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February 26, 2006

Next verse, same as the first verse

This is a couple days old and I didn't have time to write about it at the time. At first I decided just to let it go, but very few have written about it and I couldn't find a trace of it on the Oregonian's website so here goes.

Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, Oregon, has a world-class hard-on for pro-abortion Catholic politicians.

(He) has warned the faithful that Catholic politicians or voters who are pro-abortion commit heresy against the Fifth Commandment’s prohibition of murder.

While I have no problem whatsoever with Mr. Vasa holding very specific religious beliefs, it seems to me that focusing just on abortion and picking just on those who happen to vote for Democrats, whether they be citizens at the ballot box or election politicians, puts Vasa's hard-on in a different light.

What keeps going thru my mind every time I've thought about this heresy pronouncement is the uphill struggle that JFK had to overcome widespread prejudice against Catholics. He got on TV and assured Americans that he wouldn't be a Papal puppet. What Bishop Vasa is doing undercuts everything that Kennedy fought for and won. If he gets his way then Americans will once again have to seriously question Catholic political candidates to find out whether their first allegiance is going to be to the Pope or to America.

This of course is just another rehash of the 2004 election. and Vasa appears to be just another partisan trying to give the GOP a boost via the pulpit. Glibly ignored by Vasa are the multitude of issues where conservative Republican politicians and voters openly disregard, and in many cases openly mock, the crystal clear teaching of the Catholic Church beyond just abortion.

What really irks me is the inherent vapidity of Vasa's stance. I could respect it if he were to task all Catholics with adhering to every Catholic position. That at least would be consistent, if wrong-headed and lethal to the very concept of individual thought, not to mention individual responsibility. But I could respect it even so. This heresy crap? It's contemptible. Although I don't suppose that should really surprise anyone. Can anyone name even a single heretic hunter in history who wasn't ultimately revealed to have no interest whatsoever in adhering to what Jesus taught?

Posted by Kevin at February 26, 2006 07:40 PM