Kerry related: BC topic is Catholics and the swing vote

[whometense]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/25/bc_topic_is_catholics_and_the_swing_vote/

Religion and politics: They may not go together like love and marriage, but they can't seem to divorce each other.

Forty-plus years after John F. Kennedy's election supposedly cured the American allergy to a Catholic president, some people got the chills in 2004 over another Catholic candidate, Senator John F. Kerry. The twist was that these nervous voters were bishops, and they were concerned with his presence in church more than in the White House.

Just a sliver of bishops, to be sure, but this handful nonetheless argued that Kerry should be denied communion because his support for legalized abortion clashed with his church's position. That started a national discussion of whether the church-state wall had suffered another breach and what deference politicians should accord their religious faith in deciding the public business.

Boston College is to give the question an airing Monday night, when a panel of Catholics in politics and the press discuss the nexus between their faith and policy. It may seem a counterintuitive topic, given that Catholicism, like other mainline denominations, has been losing adherents. It is conservative evangelical churches that have mushroomed in numbers and, consequently, political influence...

This was last night. More here: http://omc.bc.edu/c21faithandpolicy/