Catholics are the key
Trouble is, they are providing the way for diametrically opposite paths.
Several years ago I did an analysis on the pro-life voting records of members of Congress correlated with religious affiliation. I no longer have it and we have a different congress today, but the main finding probably still holds – If there were NO Catholic members of Congress, the body would be significantly MORE pro-life.
Think about that.
If, God willing, the abortion regime someday ends and historians looking back in horror on the period make their report, two things will be true: 1. The Catholic Church was the strongest voice in the defense of life. 2. The abortion regime would have been impossible without the active encouragement of many individual Catholics.
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I would question the premise that, absent Catholics, Congress would be more pro-life. Are Catholics in Congress more pro-choice, or is it that pro-choice states are more likely to vote for Catholics? If you look at the 110th Congress (2007) it’s plain that Catholics represent the northeast, mid-west, and far west. Some represent parts of Florida and Arizona. But there is a big gap in the Bible belt. Evangelicals, while being more pro-life, are less likely to vote for a Catholic, while voters in areas more pro-choice are also more likely to vote for Catholics. One cannot infer that non-Catholics in the same areas of the country would vote any differently than Catholics on pro-life issues. Would Mayor Bloomberg or Susan Molinari differ on the pro-life issues? No. Susan’s father, former representative and Staten Island Borough President, would certainly be devoutly pro-life. However, he retired years ago.
But there’s an even bigger question. In spite of their pro-choice position, do Catholics in Congress have value to the Church’s mission in America? Indeed the Church benefits immensely by such Catholics. While there is a gap on pro-life legislation and stem cell research, The Church and most Catholics in Congress share positions on many broad social issues including immigration, social safety net issues, Medicare, Social Security, and foreign relations. The work of Catholic Charities and the government funding that helps it can be seen as another reason why Catholics in Congress aid the mission of the Catholic Church in America. In 1994 Vice-President Joe Biden wrote and sponsored the Violence Against Women Act. This act works to help women in abusive relationships, in the most dire of circumstances, and protect their rights. It is landmark legislation that has stood up to Supreme Court scrutiny. Last year Biden sponsored a similar bill, I-VAWA (International Violence Against Women Act) which has been endorsed as late as February, 2009 by the USCCB office of International Justice and Peace. While not yet passed, it is expected to be reintroduced this year. Such work surely stems from Joe Biden’s Catholic background.
The Church knows we Catholics cannot be one issue voters. We cannot fight for the pre-born and let the post-born suffer. Both sides of life are crucial. Catholics in Congress make invaluable contributions to Church and country daily. Obama not only sees this but acts on it. This president surrounds himself with Catholics, and not just Catholics in name but in action. If those Catholics cannot, or do not, make laws curtailing abortion in this country, it is not their fault, but the fault of clergy and the pro-life movement for not adequately making the case for such legislaton to all Americans. The pro-life movement is after all an evangelistic one. It is evangelism that begins with, not the government, but with the governed.
“The Church knows we Catholics cannot be one issue voters. We cannot fight for the pre-born and let the post-born suffer.”
?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I have challenged “Catholics” who vote for pro-abort candidates to show me who in the pro-life movement is all about abortion, while eagerly watching the post-born suffer. I’m still waiting for the answer. . . . . {cue the chirping crickets}
If life were valued in all its stages (and please see Sheila’s euthanasia posts, it isn’t just about abortion and ESCR), I can almost guarantee that there’d be fewer problems with social security, Medicare, etc. Aren’t there now 50,000,000 Americans who are NOT paying into Social Security, thanks to those candidates who are so ruthlessly fighting for any social issue BUT abortion?
If Biden’s Catholic background has influenced anything he’s done as an elected official, then my alcoholic grandfather’s wine-drinking comes from the miracle at Cana.