Oct
21
No, not all issues are the same
October 21, 2008 | 1 Comment
Thomas Peters has been doing yeoman’s work today. First he sniffed out the money trail to some of the, ahem, “Catholic” groups agitating for Obama. He then examined how these “Catholic” groups have been simply been lying about the issues in order to make Obama seem somehow less repugnant. Finally, he skewers a ridiculous Time column written by Amy Sullivan wherein she predicts that Catholics will naturally fall in line and vote for Dear Leader. Thomas does a good job pointing out the logical holes in Sullivan’s argument, and it looks like there is more to come. But I had to expand upon this comment made by Sullivan:
As a result, many Catholics can now argue that neither party fits precisely with Catholic social teaching — the Democratic position on abortion is still unacceptable but so are GOP positions on education and health care and the war in Iraq.
This is just utter nonsense. How can anyone even remotely knowledgeable about Church teachings attempt to equate the GOP’s positions on education, health care and the Iraq War with the Democratic Party’s consistent support for abortion rights? The education and health care issues are especially absurd considering that Sullivan makes no attempt to explain how precisely the “Republican” position on these issues contradicts clear Church teachings. She can’t do that because there really is not a “Republican” stance on such issues. Conservatives, moderates, and other members of the GOP coalition have rather wide-ranging opinions on these issues. The same cannot be truly said of the Democratic party and abortion, at least in terms of the degree of difference in opinions.
Sullivan is attempting to do what left-wing Catholics have been doing this entire election cycle: equate completely unequal issues. Let’s not even pretend that the issues she mentions are in the same class as the moral evil that is abortion. Moreover, she cannot seriously contend that the Republican positions on education, health care and the war contradict Church teaching. Even if we distilled the essence of “Republican” beliefs on these issues, they don’t approach the flat-out incompatibility between the mainstream Democratic stance on abortion and the Church’s crystal clear teachings.
For simplicity’s sake we can just analyze McCain’s views on the issues. What are his views on education? If one follows the link to McCain’s website we see such Magisterium-defying statements such as:
Public education should be defined as one in which our public support for a child’s education follows that child into the school the parent chooses. The school is charged with the responsibility of educating the child, and must have the resources and management authority to deliver on that responsibility. They must also report to the parents and the public on their progress.
Ooooooh. Torquemada would have had a field day trying to get McCain to recant from this serious conflict with Church teachings. Between that and his advocacy of school choice, McCain better not come within a thousand feet of a Catholic Church, or else he might just be struck down on sight.
And what about health care? McCain’s plan for portability and the creation of a health savings accounts obviously contradicts Pope Hillary’s Encyclical Health carus universalus. An intrinsic moral evil indeed.
And then there’s the Iraq War, which has been debated ad nauseum since day one. Again, despite assertions or even implications to the contrary, the Church has NOT condemned the Iraq War, and a Catholic is not bound to oppose it. And again, it is NOT on the same moral plane as abortion. You can keep peddling this lie all you want, but it won’t make it any truer.
But other than that, Sullivan is right on target.
Comments
1 Comment so far
“He then examined how these “Catholic” groups have been simply been lying about the issues in order to make Obama seem somehow less repugnant.”
Cranky,
Come-on. Cut ‘em a break. They have to lie. Otherwise no decent person would vote for their inexperienced, socialistic, pro-abortion candidate. What else could they do? Tell the truth and lose by 20%???
Bill