A Catholic priest in Modesto, CA, Rev. Joseph Illo, sent his parishioners at St. Joseph's Catholic Church a letter telling them they should confess if they voted for Barack Obama because Obama supports abortion.
This is the second priest we've heard about recently who has said something like this.
It is heartening to see many leaders in the Catholic Church starting to take a strong stand in holding elected officials who claim to be Catholic accountable for their public policy stances. And now we're seeing Catholic leaders starting to hold average parishioners accountable for how they exercise their vote.
It's too bad it's taken this long, but it's great to see those who confess Christ taking a stand of accountability to Christ's teachings. While some in the Protestant world are doing this, many more should follow the example of courageous leaders like Rev. Illo.
Abortion not only destroys human life created in the image of God, it destroys human life, period. The unborn child has from the moment of conception human DNA. That human DNA is unique from all other people on earth, making the child not a part of its mother's body she is free to discard, but a separate and unique human being.
The only scientific difference between the unborn child and the child outside the womb is a matter of development. If the lesser-developed child inside the womb has less innate value than the one outside the womb, then it should follow that the toddler has less value--and less human dignity--than the fully-developed adult. Do we accept this contention?
The reporter in the video below has a lot of gall, asking "if it's morally wrong to use the pulpit to preach politics."
When the pastor is addressing clear moral issues, this is akin to asking, "Is it morally wrong to speak against immoral issues from the pulpit?" Think about that for a second...
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Tuesday, December 02, 2008
A Call to Repent for Obama Vote by Another Catholic Priest
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2 comments:
You don't see anything wrong with a priest saying "You should confess if you voted for Barack Obama because he supports abortion"?
It's bad enough that Catholics are required to reveal their deepest darkest secrets to someone who has no business knowing them (a "rule" that I have yet to find in the Bible), but this is just silly. Aren't Catholics made to feel guilty enough as it is without some priest making up new things to confess?!
Of course, I'm still waiting for the Vatican to excommunicate Adolf Hitler, so perhaps there are more important issues to worry about.
While the practice of confessing sins to a priest is debatable, the Bible does say Christians are supposed to confess their sins to one another; it's a part of accountability and our efforts to (a) own up to our sins and (b) forsake those sins.
But no, I don't think there's anything the least bit wrong or silly in this priest's statement; in fact, he's to be commended for it in this day and age where moral turpitude reigns even among many who call themselves Christians.
Killing innocent children is something one should repent of. Encouraging or approving of the killing of innocent children is something one should repent of. Supporting someone who will clearly further the killing of innocent children is also something one should repent of.
No great theological discovery here. But a commendable stand for what is right.
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