Posted on 11/07/2012 12:21:18 PM PST by NYer
My remarks will be brief, since this is not a political blog, and I am not a political prognosticator. The American people and process have spoken. But a few remarks based on the election results, things I think of as undeniable facts for the Church, though you are free to offer any rebuttals.
1. The strained relationship between the Catholic Church in the Democratic party will continue and the strain will likely grow. The reasons for this are that the Democratic Party is increasingly aligning itself with positions that are in direct conflict with Catholic teaching. More of this in the following points.
2. Largely unrestricted abortion will continue unabated, as will funding for organizations such as Planned Parenthood, the chief provider of abortion in this country. Possible Supreme Court nominations will also feature pro-choice jurists. Likewise many Circuit and other Federal District Court judges will continue to be appointed who favor largely unrestricted abortion.
3. The homosexual agenda will continue to grow and receive increasing legal recognition and protection. This includes not only gay “marriage” but also, other issues in the Gay agenda such as adoption, and the general insistence that the Gay lifestyle be promoted in schools and other public settings. This will require Church opposition and generally embroil us in many public disputes. This may have continued even with a Romney win, but there will be fewer political hurdles for such agendas and the pace will be quicker.
4. The HHS mandate moves forward, untouched. Our religious liberty is in greater jeopardy. We’ll have to meet the administration in court. And while the legal basis for our grievance seems strong, recent experience in the courts has demonstrated that nothing is certain. Civil disobedience may be in our future.
5. Extreme debt seems likely to pile up. Well this may not be a specific issue the Catholic Church has spoken to, it remains a fact that we spend money we do not have, and this has moral implications. Little change in a very divided Congress, means there will be likely little progress in arresting a runaway debt. This will become an increasing moral problem that the Church will likely have to address at some level. This too draws us into the morass of debates about spending priorities etc. and may divide us as a Church between fiscal conservatives and those who emphasize the Social Doctrine.
Thus, the next years ahead, will likely draw the Church into increasing conflict with the political scene in general, and the Democratic Party specifically.
And while it is not the instinct to the Church to be drawn into one side of the political debate, moral issues are increasingly demanding from us an unambiguous stance, one which draws us into increasing conflict with the Democratic Party on issues which we consider non-negotiable. At the same time, issues that we may share with the Democratic Party, are less doctrinal or certain for us. We face difficult days ahead, and difficult decisions about strategy and how to engage a party in power that is increasingly at odds with our most central tenants.
The Central question for us is, How will the Church be able to articulate her positions, increasingly at odds with the platform of the Democratic party and be able to resist the (unfair) charge that we are merely the Republican Party at prayer. There are difficult days ahead for the Church.
Let us pray for great courage and prudence.
Who are you talking about and how could you know that?
The people I am referring to are the pro-abortion politicians, especially those who call themselves Catholics.
You can know who helped put them into power by looking at exit polling. Did the Catholic Church do it by themselves? Certainly not. Could Pelosi or Ted Kennedy won their districts with 0% Catholic vote? A look at the numbers could tell us that.
If they couldn't, then the Catholics helped them into power.
This rings true for all of us. If Protesants helped, too, then they are also guilty of helping put and keep them in power. One thing that gets the Catholic Church singled out is they have a formal authority structure from the Pope to the individual parishes.
But make no mistake, any church that supported Liberals is as guilty.
Often and sadly, the hard way is the only way to learn.
There ARE bishops who have taken a stand against politicians who flaunt their immoral positions. Do a simple search and you will find them.
Our nation has chosen...wrongly. Now they will have to live with the consequences.
Although it is true that WE will ALL have to live with the consequences, God is faithful to those who seek HIM. He will be with them to comfort, assist and guide them.
Yes...you are right. THAT is also borne out in history....and in the Holy Bible.
Sadly, the stereotype created by the bishops for the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy harms the whole Church. Those men have the public square, and are what those of us outside the Catholic Church see.
And we shall see what becomes of the Black Pastors group that spoke up during this election, and how they respond.
“The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops.”
St. Athanasius, Council of Nicaea, AD 325
The Black pastors will eventually be seen as heroes. IT still amazes me that... with the unemployment level of blacks more than double the national average...that people cannot seem to connect liberal policies to this outcome.
As long as you cherrypick "Protestant" to mean "white evangelical theologically conservative Protestant," sure. Do you seriously want me to believe that all of those ELCA Lutherans (Minnesota's full of them, and Minnesota has been Republican since ... oh, never mind), PCUSA Presbys and ECUSA Episcopalians are all conservative Republicans?
And, BTW, if you similarly cherrypick Catholics, you discover that white Catholics who regularly attend Mass vote Republican.
Catholics vote for President Barack Obama by 50 percent to 48 percent
Setback for Catholic bishops on gay marriage legislation in three states
By
JAMES O’SHEA,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Thursday, November 8, 2012, 7:07 AM
Updated Thursday, November 8, 2012, 7:07 AM
Catholic voters went for Barack Obama by 50 to 48 percent, mirroring the national result according to exit polls.
Catholics have voted for the winner in every election since 1972, making them one of the most reliable swing vote barometers.
Many Catholics are Hispanic and there is no breakdown of the numbers between how Hispanic Catholics and other Catholics voted.
Catholics still voted for the incumbent despite efforts by many Catholic bishops to portray parts of Obamacare which deal with contraception as an attack on religion.
In addition, three states passed same sex marriage laws despite strong opposition from Catholic leaders. Voters in Washington, Maine and Maryland supported the marriage legislation.
Excellent observations. Check out my new post entitled “Election Reflection for Warrior Catholics”
“The Church pushed for illegals, they shoved for Immigration reform and those Hispanics voted against the Church.”
And one of the consequences of the Church hierarchy helping to give socialists the electoral edge is that many of the churchgoing Catholics who financially support the Church and Church institutions will soon be forced to make a choice between the collection plate and their own dinner plate.
Totally ridiculous and wrong.
There is no "cherry picking" of Catholics, they are a single denomination, all baptized, and counted members of the Catholic denomination, a single church, and history reveals them as a predictable democrat voting block, with 5 to 6 exceptions (depending on sources), only one of those was choosing a republican over an incumbent democrat (1980).
Protestant means all non-Catholic Christians, unbaptized/baptized, church member/non-church member, never having set foot in a church/ church attending, lesbian ministers, gay churches, black churches, Evangelicals, PCUSA Presbys and ECUSA Episcopalians, and so on.
That mass of "Protestant" has voted democrat 3 times in history, 1932, 1936, and 1964.
Even among Hispanics, those who are Protestant are different than Catholics, for instance voting GOP by 56% in 2004, when Catholics only voted GOP by 52%.
In 2008, Obama won the Catholic vote by 54%, but won Hispanics who were Protestant, by only 48%.
It starts in 1972 because they had only voted republican once before that, in history, and that 1956 Catholic vote is questioned.
Catholics have only voted against one incumbent democrat (Carter 1980), in other words, they aren't leading the vote, but they can catch a wave during reelection of a republican, or in 1988, voting for Reagan's veep. Those exceptions were narrow, and may be the last we ever see.
Judging by this election, we have witnessed a temporary, short lived window, 1972 to 2004, of the Catholic vote not being totally dedicated to the democrats. An historical variance that is over now as the Catholic vote returns to it's normal place, as devoted to the democrat party always and forever.
SLOW ON THE UPTAKE. This has been going on for years. Apparently they have to knife the church in the back and make videos of the bleeding for Catholics to notice something might just possibly be amiss!!!!! DUH.
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