<<http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004_04_25_atrios_archive.html#10834253273593 8430>>
... HAGERTY: Those Catholics who hold to absolute truth follow the conservative moral teachings of the Vatican, and they overwhelmingly vote Republican, much as evangelical white Protestants do. But less orthodox Catholics, sometimes called cafeteria Catholics, gravitate toward the liberal side of church teachings, just as many mainline Protestants do, on the death penalty, on social welfare and justice issues, on war and peace. For these Catholics, White says, John Kerry is a very comfortable fit. AtriosCommentary: So, wait, do the "orthodox Catholics," who follow the "conservative moral teachings of the Vatican," ignore the church's teachings on the death penalty, social welfare and justice issues, on war and peace? Why does that make them "orthodox?" Why do these Catholics who hold to "absolute truth" apparently ignore their Church on all issues other than sex and abortion? Why are they not "cafeteria Catholics?" ... HAGERTY: But tell that to the worshipers at the 8:00 Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington. All but one interviewed there on a recent morning said they won't vote for Kerry. They said they knew he personally thought abortion was wrong but that his stand on abortion rights had a larger meaning. Here's Philip Monos(ph), Carrie Gress(ph) and Ted Flynn. AtriosCommentary: As a helpful reader (sorry, forgot who right now) has pointed out, St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington has no Sunday 8:00 Mass. They have 8:00 masses every other day of the week. Catholics are supposed to attend mass on Sundays and specific Holy Days - those who attend mass on other days are particularly hardcore conservative Catholics. So, this is in no way a random sample of the Catholic-on-the-street. Just the opposite. Mr. PHILIP MONOS (Worshiper): It's really character and personal integrity, and a man who does not seem committed to his faith, I don't see why he would be committed to his ideas or necessarily even his country. Ms. CARRIE GRESS (Worshiper): It seems that he doesn't take his faith seriously, and it's something that it seems like he's using as a political card instead of something that he deeply believes in and is committed to. Mr. TED FLYNN (Worshiper): I would work very hard against Senator Kerry because I think he is actually, from start to finish, a four-star phoney. HAGERTY: Another early worshiper, Charles Loveless, a union official, downplayed the abortion issue. AtriosCommentary: Only one person had their occupation pointed out - a union official (Read: commie partisan Democrat). Mr. CHARLES LOVELESS (Worshipper): There is a vast array of other social issues for children, for poor people, for things that we Catholics stand for, and in practically every one of these other issues, he is the man. ... HAGERTY: Catholics have, in fact, become a key swing vote in national elections, one that Republican strategists think they can win and one that John Kerry can scarcely afford to lose. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News. AtriosCommentary: Here we get the punchline - those who are moral vote Republican. Those who are not vote Democrat. Kerry is immoral, simply because he doesn't believe all of his personal religious beliefs should be legislated. ... Followup: <<http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004_05_02_atrios_archive.html#10835005447477 5691>> Reader e did a bit of follow-up on some of the people interviewed by NPR's Hagerty regarding Kerry's Catholicism. As you may remember, she interviewed 4 people coming out of an 8:00 am mass - a mass which only could have happened Monday-Saturday according to the Church's public schedule. Only one of those people had their occupations identified - a "union official" (commie Democrat). What about the other 3? Well, this reader discovered nothing on one of them, but what of the other two? First we had Ted Flynn. Could it be this Ted Flynn? <<http://www.wces.org/html_files/tedflynn.html>> Ted Flynn who has written yet another version of Pat Robertson "New World Order" book, which itself was itself lifted wholesale (and then sanitized) from standard anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. And, then, she also interviewed Carrie Gress, who likely is the woman who is the program studies manager at the Catholic Studies Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which is yet another Scaife/Bradley funded right wing lunatic tank. You'd think her occupation, at least, would have been relevant. ---- "Cheney Wows Sept. 11 Commission By Drinking Glass Of Water While Bush Speaks" -Onion
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