Nice to know the Catholic Church is staying out of partisan politics this fall

[skepticscott]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/26/cardinal-timothy-dolans-republican-national-convention_n_1827962.html

[liberal N proud]

1. Churches need to be taxed

Part of being exempt from taxes was separation of church and state, the churches have forgotten that.

[madrchsod]

2. churches need to be reminded the reason why they pay no taxes

[madrchsod]

3. what i find it interesting is...

mittens is a mormon bishop so does he have to give up that status up if he`s elected president?

is the catholic church confirming that joe smith is actually a biblical prophet? do all the religious leaders across the country that back mittens also believe the joe smith is actually a prophet sent by god?

my, my what a big pile of shit these guys have stepped into...

[skepticscott]

4. Well, the Catholic church seems to be confirming

that making sure no egg is blocked from being fertilized is far more important than any deprivation of the poor and unentitled that would follow from the election of a Republican ticket.

[edhopper]

5. And all you good DU Catholics

make sure you continue to support and donate to your Church that obviously is for everything you are against.

[rug]

6. "Catholics often ignore the hierarchy's advice on political matters."

A bishop's political statement is meaningless.

[Goblinmonger]

7. So does that mean he doesn't get any money if you disagree?

Does he stop having power?

[rug]

8. It means any comment he makes on politics is incompetent and should be disregarded.

Unless, of course, you want to attack Catholics who go to Mass and put a buck in the basket.

Do you want to do that?

[Goblinmonger]

9. So are you trying to tell me

that the American bishops have no power?

[rug]

10. No, they have the bully pulpit, literally.

What I am telling you is that once they step outside the realm of religious sermons, their words have as much value as yours.

Perhaps you're taking the meme that religious preople are sheep a bit too literally.

[MineralMan]

13. No value, but plenty of influence.

When priests speak of politics, their words have no value, but they do have the power to influence their parishioners or others within the church. They should not be influencing the people they influence on non-religious matters. Period.

Here in Minnesota, we have a Constitutional Amendment coming on the ballot that will restrict marriage to heterosexual couples. The local Catholic hierarchy has made it very clear how it expects Catholics to vote on this amendment, and has spent a great deal of money on promoting that viewpoint. The Church, officially, is intruding on a political matter, and attempting to dictate, through its influence, who may and may not marry. This is wrong. This campaign is funded by donations of its members, taking in the collection plate and transferred to the arch-diocese. That is wrong. The whole thing is wrong. Don't you agree?

The Church may refuse to marry same sex couples among its members. It already refuses to marry those who are not members. When the organized Church, however, attempts to influence an election, they are attempting to deny non-church-members something. That steps beyond the separation of church and state. Far beyond. In California, when I was a young man, contraceptives were illegal, and could not be sold, without a label saying "for the prevention of disease only." Cross into Arizona, though, and every gas station had condom vending machines. The only reason that law was in effect in California is because the RCC pressured legislators to make it so. It took until the 1970s to rid the state of that religious restriction on contraception.

The Roman Catholic Church may dictate to its members what they may and may not do, and those members will either follow or not follow those dictates. However, the moment it attempts to dictate to others, it oversteps its bounds and should be denied that power. Why should a non-Catholic be bound by the rules of the Catholic Church and why should those rules be part of state law? What is your answer to that?

[rug]

14. The answer to your last two questions is the same: it shouldn't.

[skepticscott]

11. "Should be disregarded"?

Talk about a meaningless statement. The fact that you think so guarantees nothing about what any other catholic will do in response to this endorsement, now does it?

[trotsky]

12. Current polling of Catholics is a pretty evenly split...

with Romney having a slight edge.

Compare to non-believing Americans. But to rug, it's the same. Oh and atheists are irrational because some of them are trying to get Republicans to be more secular. I guess it's easier to just pretend that no one listens to your church's leadership when you are financially supporting them.

[rug]

16. You assume they're voting for Romney because they're Catholic not because they're republican.

An assumption without evidence.

[trotsky]

19. Let's just say there's a high correlation.

And the rest is an exercise to the reader.

[rug]

15. Are you asking anyone to guarantee the vote of another?

Talk about a meaningless statement.

[skepticscott]

17. I see you're finally admitting you can't guarantee that

no Catholic will be influenced to vote For Romney by seeing a cardinal blessing the Republican ticket. Or that a lot wont be. Which is exactly why your original statement was so idiotic.

[rug]

18. Whose votes are you guaranteeing?

I have hope that you realize what a stupid alley you've entered.