Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

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Catholic lawmakers and abortion

The invaluable Professor Friedman calls our attention to this story about this statement from a group of Catholic Democrats, led by Rosa DeLauro, about whom more here. It seems to me that the Catholic Democrats want their church to be functionally Protestant, and then of the looser sort. It seems to me that part of a church’s witness consists in holding its members to account, in ways that serve to instruct and correct them. Anything wrong with that?

Update: RC2 has more.

Discussions - 3 Comments

That would be functionally MAINLINE Protestant, if we are talking about moral issues. The late Rev. Jerry Falwell brought many Protestants and Catholics together through the Moral Majority. Episcopalians, United Methodists, Presbyterians, United Church of Christ are in sync with the Roman Catholic "protestants."

It never fails to amaze me how little these cradle Catholics understand their own Church. The ones I know just dismiss all its teachings with a wave of a hand, no no no it's not like that anymore, that was the old days, you don't understand, I grew up a Catholic, know all about that, etc.

I yearn to see some high-profile excommunications...

I'm reminded of an observation once made by a conservative professor of mine (not at Claremont) who shall remain nameless. Of left-wing Catholic priests, he said: "They just want to keep their dog collars." In other words, their Catholicism really consists of a taste for the accoutrements of the church, the style of the church, and the moral authority that comes with holding a role in the church. Something similar can be said for many (certainly not all) liberal Catholic pols: Their religion is really liberalism, not Christianity. But they like that extra flavor, not to mention that extra connection with the general public.

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