What has happened to this country?
BOHICA – bend over, here it comes again.
But. We’ve gone too far.
Steven Waldman provides this high noon must read piece.
“Doug Kmiec is a conservative Reagan administration official and leading pro-life legal scholar. Despite his strong anti-abortion views, he recently endorsed Barack Obama on the grounds that Obama cared more about the full range of “life” issues – including poverty and human rights – and because Kmiec believes that Obama’s “abortion reduction” agenda will have more impact on abortion in the short run than the traditional battles against Roe v. Wade.
He was attacked by conservative Catholics and Republicans and was even denied communion from his church, a moment he describes here in an excerpt from his new book, Can a Catholic Support Him?:”
Here’s Douglas Kmiec’s account of his being denied communion because he publicly stated his intent to vote for Barack Obama (H/t: Andrew Sullivan)
The Day I Was Denied Communion for Endorsing Obama, by Douglas Kmiec
April 2008. On that day the children were not with us [at church]. It was only my wife Carol and myself. I turned out to be the subject of the homily. Without warning or prior conversation, this blue-collar kid from Chicago had somehow given offense not just to this priest who stood before me, but in my memory, which was now running at top speed, to all those watchful religious eyes: to the good Franciscan sisters who watched the Kmiec brothers play basketball beneath the convent window; to Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, who instructed us in black-and-white from the old 6″ Philco as we sat upon the living room couch; to my school days pastor who, on May 7, 1959, distributed Communion to me for the first time; to the Bishop whose hands confirmed my membership in the body of Christ in 1963; to Brother Konrad Diebold, F.S.C, the Christian Brother who led us in prayer in high school chapel….A litany of saints, these splendid women and men of the cloth. …
Until that evening, when all was revoked.
Suddenly the life-long chain of liturgy was broken into pieces. The priest–the priest who had just joined with us in the prayer of the Rosary was now red-faced shouting. I thought. Talking about me. I had cooperated with evil. I had?….
My wife held my hand tightly. We looked at each other in disbelief. Here was someone in the vestments of the priesthood who had called us to have our prayers be heard, who recited the Kyrie with us, asking the Lord’s mercy upon us, now seemingly merciless, telling me and the many there assembled that I was unworthy. I was to be publicly shunned and humiliated. My offense? Endorsing Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.
The irony of ironies was that my motivation for the endorsement was entirely Catholic. No, Obama doesn’t share the Catholic faith, but he certainly campaigns like he does. As reflected in his book, the Senator is focused on the human person, on the common good, on the social justice of economic arrangement. All is so very Catholic.
[.]
It was time for Communion. Notwithstanding the indictment of the homily, I did not think of myself as unworthy of receipt of the sacrament–at least no more so than pre-Obama endorsement. Communion in the Catholic tradition is indeed sacred….
But I was not to receive the Eucharist that evening. The couples who stood in line before my wife and myself received the body of Christ in their hands or on their tongues and returned to their seats. My wife received. My hand outstretched, the priest shook his head from side to side. Was that a no? It was Judgment Day, and I hadn’t made it. LSAT Insufficient. Inadequate GPA. Do not pass GO…go directly to Hell.
[.]
From the back of the Communion line someone shouted out, “Are you judging this man, Father?” I was grateful for the intervention. Will the Last Day be like this? One friend making an appeal for another? The response was cold: “He has judged himself and been found unworthy.”
Incredible!
Are we surprised?
Why? The Constitution was shredded on December 12, 2000. The elections, 2000 and 2004, stolen. No robust outrage from our elected officials.
So aided by the theo-cons, the Neo-con disciples took over our government, dismissing ALL our rights and freedoms.
Has anyone noticed?
We’re in deep, up to our ears in this sh*t.
A Hearty Welcome to the USSRA.
.
The priest is way out of line! The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament, break the bread and divide the host with thy neighbor. Every tiny crumb of the host represent the body of Christ. The priest performs the consecration and says Mass. The Church is not a building but the community of parishioners and religious leaders. This priest is not fit to lead but should go into political life. Break the bread and let thy neighbor join at Christ’s meal.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I have yelled at the radio many times about this guy and his helping the republicans. I have not had sympathy for him.
However, no one deserves this. And these religious fascists are doing this more and more. They pay no attention to the forces of death, voting for bombs on Iraq. Nope, it’s abortion, abortion, abortion, and this cuts only one way – against Democrats.
It’s interference in the electoral process. The tax exemption needs to be lifted.
Considering the shortage of priests in the Roman Catholic Church, the priest is probably still there. Still, one has to wonder how attendance has been lately.
As an ex-Catholic, I can tell you that this kind of thing drives hundreds or thousands from the faith each time a new case comes along. So sad to see how they’re actively destroying a 2000 year old institution especially after they actually got it right with the reforms – now forgotten, or revoked – of Vatican II.
If you go back and read the Vatican II documents on social justice, as well as various encyclicals of the time, you’d find they align well with the progressive viewpoint espoused by the Democratic party and Catholic politicians like the Kennedys. Even into the Reagan years, there were documents from the US Bishops conference on economic justice and against nuclear weapons. Of course, since then it’s been essentially back to (as immortalized by Monty Python) “Every sperm [or should I say embryo] is sacred…”
Priests piss me off.
THey are a cash cow. Remember, one of the action of Henry VIII was to nationalize all the monastaries. Of course, he killed and raped the nuns (order important here) too.
We need to think “Was Henry VIII right?” I think he was on to something, myself.
I have a close acquaintance who, along with her entire congregation, was directed by the clergyman to vote for a certain candidate during the last presidential election. This came from the pulpit during a service. She and one other individual arose and left the church. The remaining individuals truly earned the term sheeple.
I don’t have much, if anything, good to say about so called organized religion.
blurring the line between church and state is complete. After 2001 we gave up ALL rights and freedoms for a promise of security.
Remember, this was:
A. Back in April
B. There was an investigation
C. Priest sent him a seemingly heartfelt apology
D. It was roundly condemned by the Catholic hierarchy
E. I believe he is no longer barred from Communion
Do I think maybe 3/4s of the Right-Wing would be happy to extend this practice to liberals everywhere? You bet! And is it a warning that there is a strong undercurrent of authoritarianism bubbling on that side? Sure thing!
But in this specific instance it seems the church handled it properly afterwards though it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
I guess I don’t find the retrogression in the church surprising at all, now that we have a state sponsored Inquisition. Medieval is in with the beltway set.