Is Paul Ryan Romney's New Religion Problem? (Part I of III)

[cbayer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/douglas-kmiec/paul-ryan-religion-problem_b_1774542.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012

Douglas KmiecU.S. Amb. (ret)., Author, American Legal Scholar
Posted: 08/14/2012 9:53 am


Does selecting Paul Ryan help or hurt Romney's chances with the highly important Catholic voter?

While Catholics do not vote as a bloc, for their economic distribution alone ranges from wealthy professionals and business executives to the far more modest earnings, especially in the west and southwest, of many recently admitted Hispanic families, the candidate who has merited a majority of Catholic voters over the last eight presidential contests has won the White House -- except. of course for Al Gore -- who won the popular vote, but not the electoral -- so he got to do TED talks instead.

Ryan's likeable, Midwestern, Catholic upbringing was surely a plus in the Romney strategy -- except now it turns out young Paul has long been paying homage at Mammon's altar in a manner highly incompatible with the teaching of Catholic Social Justice. Some of this is old news, as it was aired before when the bishops cautioned Congress about Ryan's budgetary plan to slash Medicare and Medicaid as well as privatize social security. This no doubt endears Ryan to the Tea Party folks who would have all that -- and the repeal of the health reform -- done before breakfast on Inauguration Day, but it is hardly a transcript of Christ's invitation to the rich young man to sell all his possessions and follow Him.

Ryan's rather extreme social re-ordering in his budget proposals, generally working against the poor for whom Catholics proclaim a preferential option, turns out to be traceable to the Congressman's affinity for a philosophy so starkly at odds with Catholic belief that the person Ryan proclaimed to have premised his life and governing philosophy upon -- Ayn Rand -- refers to the poor as "parasites" and "moochers." This, of course, is not in the Congressman's more polite demeanor, but his ideological pledge as recently as 2005 is squarely more in keeping with Rand rather than Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Ryan stated:

I grew up on Ayn Rand, that's what I tell people. You know everybody does their soul-searching, and trying to find out who they are and what they believe, and you learn about yourself. I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are, and what my beliefs are. It's inspired me so much that it's required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff. We start with Atlas Shrugged. People tell me I need to start with The Fountainhead then go to Atlas Shrugged [laughter]. There's a big debate about that. We go to Fountainhead, but then we move on, and we require Mises and Hayek as well.

more at link

[Freddie]

1. 2 kinds of Catholics

Caring for Others and Fetus Worshippers. Unfortunately the latter group are the noisier ones, and they could not have found a more perfect candidate than Paul Ryan.

[cbayer]

2. Well, there the activist nuns. They are pretty noisy and members of the first group.

[Freddie]

3. Yes the nuns are awesome!

My daughter graduated from a college that is run by the Sisters of Mercy. We were delighted that there was *no* forced pro-life propaganda on campus or in class. Instead the major emphasis was volunteering in the community helping the less fortunate.

[cbayer]

4. That's good to hear.

Those nuns may have the opportunity to push the church in a better direction. Whatever happens, they appear to be standing their ground, and I support them.