In the politics of religion a Catholic Bishop has barred Congressman Patrick Kennedy from taking communion. Kennedy is being denied communion because of his public policy stance on women's reproductive health. Clearly the Bishop, and by extension the church and the Pope, want to punish Kennedy for following his conscience and doing the right thing.
This is but another example of the ugly, mean spirited nature of the Catholic church. Threatening public officials is deplorable. Their continued attempts to influence national policy and politics is unacceptable. If they wish to be a political organization they should give up their tax exempt status as a church, and become a political action committee.
Religious organizations can and should lose their tax exempt status for engaging in partisan political activity. As it stands now, the Catholic church is defrauding the American people.
This behavior is nothing new for the church. Their repeated attempts to deny homosexuals basic human rights is yet another example where the Catholic church steps over the line, and engages in partisan politics.
The moral corruption of the church is undeniable. Church homophobia can not be over emphasized. In addition, not only has the Pope embraced holocaust deniers, pedophiles and homophobes, he is also responsible for countless cases of AIDS in Africa by spreading deception and misinformation about the use of condoms.
Yet what does one expect from one who joined the Hitler youth, trained as a Nazi soldier, and never once had the courage to denounce the Third Reich while good people around him did so and suffered the consequences.
The Catholic church is responsible for misery and suffering around the world. They should not be allowed to play politics in the USA and retain their tax exempt status.
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Comments
The Catholic Church is like a club that you can choose to belong to. It has rules that you should follow if you want to call yourself a member. It's all voluntary. Leave whenever you want for any reason you want.
What you can't do is wrap yourself in the cloak of membership while at the same time making up your own rules. Kennedy doesn't have to call himself a catholic. To do so is a joke anyway
Jim
This is clearly written by a non-Catholic who does not understand the sacrament. Part of receiving communion means that one is in harmony with the beliefs of the church. Senator Kennedy should have refrained himself, as well should any other Catholic at odds with the church. If you don't like it, don't be Catholic.
The Catholic church believe that abortion is wrong. I applaud the bishop for denying Mr. Kennedy communion.
The problem is that the church is taking on Kennedy's position as a public servant, as such they are attempting to interfere with the gov of the USA. They should lose their tax exemption for that.
This is one of the most ridiculous, biased, slanted piece of debris it has ever been my misfortune to read. It's no wonder newspapers are going down the toilet, allowing hacks like this to publish absurd opinions disguised as "news".
Sounds fair. But I hope they are also refusing communion for those in the church who support the child molesting clergy among them.
Anything the catholic church does to drive away its own members sounds like a win/win to me.
Good for Bishop Tobin, and shame on you, Micha Stone. Your article exposes an astonishing failure to understand the view of abortion within the Catholic church. Take issue with the Church's position that life begins at conception if you like, but to criticize a church leader for insisting that a public figure who claims to be a member in good standing of the Church adhere to church doctrine isn't stupid. It's honest. Your critique is nothing but an ill-informed cheap shot.
The bishop merely performed his duty, when so many other bishops in the USA have closed their eyes without any affirmative final action. The majority of bishops just admonish and scold, but do not take any action.
Kennedy always has a remedy. He could abstain from involvement in legislation that supports abortions. He could also choose public life, which is a privilege and not a right to hold his job. The higher authority should be his Christianity faith, whether catholic or other protestant denomination. The higher authority of the Christian faith is that abortion is sinful and thus something a practicing Christian should not participate in, directly or indirectly. Indirectly means enabling it to happen.
Lastly, the Catholic Church along with the other Christian faiths are a force for much greater good in this world, with some bad apples here and there which is in all areas of human society.
Only Kennedy thinks he's a Catholic. We Catholics know that he is not in communion with us, so why attemtp to take Communion with us. The Bishop isn't telling him how to vote. Witness to Kennedy's shallowness is the making of a private letter from his Bishop addressing his spiritual health.... made public by him.
I am a confirmed Roman Catholic and therefore considered to be a member of the church in good standing. The hypocrisy of many American Bishops is that they do not also threaten to excommunicate politicians who are against capital punishment, which is similarly against church doctrine. Pope John Paul II was a very outspoken advocate against the death penalty, (which the US shares only with unfree nations like Iran, Libya, and Saudi Arabia,) but sadly, his successor, Benedict XVI, is not.
