Bush's Church Demand he Repent

[J-Mann]

It was written by:

Rev. Mark Craig - Sr. Pastor of Highland Park UMC
Rev. Michael L. Nichols - D.S. of the Dallas South District
Bishop William B. Oden - Bishop of North Texas Annual Conference United Methodist Council of Bishops

And I think it is all in fair play.  Kerry has not been refused to communion.  One Bishop in Colorado has been ranting against Kerry.  I think that this is important though not only because it is from Bush's own church but also because it just shows some of the moral flaws that in Bush's administration that I feel are very relevant.

First off, you've got some facts wrong on who wrote this and how authoritative it is, but someone below addressed that already.

Secondly; no, Kerry has not been denied Communion, but he is not a Catholic in good standing with the Church.  Many Bishops and priests have spoken against him and most especially against his support for abortion rights, which they consider a core and fundamental issue, even above the death penalty and war. 

Though the Church should deny Kerry the Eucharist, they likely won't because either A) he's only going to friendly churches where he knows the priest, or B) the Church gives him Communion anyway in order to avoid bad publicity, which is certainly not something that the Catholic Church needs more of these days.

Kerry's poor standing within Catholicism goes beyond his stance on issues, though.  To my knowledge, he doesn't attend regular Sunday Mass (meaning EVERY Sunday), often opting to hop around to different Protestant churches more than likely for the photo ops and the pulpit speeches some of them will allow him to give.  Because of Kerry's stance on some issues AND his poor attendance record at Mass, he shouldn't be allowed Communion.  At the same time, if he's a knowledgeable Catholic, he should know that such things make it so that he can't have Communion until he receives Reconciliation. 

I've always disagreed when churches offer up their Sunday pulpits to political candidates.  I seem to remember Al Gore doing that quite a bit in 2000.

[J-Mann]

OK OK.  I can admit a mistake. I still thought it was an interesting read and I think that it is important to maintian a sane distance between religion and politics.

Here is a letter in today's catholic sentinal.

Becaon of hope

Conservatives would have us all believe that liberals are out to destroy our nation.  A popular conservative refrain is that two types of people live in the United States: Americans and liverals.  That might b funny excet that it's a groresque distortion of American history.  The fact is that every single significant movement advocating an expansion of American liverty and freedom has been initiated by liberals and violently opposed by conservatives. 

Today many good people are being hoodwinked into embracing the conservative agenda because of the new mantra that conservatives are more patriotic and more Christian than liberals.  They are neither.

The conservative philosphy is not patriotic because it seeks to squelch political dissent and it mocks cultrual diversity - the two most important aspects of obth our history and our unique American democracy.

Conservatism cannot be Christian because it embraces all sorts of violence, including the death penalty, unrestricted sale of firearms, destructive expoloitation of our environment and preemptive millitary invasions against defenseless nations.

Conservatives do make a big deal out of their support for the "unborn." but this is a safe position because it doesn't cost them a dime.  It's when people are actually born into this world that conservatives lose their compassion.  Conservatives lead the fights against tax measures and legislation to fund education and human resources, but they happily support measures to put more people in prison and build more bombs.

So if you want to be on the wrong side of American history and the wrong side of humanity, go ahead and call yourself a conservative. As for me, I believe that America will rediscover its great liberal tradition and once again strive to become a progressive, creative nation that stands as a beacon of hope for "the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

Joe Fulton Philomat

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and a note from me again Abortion is gone up during the Bush Administration, for the first time in over 20 years.  The reason often sited is because the women does not have medical insurance and/or is not in an economically viable situation to have a child.

Still, that's just a letter, not the word of a Bishop or otherwise qualified representative of the Church.  A lot of Catholics have disagreements with the Church on certain things, but I don't think that a letter like this is going to persuade the clergy to embrace liberalism or drop their emphases on anti-abortion efforts.

Such a letter does represent the concerns of many Catholics, but it doesn't change the fact that John Kerry is not a Catholic in good standing.