And some bishops let him. This is a pretty hard-hitting story, but it's well-worth reading. It should aid in snapping some from their slumber.
Here's just an excerpt, from Real Clear Religion:
The most anti-Catholic American president ever scooped up the Catholic vote again, winning half of all Catholics. This is down four points from 2008, but it is still an impressive feat after four years of persecuting the Church.
Historians will no doubt record the grim irony of his achievement with some wonder. He has now won the Catholic vote twice and boasts an honorary degree in law from one of the Church's most prestigious universities, all while breaking her. Saul Alinsky, who pioneered the technique of bamboozling and exploiting the Church, would be proud. ...
The work of Obama's allies within the Church paid off. Obama's Fifth Columnists steered money into his campaign (Jesuit college and universities raised donations for him), honored his HHS secretary at Georgeown even after she hatched the contraceptive mandate, erected pro-Obama Catholic front groups like Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, motivated Catholic college students to get out and vote for him, and spread propaganda through Sisters Carol Keehan and Simone Campbell that Obama posed no threat to the Church.
Hispanic Catholics, under the tutelage of the Catholic left, voted for Obama over Romney 75 to 21. That was up three points from 2008.
Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, California, who is Congressman Paul Ryan's nemesis, complained earlier in the year that the bishops had given too much aid to "anti-Obama" forces. If that only were true.
Once again, the bishops proved feckless and divided. Some bishops raised their voices against Obama; most didn't. Nor did the bishops counter Joe Biden's misrepresentations of "Catholic social doctrine" and "de fide" abortion teaching late in the campaign.This disaster should represent an epic embarrassment for the USCCB. More can and will be written on this outrageous and sad story.
Interesting read. But I have a problem with this analysis.
ReplyDeleteThe author seems to indicate that Catholics were confused by mixed messages, and that the vote went Obama's way because of the confusion. I think this is a factor in what happened, but not the most salient factor. The most salient is that, even if Catholics understand that the Church is being attacked and that the Church bars people from voting for Obama, they don't care. They don't care what the Church says, and they care little about what happens to it, as it exists in its present form. They do not agree with the teachings of the Church, even when they understand those teachings, so if the Church is being forced to violate her teachings, so much the better. The Catholic Church is being forced to provide contraception? Great! That's what we have we've always wanted for the Church--progressive changes like the embrace of contraception.
The Catholics who voted for Obama, by and large, want the Church to take on Obama's vision and policies and put aside the dusty, stifling doctrines of the past. The bishops have failed to bring the Church into modernity. Now, thankfully, Obama can do it instead. So, why shouldn't we vote for him again?
Very good points. I agree completely. It would be interesting to see though, what a crack-down on the part of the bishops would do. I don't think that apathy, indifference, or to put it more bluntly, rank disobedience, from the flock excuses the bishops from doing what they should have been doing some thirty-plus year ago, i.e., lead. Much of what you point out stems from the past generation or two of weak leadership, coupled with the "perfect storm" of the sexual revolution, the rise of relativism, etc.
ReplyDeleteYour point about Obama attempting to "bring the Church into modernity" is particularly relevant here. It is frightening that part of the agenda of the left is not so much to destroy the Church, but rather to create a parallel church that squares with their agenda, thereby marginalizing the "old, patriarchal, hierarchical" church in Rome. Just like Henry VIII in England, and the People's "church" in China.
It is common to hear dissident Catholics talk about the "real" Catholic Church of the people, of modernity, etc., and setting that vision against the Church of the pope and bishops. It represents an attempt to bifurcate the flock from the shepherd, and still call it "Catholic."