ticket to Hell.

For a church that "thinks in centuries," things sure are moving quickly. Back in 2004, as Washington correspondent for the independent National Catholic Reporter, I covered what Comedy Central's Jon Stewart dubbed the "wafer wars." A handful of conservative bishops warned Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, a pro-abortion rights Catholic, that they would deny him Communion should he attempt to receive the church's most sacred sacrament.

Now the bishops have raised the stakes: It's not only lawmakers and candidates who risk damnation, 98 percent of the U.S. bishops agreed last November, but the voters who put them in office. "It is important to be clear," the bishops said in a 44-page statement titled "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," "that the political choices faced by citizens[emphasis added] not only have an impact on general peace and prosperity but also may affect the individual's salvation." Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, chairman of the committee that drafted the statement, put those high-minded sentiments into plain English earlier this month. Support for a candidate who "espouses policies that are gravely immoral" is possible "only under exceptional circumstances that are hard to imagine," he told the Cathedral Club of Brooklyn.

[markomalley]

The US bishops' statement (44pp) is here.

The Vatican's statement is here.

[I_Like_Spam]

Obama’s candidacy poses a further problem for Catholics (or Presbyterians or Episcopalians for that matter) than just the abortion issue.

His campaign is practically a cult where voters are asked to “put their hope” in the candidate. A man can only belong to one religion, and Mr. Obama seems to have started a new messianic one.

[Greg F]

The last sentence really sums this guy up: Sounds like I'll be voting for the Democrat -- and the bishops be damned.

Thanks for posting with the links to the statements by the church.

[BigEdLB]

His campaign is practically a cult where voters are asked to “put their hope” in the candidate. A man can only belong to one religion, and Mr. Obama seems to have started a new messianic one.



O leader DELIVER US!

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

the bishops said in a 44-page statement titled "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship," "that the political choices faced by citizens[emphasis added] not only have an impact on general peace and prosperity but also may affect the individual's salvation

Holding voters' and officials' feet to the fire in this world is entirely different than thrusting them soul and all eternally into Hell.

While voting for Liberals is truly a Damned shame, it's not in and of itself Damnation.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"While voting for Liberals is truly a Damned shame, it's not in and of itself Damnation."

Of course not. The bishops said, rightly, that it "may affect" the individual's salvation. Everything you do has a moral aspect. Everything you do "may affect" your salvation.

If you knowingly and willingly make yourself an accomplice to a grave moral wrong, that's the recipe for a soul-killing act. The adjectives are important.

Take care.

[madprof98]

So what's a pro-life, pro-family, antiwar, pro-immigrant, pro-economic-justice Catholic like me supposed to do in November? That's an easy one.

Easy as pie. I'll just say, "To hell with all those dead babies . . . and the God who made them! My soul belongs to the Democrat Party!"

[Oratam]

OBAMA, I offer You all my thoughts, works, joys, and sufferings this day. I beseech You, grant me The Hope that I may not offend You this day, but may faithfully serve You to bring about Change We Can Believe In. Amen.

V. Barack Obama R. Heal This Nation.

V. Barack Obama R. Heal This Nation.

V. Barack Obama R. Heal This Nation.

[Lee N. Field]

Sen. Barack Obama in the recent Potomac Primary. By doing so, according to the leaders of my church, I put my soul at risk.

For those of my theological bent, the curious popularity of Senator Obama (Devilcrat, IL) is cause to contemplate depravity, the fall and the "noetic effects of sin".

[Momaw Nadon]

I Voted for Obama. Will I Go Straight to . . .?

I don't know if the destination is H E DoubleHockeySticks, but we ALL may be headed for 4 to 8 years of Purgatory.

[Terriergal]

Could be a symptom of the state of the heart that leads to hell though!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[veritas2002]

I suspect he was living a life that would take him directly to hell BEFORE he voted in the Democratic primary. He should stop the posturing. Was he ever so concerned about other things that the Church taught?

[Alex Murphy]

Well, he is the Antichrist....

[onedoug]

islamism

[FormerLib]

I hope his parish priest reads this article and refuses to give him Communion.

[Rutles4Ever]

Since he’s not concerned enough about his salvation to inform his conscience on why voting for Obama is a vote for Satan, why does he care what the bishops say enough to write a column about it?

[Mrs. Don-o]

I get what you're saying.

Sin Makes You Stupid ^TM

[NeoCaveman]

The desolation
of Obamination
May lead you
to damnation.

[Clemenza]

If Catholics were as reliably Republican as Southern Baptists, NJ, CT, PA, NH, MA, and RI would be solidly Republican states.