The Blunt Facts about Catholic Politicians
By Kevin Roeten
WASHINGTON DC, Feb. 19, 2007 (www.opinioneditorials.com) - We hear it from some religious pulpits, and we think it's the 'gospel' truth. But the real truth is you never really know what a Catholic believes, unless you are one. Unfortunately the majority religion of Congress is Catholic, but you'd never know by the legislation delivered.
Currently, well over 100 members of Congress claim to be Catholic. Catholicism has five “non-negotiables” which are inherently evil. Those include abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, cloning, and embryonic stem cell research(not adult stem cell research). Those few tend to eliminate a number of congress people from the practice of Catholicism. A few of the well known are Pelosi, Kennedy, Kerry, Murtha, etc., etc…
The real question is how anybody can legislate for the above 5 “non-negotiables”, go directly against Catholic teaching, and still consider themselves not automatically ‘excommunicated’. You might still be Catholic by birth, but you can no longer receive sacraments until you recant your wrongdoings. But so many that call themselves ‘Catholic’ renounce Catholic teaching in what they do, and what they legislate.
Many other items can be evil, but the five “non-negotiables” are evil all of the time. For instance, killing would not be evil if done with the intention of saving a family member or neighbor from certain death. But abortion is always evil, and the act eliminates a life.
Other items that many ‘Catholics’ seem to have problems with are: 1)graven images, 2)‘Mary’ worship, 3)Confession, 4)calling Catholics ‘Christian’, and 5)the Real Presence, just to name a few.
In a nutshell, Catholics never worship ‘graven images’. They have many religious statues and relics they venerate because of their representation. But every religious item is symbolic of something that should be respected.
The common misconception that “Mary” is worshipped is something that doesn’t seem to go away. Mary is never worshipped, and has always said that her Son is God, who must receive all the worship. Her unique qualities--sinless, post-death appearances reiterating that the only way to heaven is through her Son, holy enough to bear God, and from her mediation had countless miracles performed.
Even other Christians say that they don’t need priests to which they confess their sins. But they seem to forget Christ telling His apostles that “whatever sin they forgive will be forgiven, and whichever sin they held bound will be held bound”.
Catholics believe that Christ died for our sins, raised from the dead, and is actually God. So a Catholic is Christian.
The Real Presence, or the Eucharist, is something dictated by Christ. He didn’t say that the bread and wine was just a reminder of his body and blood. He said once consecrated, it was his body and blood. He said this in “John” six times alone. He didn’t go after all those that bolted because they didn’t believe, as they considered this cannibalism. He didn’t say, “No, I didn’t mean literally—I was only speaking figuratively.”
Remember He said that His “church” would prevail(33 AD)? It’s interesting that other Christian religions decided 1500 years later that they didn’t like that ‘interpretation’. They wanted to form another Christian religion, with a different interpretation.
One has to ask oneself, “Why has only the Catholic Church been around since Christ existed? Why does it seem to be the only religion accused of pedophilia, and castigated by the media? Why are some Catholic politicians voting against Catholic teaching? Why are some Catholics actually voting for those politicians?”
Bottom line, we have to trust politicians who are true to their faith. We have to trust Catholics who vote their faith. The next time a politician ‘claims’ Catholicism, is it true? As a Catholic, one is obliged to vote their faith.
