a little self-administered cyanide never hurt anybody
By Diogenes (articles ) | July 07, 2005 8:13 AM
"Politics affords few greater pleasures," wrote Mark Steyn, "than offering one's opponents some friendly but hopefully lethal piece of advice." Alarmed by reports that European Catholics are adopting some political tactics borrowed from Christian Coalition in the U.S., the NCR amuses itself with some ill counsel in a recent editorial:
There are worrying elements to this European Catholic reawakening, if that's what it is, that need to be addressed before they become irreversible. American Catholics may be forgiven the presumption of offering advice, because in some ways, we've seen it all before. Most important, it would be a serious mistake for European Catholic activists to mimic the rise of the "religious right" in the United States, which essentially wedded the "religious vote" to the Republican Party. The result is that "faith and values" as a political force in the United States has come to be tightly identified with conservative positions on a handful of hot-button cultural issues -- especially abortion, homosexuality and stem cell research. The result has been "religion" fit for bumper sticker declarations and TV sound bites.
Now of course the NCR crowd is opposed to this "wedding" not because it might fail but because it might succeed. Having done their level best to torpedo Catholic doctrine on abortion, homosexuality, and stem cell research on the home front, they're attempting to feign solicitude for those Europeans who are taking their first tentative steps at fighting secularism and restoring a social order in conformity to Church teaching. And after all, the more secular/atheist the European state -- think Sweden, Holland, France -- the more complete its implementation of what the NCR means by social justice. Small wonder then, that the counsel they offer our transatlantic cousins would, if accepted, make their Catholicism politically toothless and inert. Freshen-up that Koolaid, senorita?
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Posted by: -
Jul. 07, 2005 1:05 PM ET USA
"while the religious left, which labors to articulate a more nuanced position on those issues, often does a better job with what comes between the beginning and end of life. " Get me to a vomitorium! Yes, your Smugness, but will you work for free???
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Posted by: -
Jul. 07, 2005 11:06 AM ET USA
Note the air of superiority. It's the arrogant hallmark of the liberal left and their "What's wrong with Kansas" approach to the recent poltical shifts in the U.S.. By the way, here in the enlightened Northeast, almost all the bumper sticker declarations I see on the Volvos that race by are of the angry Left persuasion.
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Posted by: patriot6908 -
Jul. 07, 2005 9:50 AM ET USA
Let's not be hasty and blame NCR for damning such quaint notions as morality, strong traditional families,and the sanctity of life. They are, after all, on the cutting edge of new Hemlockian approach to progressive matters deemed critical for the well-bing of society, such as getting Sr. Judy ordained and married to Sr. Betty, and raising Sr. Joan Chittister to the rank of archbishop. Heaven help the Europeans if they don't consider such issues vital to their own moral continuity.