Micha, you are a simpleton. To be so unequivocal and in your assessment of the church reflect total incompetence. Please don't call yourself a journalist... religion basher is more appropriate. Thanks for wasting my time.
the Catholic church opt to play politic. The Bile has be around for 2000 some years, But the availabity of abortion is no more than hundreds years at the most. it's clear that the church has manipulated the Bible only the last hundreds years, if not less. It's a political stands the church takes, it's also illogical to follow the church in this regard. I strongly agree that those politcal churches or any other polical institutions ought to lose tax exemption totally, from now on. Enough is enough.
Good! The church needs to get tough. Like they did with the pedophile priests. You know, covering it up and sending them on to new and unsuspecting children.
In this day and age with the avaialability of Internet, FaceBook, Blogs, Twitter, etc, it is a real challenge to stand out ss the stupidest of all who can maniputlate a keyboard, but, Micha has closed the competition with this blur of religion and politics. Amazing! I pray you're not allowed anywhere near a voting booth.
This article is clearly a bigoted rant against a particular religion. The author makes the statement that "The Catholic church is responsible for misery and suffering around the world," when a minimum of fact checking will show the R.C. church to be a world leader in working with the poor. Whoever wrote this tripe was simply being hateful.
Public office is a balancing act between your own beliefs and those of your constituents who voted you in office. If Congressman Kennedy does not abide by those who voted him in, he'll be out of a job (Whether he's voting with his conscience/religion or not).
You can also be Catholic and at odds with what the Church says (or does not say), World War II, Indulgences, Spanish Inquisition, etc...
I'm a Christian (raised Catholic, although I am now Protestant) who is pro-life. I can appreciate Bishop Tobin calling out Senator Kennedy, but where is the outrage over politicians who violate other Catholic and Christian teachings, such as supporting the death penalty? Or politicians who are unconcerned about poverty, homelessness, war, and violence?
Now will the church deny communion to Catholics who support the death penalty? I think not.
More people will die without health care than will be saved by restricting abortions. Playing cheap politics with both of these important issues is IMMORAL. The church should be ashamed.
"Examiner.com"???? Not sure if this website is supposed to be a news website or an extremely biased editorial page...whatever it is, I'll never waste my time here again. Not that I care which side of the argument this guy's on, but I'll make up my own mind, thank you.
What a joke of a website....
I wonder if Micha had to pass some sort mental retardation test to become an examiner?
People thinking that capital punishment is a fitting comparison here need to actually read their catechisms. The Church does not absolutely oppose the death penalty. It is not intrinsically evil. The Church opposes capital punishment - as do I - on prudential grounds. Abortion is intrinsically evil, always and everywhere wrong.
And how many children have they molested? Religion is a joke and should be treated as such. They teach such hatred, intolerance.
A fetus is not a person, it's a blob of protoplasm. A cat or a rabbit or a rat is more of a person than a three-month fetus is, because those mammals have a cognitive and emotional capacity that the fetus entirely lacks. An acorn is not an oak tree, and an egg is not a bird. People who think fetuses are persons are mixed up in the head.
The single most horrible problem plaguing our planet is that there are way too many humans on it. Our species has become a cancer upon the Earth. We need to drastically reduce the human population through limiting the number of births; and anything that can help with that - including both contraception and abortion - should be welcomed and supported and encouraged and applauded. The catholic church, in its longstanding and stupidly misguided opposition to abortion and also birth control, is one of the most immoral and destructive influences in the world today.
In summation: MAKE LOVE, NOT BABIES!
good job Micha, right down the leftest extreamist fairway, your logic is a litte more consistant with the SS
Seperation of church and state!!! anyone? The Catholic church does do some good but they have done far more bad in the world! Abstinence only policies kill millions, not letting women choose to have an abortion or not also kills millions! Now abortions should never be used as "birth control" but stuff happens! The Church needs to go away. They need to get out of politics and get out of preaching to the world and judging people!
and what about all the child molester priest!!!! what idiots!!!!!
