There is an expression (that I get slightly wrong) that says jump on the horse in the direction it is running. I seem to be running with this whole Kerry vs. Catholics thing, so to those I am boring, you have my apologies, but hey it is my blog after all.
Last night I promised to include the poll numbers from Paula Zahn Now. Unfortunately they did not post the actual numbers, but apparently President Bush 34-point lead amongst Catholics who attend church regularly. Some churches have been handing out pamphlets offering advice on how to vote according to Catholic teaching. The pamphlet includes the five non-negotiable positions of the Church and advises Catholics not to support a candidate who
1) supports abortion
2) supports embryonic stem cell research
3) support euthanasia
4) supports human cloning
5) supports homosexual marriage
It seems to me that US churches are more vocal on this than Canadian ones. During the last Canadian election the Church released a statement to the press with regards to voting, but it was a little more equivocal than the release above (which makes sense, since Christianity has as many "left" policies as "right" ones). I experienced the difference when I was in New Jersey for several weeks during the 1996 election. After mass had ended the priest included a discussion of voting in the weekly announcements. Furthermore there was a flyer, such as the pamphlet referenced above, on the windshield of my car. This struck me a slightly odd, but I have always thought that Americans were more political than Canadians anyway.
As Robert Novak mentions in his column today, the Church is in a tough spot in this issue:
In a largely unpublished interview with The New York Times, the Denver archbishop said: "If the Church challenges a President Kerry on [destruction of unborn children through embryonic stem-cell research], it will appear to be interfering. If the Church remains silent, it will appear cowardly."
As long as the Church does not formally endorse a candidate and instead reinforces their teachings, I think they are within their rights. As I mentioned before "separation of church and state" does not mean that churches have to give up their teachings.
