My church pastor is a conservative, and speaks about "support the troops", "pray for Terri", etc...
The best part is...it seems the entire congregation is also conservative! He sure is greeted with loud "amens" when he talks about these things!
I almost did the same thing yesterday! Our pastor is on vacation so a retired priest who is a former pastor of our Parrish said, and I use the term "said" rather than "prayed" intentionally, the mass. He used his homily as an occasion to advance the notions of: woman priests, Christ unaware of His true nature until late in His life, Christ, like you and I, changes His mind, universalism and some swipes at the U.S. because we are an "unfriendly, unwelcoming nation". This priest also has a bad habit of tossing the Eucharist on to the patton after consecration like it's nothing more than a Ritz cracker. Ugh.
You are right to have walked out, a sad day indeed when "pastors" resort to this level to promote their personal political agendas.
Yikes... sometimes I forget how good I've got it. The celebrant of the mass I usually attend is Philip Hannan, former Archbishop of New Orleans. He is 90+ years of age, but is in remarkably good health (doesn't even wear reading glasses). His length of service and extraordinary experiences (he was Chaplain to the 82nd Airborne Division, making a number of parachute jumps into Normandy, Holland, etc.) make his homilies interesting and educational.
This past Sunday, his homily was not a strained comparison of the Gospel reading with Cindy Sheehan's twisted crusade... it was about the conversion of Bruno Cornacchiola, an Italian communist who had been vehemently outspoken against the Church. The Archbishop's voice had a definite tinge of contempt as he spoke about the communists and atheists that had seized power in many of Italy's cities just after the war.
Like I said, I feel very fortunate.
You did better than I would have.
The first time the pastor mentioned Cindy Sheehan, I'd have hucked a pistachio at him.
The second time he mentioned her, I'd have hucked a shoe at him. (And I wear pointy-toed shoes with heels that you could put an eye out with.)
The third time, I'd stand up, say loudly, "Oh, for the love of Pete, this is CHURCH, not a debate," and make all kinds of noise departing.
Damn. I would find another church.
I would have stood up, held my nose while looking at the pastor and continued holding my nose all the way out the door.
That was not only politics, but down right vapid on that pastor's part.
Bro! Get some stones!
You should have stood and said loudly, "You have got to be kidding me! Where is the Gospel?"
It goes a long way since most everybody thought you were headed out to eliminate some earlier coffee.
Cletus - The Orthodox Lutheran who don't take no crap nomore.
I see this thread made the trash heap at the DUmpster, but I'm not going to link it here because their responses make me sick.
you should have stayed to the end and met your priest at the door with your objections. he was out of line........