Sounds like the Catholic Church needs to lose their tax-exempt status, as they now have become a PAC.
Funny thing is this is why John F Kennedy had problems running for president, because people were afraid the Pope would dictate to JFK on how to form government policies.
BTW the Nazi thing was way out of line IMO.
Pull their tax free status. If they wish to take a stance on such issues which hold their worshipers hostage to their belief, they are participating in the political process, not the secular side.
I wonder what the tax value of St. Patrick's Cathedral is...
New York could use the money.
Excuse me but... the Catholic Church is NOT a part of the US Government and is in no way bound to alter its tenets to suit a political agenda. In fact, the Catholic Church has been in existence a lot longer than either political party or the good Mr. Kennedy.
Further, he is not bound by law to remain Catholic. If he prefers his politics to his faith, all he has to do is leave it.
And as for the writer here, Mr. Stone... I must wonder whether the Examiner has a shortage of available talent or just an abundance of keyboards. This is really below standard, low rent partisan hate baiting.
Have a nice day :)
Wow. This article reeks of garbage. So much for objective journalism though huh? My apologies if it's just a mindless writer's personal blog but I am thinking not. I am an Atheist who believes in Pro Choice but can't help but laugh when I see the the writer getting her panties in a wad and spewing her rhetoric as a personal attack. This is but another example of the ugly, mean spirited nature of journalism. Berating public officials and religious groups is deplorable. Their continued attempts to influence national policy and politics through shoddy reporting is unacceptable. If they wish to be a political organization they should give up their right to publish trash as journalists and become a political action committee. If journalists want to be accepted as objective and reliable resources, then lay off the tree hugging, homosexual touting, Women's lib crap that you like so much Butch. I know where it sprouts from- Portland; I'm glad I'm from Tacoma. Finally, please proofread. :o)
Another example of why journalism is dead! This is not an unbiased report, just a mediocre rant by some leftist with an axe to grind. No wonder news organizations are failing, just report the facts and let the readers decide.
I am not catholic, but even I am appalled at the fact that Micah considers this journalism. This is nothing more than an opinionated attack on the Catholic Church. Where are your facts? How do you jump from women reproductive health (aka abortion) to homosexuality and etc? If you believe that life begins at conception then you believe abortion is moral. I think we can all agree that murder is a moral issue.
First, this request was made in February, 2007. Kennedy is going public with it now to make it seem recent. Read it here: www1(dot)whdh(dot)com(slash)news(slash)articles(slash)local(slash)BO130245(slash)
Second, the Catholic Church has every right to request for people not to participate in religious activities offered by the church, even if those persons are political ones. To say that it must not discipline government officials as it sees fit is tantamount to telling the church how it may conduct services, which would blatantly violate the First Amendment.
Third, why is anyone shocked that the church is chastising Kennedy for opposing them on a principle they've made very clear? Church disipline is something every Christian knows about--or should, so it's not like this is something new. Not only are they allowed to discipline members for actions contrary to scripture, it's their job. It's one of the reasons churches exist.
So, in sum, the church is not at all out of line.
Why is everyone getting all upset over an instituition that maintains positions on issues having issues with someone who wants to belong to that institution but refuses to abide by the position/beliefs of the institution? If Mr. Kennedy no loger believes in the doctrine of the Catholic Church, then he should go elsewhere to a church that holds to his beliefs. We see it all the time in political parties, football teams, etc. where people no longer hold to the views or beliefs of the leaders of the respective insititutions and decide it is no longer in their best intersts to remain part of the institution or they are fired. Why should the Catholic Church be held to any different standard? If Mr. Kennedy wasn't so hypocritical, he would see that he just needs to move on.
I guess I was a bit shocked to read this article. It is obviously a slanted personal viewpoint, not news. To accuse the church of being so vile is hogwash. What the Bishop is saying; Kennedy cannot partake of communion. In any faith that takes communion, you do so clean of spirit and in the case of Catholics, generally after the confession of sins. Apparently this not what Kennedy may have followed.
