Cool.

Labels: Catholicism

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:25 PM | Permalink | |

The AP recently put out a list of the 2008 Presidential candidates' religions. Between Republicans and Democrats, there are seven Catholics running for President. I assume this is a first. As a voter who is completely mostly undecided, I thought it would be interesting to see if there was a correlation between Catholic religions of those seven candidates and their position on the issue of life.*

Democrats

Sen. Joe Biden: There is no mention of this issue on his campaign website at all, so I had to check out NARAL's. Here is part of his statement:

I am a long-standing supporter of Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose. The Supreme Court's intellectually dishonest and paternalistic opinion in Gonzales v. Carhart makes clear that the Bush-appointed conservative majority is tipping the scales against Roe. I am concerned that the decision lays the groundwork for undoing Roe v. Wade and is a sad consequence of Bush's initiative to remake the Supreme Court. I opposed the nominations of Justices Roberts and Alito. I believe that the fundamental right of privacy should be protected, and if elected, I will nominate candidates to the Supreme Court who share my values.

Sen. Chris Dodd: He also has no mention of the issue on his website that I was able to find, and once again, I had to go to NARAL:

I have always believed in a woman's right to choose. It is a decision that should be safe, legal, rare and—above all—between a woman and her doctor. For 26 years in the U.S. Senate, I have never wavered in defending a woman's right to choose – and I never will.

He also wants to increase the availability of contraception.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: This is an interesting case, as he's the only Catholic Democrat to openly say he thinks abortion is bad:

The fact is that most Americans, including myself, are uncomfortable with abortions and feel there are too many of them. At the same time, the vast majority of Americans recognize that there are circumstances in which a woman and her doctor should be allowed to make this most difficult decision without government intervention. To return to the days when woman could self-abort without penalty, but to imprison doctors who would help them, seems senseless, especially recognizing that a new abortion law would likely become known as "The Abortions for the Rich-Only Bill."

He's still obviously in support of abortion, and in the paragraph before that one, calls it a "wedge issue" used by Republicans and accuses them of hiding "from an honest up or down vote on abortion."

Gov. Bill Richardson is the fourth Catholic Democrat, and he follows the (Bill) Clinton line:

In January of 2007, Bill Richardson was named a "Champion of Choice" by NARAL-NM for his career spanning record of protecting and fighting for the right to choose. We can work together to make abortion safe, legal and rare.

Republicans

Sen. Sam Brownback has essentially ran a 100% pro-life campaign, and his position on abortion specifically spreads into other issues, including that of genocide in Darfur. He says:

I believe every life has intrinsic meaning and purpose, and that the termination of life is taken too lightly in our country today. Abortion ends a human life. It destroys an individual who could have lived and participated in our society. Already, it has eliminated tens of millions of children. I believe we should strive to fully embrace a culture of life through our national politics. I will continue to fight to protect life at every stage.

Fmr. Mayor Rudy Giuliani is perhaps the most high-profile Catholic in the race, and certainly his "lightning moment" is garnered the most attention about the issue of abortion so far in this race. From his website:

Rudy Giuliani supports reasonable restrictions on abortion such as parental notification with a judicial bypass and a ban on partial birth abortion – except when the life of the mother is at stake. He’s proud that adoptions increased 66% while abortions decreased over 16% in New York City when he was Mayor. But Rudy understands that this is a deeply personal moral dilemma, and people of good conscience can disagree respectfully.

Gov. Tommy Thompson is pro-life, but it doesn't seem to have the central focus that Brownback has. His website says:

Governor Thompson is pro-life and signed one of the nation’s first partial-birth abortion bans. Under Thompson, the number of adoptions in Wisconsin increased by 22 percent, while the number of abortions decreased by 37 percent. Just as he did in Wisconsin, Thompson would appoint strict constructionist judges who do not legislate from the bench.

I find it interesting that only 2 of 7 Catholics running for President are pro-life, especially given that it is maybe the only issue that is strongly identified as a "Catholic issue." I wouldn't advocate for Catholics to only vote for other Catholics, but an interesting aspect of the campaign to consider.

*Before someone points it out, I recognize that the Church has stands on lots of other issues, like the Iraq War, but Catholics are still most closely identified with the issue of life.

Labels: 2008 Watch, Biden, Bill Richardson, Brownback, Catholicism, Giuliani, Pro-Life, Tommy Thompson

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:17 AM | Permalink | |

My Townhall.com coworker, Katie Favazza, has a great post refuting a recent study saying that Catholics are more secular than religious. She points out some rather large flaws in the survey that makes me think it was put together by people entirely unfamiliar with Catholic-American culture.
For example:

Saying that Catholics are nearly 70 percent less likely to attend Sunday school is also misleading. Catholic schools vastly outnumber other Christian schools, so fewer Catholics need outside religious education. Catholic students in public schools who seek religious education are predominantly enrolled in CCD classes--and those classes are often held during the week. Sunday school is, rather, a Protestant tradition.

