Isitjustme has stayed away from discussing the Roman Catholic Church at least in part because some of my best friends, etc. However a notice in the paper this week reminded me that it isn't just the right wing Protestant loonies that require watching.
For no particular reason, the Vatican issued a statement this week reinforcing the Church's position on gay marriage. The Holy See indicated that the subject was "non-negotiable" and that Catholic, elected officials should act accordingly. Holy white smoke, Batman. That's a helluva thing!
Way back in 1928 the Democratic party nominated the affable Governor of New York, Al Smith, to run for President. Al was the first Roman Catholic to be so honored. He was thumped by Herbert Hoover partly because much of Southern America believed that if we elected a Catholic, the United States would be run by edicts from Rome. Jack Kennedy would have to overcome the same prejudices 32 years later. Most Catholics at the time found the idea absurd. Why would the Pope be interested in meddling in the affairs of Washington? Well, here we are in 2007 and it turns out that the rednecks of 1928 were right to be concerned.
The delightful irony of this is that American Catholics rarely listen to the doctrines of Rome on any issue. In the U.S. 80% of Catholics practice birth control. (It's probably closer to 99% but some just won't fess up.) About half of the faithful in the U.S. are in favor of leaving Roe v. Wade where it is. The Pope has about as much clout in America as the Dalai Lama or the Archbishop of Canterbury. Perhaps the Vatican will have better luck with the members of Congress.
To be fair, the Catholic Church and many other denominations, view abortion as murder. On that basis the Pope is right to speak out against Catholics in government who support what the Church sees as state sponsored homicide. This really is non-negotiable for Catholics. However, the last time I looked, marriage was a civil matter. While the Church affords marriage sacramental status, priests are licenced by the state to preform what essentially is a secular function. By excoriating legislators to bend to the will of Rome on gay marriage, the Pope is interfering in a non-religious, civil issue. This would be similar to encouraging the owners of Yankee Stadium to prohibit the sale of hot dogs on Friday nights during Lent.
Can you imagine if any other religious leaders attempted to superimpose their doctrines on America? Rabbis could lobby for road closings to discourage travel on Fridays after sundown. Imams could demand the prohibition of liquor sales (again) to conform to Islamic law. The American Congress has managed quite nicely for the last 220 odd years without the infallible interference of the Holy Father. Here's the deal. If the Pope doesn't attempt to tell us how to run America, we won't tell him how to remove Father Chester the Molester from the priesthood.
If Benedict XVI wants to create a better America by having our laws modeled after Church teachings, how about we invoke the Catholic Church's prohibition against suicide and ban smoking? American Catholics might not have clean souls but at least they would go to hell with clean lungs.
3 comments:
When Al Smith lost, he at least retained a sense of humor. He said to an aide: "Send a telgram ot the Pope unpack"
Despite the cross burnings and anti-Catholic sentiment, most of the States that Al Smith won in the election were from the deep South. It appears that the “Southern Gentlemen”, when faced with a Hobson’s choice between a Catholic and a Republican decided that the Catholic was the lesser of two evils. Sounds like the father-in-law of somebody we know.
Some Southern women appreciate a good looking Catholic man.
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