This Bishop is not saying all politicians have to follow the Catholic church. HOWEVER, if you have "displayed Catholicism on your sleeve" as the Kennedy's have done for several generations, then expect to be called out for publicly denouncing Catholic teaching. If ALL people just followed the Ten Commandments what a wonderful world it would be. How simple is that?
RobertG is correct that the Church is very selective on which of their many social positions require excommunication. Unfortunately, people are leaving churches in droves because of these petty campaigns. It appears that Mr. Kennedy is on the winning side of history,
Abortion is not a political issue, it is a moral issue. The Catholic Church serves as the moral authority for anyone who calls themselves Catholic. If you don't call your self catholic then you are free to abide with whatever morality that the civil law permits. However, if you consider yourself Catholic, you adhere to the teachings of the Church respecting moral issues. What's so tuff to understand about that? Other than the fact that non-catholics just don't like it.
I'm appalled at some of the comments here. How crude and less than knowledgeable are some people? A Church membership is by choice - if Kennedy (or anyone for that matter) does not want to follow any church teachings, then quit calling yourself of that faith. Mormons would be vanquished, Amish would be shunned, Protestants would be spoken to by Elders, etc. AND YOU KNOW WHAT? For years and years abortion was not a form of birth control as it is today - that's the point I am most concerned with. The throwaway society - no responsibility, just get rid of it if you make a mistake.
Tax free status has NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS. Morals and consequences have everything to do with it.
Ron T wrote this:
"Unfortunately, people are leaving churches in droves because of these petty campaigns"
PETTY CAMPAIGNS? I have a nephew who is a star baseball player and attending college at 16....his Mom had him out of wedlock and considered abortion --- Is he a petty issue? I am sickened at the blase attitudes of people. I will never tell anyone else to have or not have an abortion...but it is certianly not a "petty campaign" issue
small mountain summed it up - Abortion is NOT poltical, it is MORAL. The politicians made it a political issue by creating more and more laws that define a person's rights.
Clearly the Kennedys aren't writing checks large enough. The Church has no problem with mobsters, bookies, and all other kinds of folks that need confession every day or two....but try to govern a secular country, and blam.
I wonder if Micha had to pass some sort mental retardation test to become an examiner?
Good grief!
Religious organizations can and should lose their tax exempt status for engaging in partisan political activity. As it stands now, the Catholic church is defrauding the American people.
Didn't we the people who tithe the church, already paid tax with our income?
We are a caplitalist country with socialist party like Micha (sic)
It is the selective renforcement that the Catholic Church is using that bothers me.
-Thou shalt not kill. Okay I get that this can refer to abortion. However, it also includes capital punishment and I don't see the church asking politicians who support it being asked to refrain from communion.
Then there is the whole adultery and divorce thing. Why is the church not going after the adulterers with the same fervor?
Selectively choosing which are the most important aspects of the top ten is hypocritical. They are supposed to be Gods' commandments and to enforce them differently like this makes it look to be a partisan political issue and not a religious one.
Clearly this Micha J Stone is an angry anti Christian writer. She can't grasp the importance of morality and is blurring the vision between the wordly issues and religious issues. Pathetically sad. Blaming Aids in Africa on the pope. I mean, she misses the point of the Roman Catholic Church's stance and spreading of AIDS and death should not change what is right vs what is morally wrong. She'll understand one day, but it will be too late.
I am a non-religious liberal, yet I was shocked by this bigoted and hateful article. Anyone that feels that strongly, and is filled with that degree of hate, needs help...seriously. If a person belongs to a church its because they share common beliefs. Those bigoted individuals that simply seek reasons to hate the catholic church need to travel around the world and see the good that is done by that church, and many others. The narrow-minded, self-rightous opinions of the article are not the thoughtful comments of a mature, balanced adult and under-mines the work done by true well-meaning liberals.
I am a Catholic for pro-choice. I do what I want with my body, no one can take that choice away from me, especially these politicians. I have that choice sinse I was conceived in my mother womb. Yeah! That's right. See, I am alive to write this. Did I said ooop?
Ooop!
God will not be mocked. Take a look at your country Americans. How many children have been murdered legally, by abortionists who got them in their sights before they had rights? It is no mystery why America is going to hell in a petri dish.
The Muslims aren't the only ones who practice terrorism.
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