Read the whole thing.

Labels: Catholicism, Religion

Posted by Ryan S. at 4:01 PM | Permalink | |

Every time a Christian criticizes Islam, the Christian is met with a comment amounting to "Christianity isn't all that great either" stemming from a liberal/atheist commenter. For this is the great challenge those who oppose Islam generally face: those who are anti-religion. This especially poses a challenge for the conservative.

Conservatives had an advantage when speaking against the likes of communism, socialism, capitalism, and fascism because these are all inventions of modernity. Islam, however, is much older, being the most successful of the major Christian heresies. I am frequently speaking of the wonder and majesty of the High Middle Ages, and Islam was certainly around then.

Throughout the 20th century, conservatives were speaking out against things that had come about long after the things they sought to preserve. The secular ills of that century were easily juxtaposed with what had come before. The debates could be defined as the believers vs. the non-believers, the religious vs. the atheists, where the believers were calling on other believers or even non-believers, to take on secularists. Now, it is the believers calling on others to take on other believers. Indeed, this is the mindset of the secularists. Religion is the evil, and Christianity and Islam are just particular brands of this ill, to be found on the same shelf with Judaism, across the aisle from Odin and Zeus.

Because conservatism, as I see it, and Christianity both hark back to pre-modernity, it makes fighting another pre-modern creature (Islam) that much harder. Atheists especially seem to have difficulty with the distinction. They should be most thankful of the differences.

It is a peculiar feature of Islam, it seems, that it seeks to displace Christianity as a central mode of thought in the Western world. Islam is not an eastern religion, for the East has never really produced a religion, just pseudo-religious philosophies, like those of Buddha and Confucius.
Islam seeks to replace the secular state with a state that lives to serve Islam.

However, the principle of separation of church and state is an invention of Christianity. Philosophers like SS. Augustine and Aquinas advocated that Christians respect the authority of the secular state (based on several Bible passages). And while the medieval papacy overstepped its secular bounds (Boniface VIII comes to mind), that power was checked. Power over the secular is far from the Christian "agenda."

This is not to say that all Muslims are bad people, or should be punished somehow for their beliefs. I think it is possible, based on my experience, to be a devout Muslim and not to desire to bring back the Caliphate. However, this is hindered by the current prominence of Wahabbi Islam.

*(I am speaking for Catholics and most of the Protestant denominations that should be considered "mainstream" Christianity)

Labels: Catholicism, History, Islam, Religion

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:36 AM | Permalink | |

Following my unwritten (until now?) "when I can't find anyone else, see what the Pope's up to" rule of Hero/Hack, Pope Benedict XVI is my hero this week for accepting an invite to the UN. Really, any right-thinking individual who accepts an invite to that wretched hive of scum and villainy is a hero.

Labels: Catholicism, Hero/Hack, Hypocracy, UN

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:45 PM | Permalink | |

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI yesterday set out "nonnegotiable values" as he urged Catholic lawmakers to oppose laws favoring divorce, abortion, homosexual "marriage" and euthanasia.
In a long-awaited text, the pope exhorted "Catholic politicians and legislators ... to introduce and support laws inspired by values grounded in human nature."
"These values are not negotiable," he wrote, listing "respect for human life, its defense from conception to natural death [and] the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman."
Benedict's first such apostolic exhortation dashed any hope for a relaxation of the requirement of celibacy for Roman Catholic priests, and comes as draft legislation before Italy's parliament proposes to give legal status to unmarried couples, including homosexuals.
The document, which is second in importance only to an encyclical and reflects the conclusions of an October 2005 synod of bishops, also comes as efforts to break the taboo against euthanasia are spreading across Europe.

Labels: Catholicism

Posted by Ryan S. at 10:00 AM | Permalink | |

UDaily:

Mary Ann McLane, associate professor of medical technology at UD, will speak about the science and ethics of embryonic stem cell research from 7-9 p.m., Thursday, March 8, in 104 Gore Hall. There will be a small reception after the talk.

This talk is sponsored by the Pro-Life Vanguard, the Catholic Scholars of Delaware and the Saint Thomas More Oratory. Refreshments will be provided by UD's Department of Medical Technology.

McLane is a teaching and research professor with expertise in cancer research. Her publications include the journal article “New Insights on Disintegrin-Receptor Interactions: Eristostatin and Melanoma Cells,” which investigates the role of naturally occurring proteins called disintegrins in retarding the growth of tumor cells. McLane has given presentations around the state about stem cells, cloning and the parameters of ethical stem cell research.

I helped plan this talk, and would like to invite people to attend. It is directly related to Senate Bill 5.

Labels: Catholicism, Stem Cells, University of Delaware

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:05 PM | Permalink | |