Catholic groups launches pro-Obama web site

[Nambe]

Source: Reuters

... Catholics, who account for close to a quarter of the U.S. adult population, comprise a key religious group that both sides have tried to woo. In closely contested swing states such as Ohio or Florida the Catholic vote could make a difference.

The web site is sure to stoke controversy in Catholic circles with this statement: “Is Barack Obama really pro-life? The answer is ‘yes.’ Looking through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, Senator Obama has spent his entire career striving for the common good. He supports health care programs that will cover all Americans, a living wage for working families, and solutions that allow distressed families to stay in their homes.”

It goes on to say that Obama, a strong advocate like his party of abortion rights, will reduce the number of abortions by promoting health care for pregnant women and infant care. ...

Read more: http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/10/22/catholic-groups-launches-pro-obama-web-site/

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I still haven´t found the site.

[Nambe]

1. It once was lost. Found it.

http://www.catholicdemocrats.org

[ogneopasno]

2. Progressive Catholics rock.

Radical nuns aren't so bad, either.

[Loge23]

3. link here

www.catholicsforobama.org

Finally, an organization of Catholics that follow Catholic teaching.

[CountAllVotes]

4. The Catholic Case for Obama

The Catholic Case for Obama

Before he was a devoted husband and father, or a U.S. Senator, or a presidential candidate of historic accomplishments, Barack Obama took a job working as a community organizer for a group of 8 Catholic parishes in one of the nation’s largest cities. With funding from the U.S. Bishops and working for three years out of an office in a Catholic church rectory, he embarked on a campaign to empower the lives of thousands of people who were suffering through economic circumstances not unlike what has befallen our country today. This booklet tells the story of his early exposure to Catholicism, compares the contours of his public life with the Catholic Social Tradition, and explores the reasons why many Catholics will be enthusiastically voting in 2008 to elect Barack Obama as the next president.
— Victoria Reggie Kennedy, Hyannis Port, Massachusetts

*********

I would say that this is a very good case!

GOBAMA!!!

:kick:

[starroute]

9. Victoria Reggie Kennedy is Ted Kennedy's wife

I hadn't know that before I just googled, but it makes sense. It's good to see a Kennedy appealing directly to Catholics.

[DutchPointer]

5. Those are the Joe "the Senator" Biden folks

There's only one Joe to go!

About abortion rights you can figure out the numbers in different countries by the WFO.
In our country - the Netherlands - with one of the oldest legal abortion-regulations we have the lowest number of abortions in the world.
Countries inside the EU with the strongest taboo on abortion - like Poland and Ireland - have the highest numbers, but not as high as in the USA. So, while nobody is pro-abortion, the pro choice policy is evidentially the best tool to cut the number of abortions drastically. If you are pro life you have to improve basic education so that every American can do the math.

[redqueen]

6. Thanks for posting this. (nt)

[goforit]

7. Yes our sons and daughters in war are just as important as in the woumb.

[Doodler71]

8. Have to share this great letter a friend of a friend's mother wrote her priest:

October 19, 2008
Dear Father Lingle,

As a life-long Catholic and Democrat, I have been dismayed and angered by your recent sermons stating that Catholics can and should only vote for political candidates who oppose legalized abortion – in other words, candidates affiliated with the Republican party.

George W. Bush says he opposes abortion. And after 8 years of his presidency, abortion is still legal – and the rich have grown richer and the poor have grown poorer as billions of tax dollars are spent each month on an ill-advised and never-ending war in Iraq. Yet as far as you’re concerned, Bush’s anti-abortion statements trump all the damage his policies have wreaked upon the poor; on workers; on immigrants; on working families; and on peace and justice around the world. And now you are telling us – Sunday after Sunday – to ignore all the other issues in this year’s presidential race and vote for the person who says he opposes abortion. (Actually, in the third presidential debate, John McCain said he felt the Roe vs. Wade decision was a bad one because states should be able to make their own decisions regarding abortion – which is a lot different than opposing Roe vs. Wade because abortion is murder. Barack Obama, on the other hand, stated that abortion is always a tragedy, and voiced support for educating youth on the sanctity of sex.)

I believe your non-stop campaigning from the altar is completely out of line, and your partisan political activity from the altar is violating Sacred Heart’s tax-exempt status. Father Ed Murray and Father Harry McAlpine – who supported Democratic presidential candidates at the same Democratic precinct caucus I attended in January – obviously do not share your views on this subject. And my siblings, who belong to other Iowa Catholic parishes, have not been subjected to political campaigning during Mass this fall.

I also think the Catholic Church is being rather duplicitous in citing abortion as the singular issue in determining whether a Catholic can/should support a political candidate. After all, if the Catholic Church truly believed the rights of the innocent should be first and foremost at all times, the Church would have handled the cases of sexual abuse of children by priests much differently than it did.

I have examined the candidates’ positions, and I will be voting for the Obama-Biden ticket this fall. While that ticket’s views do not align exactly with mine, I believe its holistic agenda to build a more just and humane society is more consistent with Catholic values – and mine – than that of the McCain-Palin ticket. If you want to excommunicate me for that, let me know, and I will begin shopping for a new church community.
Sincerely,



Jane Nolan Goeken

[Loge23]

13. Awesome letter - thanks

I grew up in a Catholic family and attended Catholic schools thru HS.
HS was '68-'72 - pretty turbulent times.
I had the great fortune to have been mentored by a few outstanding Catholic priests - Vincentians.
One of which, I later attended his wedding! Yes, after the HS banished him because of his involvement with subversive groups like the "Peace Club" and Catholic Workers, he fell in love with a beautiful young woman and married her!
After the way they treated this great man - one of the most influential individuals I'll ever meet - I gave up on the church and any organized religion in general.
I have a few Catholic friends now and I know that they are being preached to from the altar to vote Republican. It's sickening to me.
That letter said it all.

[Doodler71]

14. I had the priveledge of a Jesuit education

The priciples that were conveyed to me were to become a person who was intellectually competent, open to growth, religious, loving, and committed to restorative justice and equality for all.

I am not "religious" in the same degree anymore but I strive for the rest.

[Joe Chi Minh]

10. Chomsky bluntly stated that in the 1980s the US were waging war against the

Catholic Church in Central America. Somehow, I don't think the manically militarist Republicans would have been following a Democratic lead in these matters.

The famous quote of Dom Helder Camara, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Olinda and Recife:

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist"
Sound familiar, McCain team?

Some sayings of murdered Salvadorean prelate, Oscar Romero:

"Do you want to know if your Christianity is genuine? Here is
the touchstone: Whom do you get along with? Who are those who
criticize you? who are those who do not accept you? Who are those who
flatter you?" (November 1977 Sermon.)


"We are never embarrassed of saying, 'The Church of the
Poor'." (Christmas Eve 1978 Sermon).

[goodgd_yall]

11. Last Sunday, the priest suggested as much in his sermon

He didn't come out and say who to vote for, but he encouraged us to take in all aspects and stages of human life. This happens to be a Franciscan church that is known for being accepting and welcoming, so it was not the usual message a mainstream church might make, but it certainly is in line with the principles of christianity and Church teaching.

[goodgd_yall]

12. Dupe