Too Much Time on Their Hands

Liberal Catholic academics take aim at pro-life Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan...again

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

More than 50 faculty members at Marquette University, including a dozen theologians, have issued a public letter to U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan criticizing his proposed budget as morally unjust and accusing him of distorting Catholic social teaching in its defense.

The letter echoes a protest issued late last month by 90 faculty and administrators at the Catholic Georgetown University in Washington, where Ryan defended his budget in a speech April 26, and similar criticisms levied by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The Marquette letter calls it "a glaring misuse of Catholic teaching to defend a budget plan that decimates food programs for struggling families, radically weakens protections for the elderly and sick, and gives more tax breaks to the wealthiest few."

"It is a question of balance," said Paul Misner, professor emeritus in the Department of Theology, who signed the Marquette letter. "Where is the balance in this budget?"

These people are just rehashing old clichés that are not rooted in reality. The article also makes clear that many at Marquette didn't sign the letter, and some even defended Ryan. Still, it's more than a bit odd that one of Wisconsin's most pro-life Catholic politicians is publicly rebuked by so-called theologians at a so-called Catholic university. Do these folks release letters whenever Pelosi, et al. tout their blatantly anti-Catholic positions on life, marriage, etc.?

It would be nice to see a suitably timed statement released from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, thanking Wisconsin's pro-life politicians like Ryan for their commitment to defending the unborn. Wishful thinking?