Moderate Christians are Waking Up

[Guest guest]

Fri, 3 Mar 2006 07:42:53 -0500 (EST)

Moderate Christians are Waking Up

S

 

 

 

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_thomas_l_060302_moderate_christians_.htm

 

 

Original Article at

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_thomas_l_060302_moderate_christians_.htm

 

 

 

March 2, 2006

 

 

MODERATE CHRISTIANS APPEAR TO HAVE AWAKENED

By Thomas L. Walsh

 

 

 

 

MODERATE CHRISTIANS APPEAR TO HAVE AWAKENED

 

For several years now I've been wondering when moderate Christians

would crank up the nerve to stand up against the Bush propaganda

machine. There have been few cracks in the massive wall of

conservative Christianity that the Bush machine has erected,

hand-molded and hammered into a formidable political machine,

primarily in the red states, and more specifically the south.

 

Since its' inception, this administration has molded and re-defined

Christianity in the United States to revolve around two basic

premises; dislike, if not actual hatred of gay people, and elimination

of women's reproductive choices. The Pat Robertsons, Jerry Falwells,

Franklin Grahams and James Dobsons have hijacked religion in this

country, hand-fitting it to achieve their

sometimes-anything-but-Christian political ambitions, with the

implicit help of the Bush administration, primarily through the

machinations of Karl Rove.

 

I sense things are a-changin,' and it's way past time that they did.

 

At the end of February, 55 Catholic Democratic members of the House of

Representatives finally had enough. In a Statement of Principles,

signed by all of these members, they stated:

 

" We are committed to making real the basic principals that are at the

heart of Catholic social teaching: helping the poor and disadvantaged,

protecting the most venerable amongst us, and ensuring that all

Americans of every faith are given meaningful opportunities to share

in the blessings of this great country…(which) includes reducing the

rising rates of poverty; increasing access to education for all;

pressing for increased access to health care; and taking serious the

decision to go to war. "

 

Back in 1960, while running for the presidency in a sea of

anti-Catholic bigotry, John F. Kennedy told a group of protestant

ministers in Houston, " I do not speak for my church on public

matters---and the church does not speak for me. " Kennedy kept his

word, and kept separation of church and state as a basic tenet of his

foreshortened life.

 

Our current president has done anything but that, and has continually

attempted to, and often succeeded in blurring this long-respected

separation, certainly to the advantage of his political career, and in

opposition to the opinions of a majority of constitutional experts.

 

Congresswoman Rose DeLauro of Connecticut, one of the signers of the

new statement, was quoted as saying, " People…were angry that

ideologues were using the church for their own purpose. "

 

In addition, the signees succinctly and clearly addressed the most

difficult issue, by stating that:

 

" Each of us is committed to reducing the number of unwanted

pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage

pregnancies to be carried to term. We believe this includes promoting

alternatives to abortion, such as adoption, and improving access to

children's healthcare and child care… "

 

Most significantly, Catholics from both side of the debate regarding

choice signed the statement of principle. By doing so, they made a

statement that they worry this one principle is crowding out all other

principles of Catholic social teaching.

 

The importance of this statement cannot be overemphasized. These

people are saying that, while they certainly respect the teaching of

their own faith, they recognize that there must be, there has to be

room for primacy of conscience, as well as the freedom to use their

intellect in dealing with subjects such as this.

 

I could not agree more with their statement. While I happen to share

their faith, I will always be unwilling to surrender my intellect to

hard, inflexible dogma.

 

It is crucial for a group of reasonable, moderate Catholic politicians

to offset the extremity of such organizations as the Family Research

Council, who recently commented, through FRC Vice-President Tom

McClusky that, " Issues such as helping the poor, the death penalty,

views on war…aren't tenets of the Catholic Church. "

 

McClusky's comments were expressed in a Washington Post article on Ash

Wednesday, March 1st. They seem particularly odd, in view of the fact

that on the same day, Pope Benedict XVI, in his Lenten message, stated

that:

 

" It is quite impossible to separate the response to people's material

and social needs from the fulfillment of the profound desires of their

hearts. This has to be emphasized all the more in today's rapidly

changing world, in which our responsibility towards the poor emerges

with ever greater clarity and urgency. "

 

Father Jim Hug, SJ, Director of the Center of Concern and a

participant in the Catholic Alliance for the Common Good, said, " The

Church's present leadership has been unequivocal in its condemnation

of the death penalty in the U.S., and has repeatedly expressed grave

moral concerns over the Iraq war…It's disappointing that Mr. McCluskey

would use his position to suggest otherwise. "

 

Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, and national coordinator for the Catholic

social justice organization NETWORK, added, " We believe Mr. McCluskey

is wrong. He's behind on 113 years of Catholic social teaching and

2000 years of gospel values. "

 

-30-

 

 

 

Authors Bio: The writer graduated from the University of Notre Dame in

1962 with a B.A. in Journalism/Communications. After serving a stint

in the United States Marine Corps, he embarked on a successful 36-year

sales/sales management career with 3M Company and Lanier Worldwide,

culminating in retirement and relocation in 1999 from Southern

California to Driggs, Idaho, in the Teton Valley. Walsh and his wife

Wynne Ann work in the wintertime as alpine ski instructors at Grand

Targhee Resort, west of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He writes for several

magazines, as well as a regular column in the Idaho Falls Post

Register, the second largest paper in Idaho. Other interests include

fly fishing, mountain hiking, backpacking, bicycling, motorcycling,

and Irish culture and politics. The Walsh\'s have spent a considerable

amount of time in Ireland over the last decade. He is currently in the

process of finding a publisher for his first book, \ " Damnyankee\ " , a

true story of the ditching of an American Navy bomber off the coast of

Ireland in 1944, and the fate of the surviving crewmembers.