Wisconsin bishop joins critics of Biden, Pelosi

It's time the lefty fruitcakes in this country got off the backs of religion and spent more time fixing their own violations of everyone's civil rights. Religion is protected in this country, and when political movements try to sweep religion out of society, out of view, out of public discourse, out of doing things in their own self-interest, we need to throw those bums out!

It would be nice if you liberals were as vigilant when the Political Hacks cross over into the religious area as you are when you perceive the bishops cross over into the state territory. But then that would require you to deal in facts and not feelings. Fat Chance. Another good sermon on this topic. Not that you will read it or understand it. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTY1MzAwOTc5MmViMzUyYzM5YmY3OWFkYzdkMzY0YzM= "Unfortunately, or providentially, their hands were forced. They had to react to the public remarks made by a Catholic Politician,Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, as she publicly defended abortion on “Meet the Press” last Sunday. She argued “over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy.” and disingenuously sought to defend herself by twisting the teaching of the greatest theologian in the history of the Church, St. Augustine. For the record, and summarizing the bishops’ responses: this is a load of bunk."

RE:his is the bottom line. Joe Biden is an elected official sworn to uphold and defend the constitution and not religious views. He is exactly right to do so and the Catholic church, it's followers and all other religious orders should stay out of politics. Our laws do not prevent religious orders and their followers from practicing their religious constructs. . .however they cross the line when they attempt to influence, threaten, and leverage their followers into legislating their religious beliefs into the general population. It's time this country starts cracking down on religious orders and their surrogate organizations that cross the line into governance. One crosses the line when you attempt to influence legislation based upon your religious convictions? I'm not sure where this is stated in the Constitution. I suppose that one could suppress one's religious beliefs when taking a political position (I'm not sure why you would, however), but I know of no violation of law if you don't. It is certainly not the position of the Catholic Church to ignore the teaching of the Church when making political decisions, such as voting. The Catholic bishops who are correcting Pelosi and Biden are doing so because Pelosi and Biden are claiming to be faithful Catholics, yet support abortion "rights" even though the Church has maintained that abortion is intrinsically evil. The Catholic Church has a duty to point out this error, not only for the benefit of the entire Church, but in order to correct Pelosi and Biden so that they may alter their positions and be again in communion with the Church.

The Bishop’s rebuke to Biden (and Pelosi) is necessary because the Democrats' intention is to muddy the issue of Catholic teaching on life issues in order to be able to make a credible bid for Catholic votes -- most especially the votes of Catholics who regularly attend Mass, and may end up deciding the election this year. This is why the Bishop was so miffed. Democrats are attempting to muddy the waters because a clear and concise statement of Democratic beliefs - ie, support for federally funded abortion on demand - would immediately be identified by devout Catholics as wrong. Numerous Catholics do not know (and Democrats do not advertise) that abortion can be performed in very late-term pregnancy and that the definition of the beginning of life HAS been determined, both scientifically, biologically and by the Church (whose teaching has not wavered for thousands of years). When Pelosi and Biden publicly misrepresented these issues, the Bishop was obliged to clarify the truth to his flock. Biden and Pelosi tried to claim that the idea of Life beginning at conception was a theological idea which has changed over time in the Catholic Church. The Bishop’s position is that Church teaching has not changed on this subject for 2000 years and that in recent times it is a scientifically and biologically established fact as well. The Bishop is also correct that this is a massive violation of the separation of Church and State -- two senator/rep/vice-presidential candidates of the United States government presumed to speak authoritatively on Catholic teaching. This is equivalent to the Pope or to Bishop Morlino announcing what specific economic policies the United States government should follow. Some do not understand the definition of the separation of Church and State – they believe that it is summed up in a ban on the mention of religion in the public square. But we should all take this as a teaching moment, and understand what is really going on here – that separation of Church and State goes both ways, and politicians cannot dictate Catholic doctrine or misrepresent Catholic history to further their own agenda, without expecting Catholic Church officials to complain on their own turf. I’m surprised that the Bishop has not discussed this publicly, as Biden and Pelosi did. Moral authorities cannot be muzzled if we are trying to build a just and democratic society.