www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Roman Catholics for Obama '08

But lest we be naive, I would recommend that those who would like to know what Catholics and those who feel similarly about abortion as an issue, take a listen to the following segment from "Bill Moyers Journal" on 5/23/2008:

Jeffrey Toobin on Bill Moyer's Journal [pbs.org]

[Read a gusto, and "Watch video".]

Moyers and Toobin make no bones about what they regard as one of the most important issues facing a new President will be: any guesses?

I have no idea what an Obama administration might bring in its fullness, but this issue will "certainly" be on the agenda.

Michael

P.S. Personally I dislike Bill Moyers because I think he is dishonest, but he has become a big deal on publicly-funded PBS. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, while many local stations were unable to broadcast, PBS used a Long Island affiliate to provide coverage of the events in the city. One of the anchors was Bill Moyers. Practically the first thing out of his mouth in prime time was a statement to the effect that "see, it's always religion that is the cause of all the violence."

I stand by what I said.

Obama has left vauge his actual goals, andhis nebulous call for "CHange" rallies support amongst the young voters with les slife expernce, or the disinfranchised hwo project onto "CHange" what they want to change, btu do not have any slid commitment form Obama about what they Change is.

He also offers "Hope", but never specifies what this hope should be.

It sound slike empty rhetoric to me, and a msokescreen to tie intot he disillusionment and unhappiness thsat many Americans feel, to win votes.

What we know of Pbama is that he supports the requirement that all State Laws that limit Abortion, includign the Partial Birth Abortion ban, shdl be strikken down, and all States hsoudl be require dby Federsal Law to offer unrestricted Abortion.

We know that he stands for a Socialist-style govenment, complete wiht Socialised health care and socialised wealth capping for industry, that exists in Erope, and graudally erodes workers motivaiton and the freedom fo the peopel to oppose new Govenment laws which regulate what can and cannot be said an done in public, and limits the ability of companies to grow, and gives tot he Govenrment ht epower ot set down social principles, rather htan leave that open tot he people.

This is what Obama wants, the United States of America ot become sort of like Europe, witht he Govnement dictatign the moral standards we are allowed ot hold, and to disocurage disscent from occuring by passing laws which wudl limit oens freedom fo expresison.

All this while operaitgn on a wealth redistribution Philosophy hat ensres everyone remains poor.

I'm sorry, but Obamas known policies woudl erode freedom and increase inflation.

Lets nto forget he also wants ot talk to terorists.

I stand by what I said above.

As one who has had family members murdered by marxists, I have no intention of idly standing by and letting a marxist become President of this country. Americans had better wake up, and soon. McCain is nothing to write home about, but even he is head and shoulders above Mr. Barak Hussein Obama.

Alexandr

Deacon John said:

Greetings, Deacon John,

While neither party is 100% pro-life, there certainly is a pro-life preference for the Republican policies. True, their fetal stem cell and capital punishment policies violate Catholic and Orthodox teaching,but their anti-abortion policy is relatively commendable. Using the term "proportionate reasons" one has to definite agree that preventing 2.5 - 3 million abortions is better even though there are 200 (?) executions (my guess)annually.

Even the liberals in the Democrat Party aren't making capital punishment an election issue, so there is nothing commendable there.
With an Obama victory we will once again have a Janet Reno type Attorney General who will persecute not just the pro-life activists but also those medical professionals and hospitals who would try to use the "conscience clause" to be exempt from performing abortions.

As it stands, the Democrat party on the FEDERAL level does not deserve the Catholic vote. On many local and some state levels there are many fine Democrats.

Deacon Paul

[Linked Image]



Alexandr

If someone wants to be nasty, it would not be difficult to arrange for that church to lose its tax-exempt status. Such a slogan on a Church sign-board is a clear indication that the church which displays it is interfering in partisan politics.

Fr. Serge

Voters also need to carefully analyze the directives of the USCCB, as sometimes they are more rooted in politics than in Catholic Teaching. Back in the 1980s many of the statements by the good bishops came across as if the Soviet Union was good and America was bad (with the very real suffering by our brethren occurring under Communism being almost totally ignored). Today we see something not dissimilar when the bishops speak on illegal immigration, and place almost the entire responsibility upon the United States and almost none on the governments that export their poor (that they reform to attract jobs so that their people will not need to leave their homelands in order to survive).

We must be careful to compare apples to apples. The positions of the two major parties are not identical, and one is far closer to the Church�s position (even if imperfect) than the other. Obama has referred to abortion as a �fundamental human right of women� and has promised to repeal restrictions on �late term abortions� and the �infant born alive protection act� (even though both have loopholes keeping them from being as effective as they could be). McCain has not. In the long view, the strategy to promote life issues comprises both an advocacy in the general culture and the support of those who support lie issues in the government. Appointing judges who will overturn Roe v Wade is one of the first steps (it will not resolve the issues but will allow (even force) America to revisit the issue).

Health care for everyone is important, especially for women who are pregnant. Yet there is absolutely no mandate telling Catholics that they need to support socialism in health care. Socialism simply does not work.

That is always excellent advice.

That is a good summary (the whole post is excellent). In Virginia we don�t register to vote by party, and individual voters are free in primary elections to participate in any one party�s primary (Democrat, Republican, or Third Party). I very often analyze the candidates� positions and their chances of winning. If the candidate I plan to support in the general election does not need my vote in order to win the primary I will often vote in a different primary to help choose the best of the candidates, even if that candidate is not acceptable because of his failings on life issues (helping to weed out the unacceptable candidates is a just thing to do!).