Catholic Sensibility

Excommunicated First he is, then he's not. Then he is by definition, but those political geeks in the Vatican don't want to admit it. Do you know what I see? A whole lot of whining. What are you going to do if he beats Bush next month? This John Kerry excommunication thing is just pure bogus. According to the half-dozen stories I've read, the instigator Mark Balestrieri misrepresented himself to get an "unofficial" opinion, which he then turns around and makes public. And even if there was any ecclesiastical weight behind this, this particular distraction is hopeless, at least from the pro-life point of view. Here's why: Assume John Kerry comes to his moral senses over this and Mr Balestrieri has miraculously effected a conversion. Are all the anti-abortion Catholics suddenly going to flock from the Bush camp? No. They're not. Will Kerry be seen as a man who can be influenced by a single crusader on a mission from God? Yes. This would make him far less, not more electable. The reality would be that Mr Kerry would keep his trap shut, avoiding any Senate votes on life issues until his election, and then when judicial appointments start zipping off from his February desk, people on both sides would start going, "hmm." Most likely, this endeavor will not convince the candidate to change his stripes. The Church is painted as wishy-washy for anti-abortion hopefuls. Maybe Kerry gets more votes because a few more apathetic feminists are worried about the next candidate after Kerry. It is my opinion that this excommunication effort is not about politics -- it hasn't a prayer of succeeding on election day. It's also not about abortion. It's not about that work of mercy, admonishing the sinner or instructing the ignorant. It's about embarassing a man, and that all. You and I might not like the man's political stance, but I think this whole effort reflects a strategy that the means justifies the ends. More than that, I think it's a sinful action. Sinful, not just because it will likely detract a little bit more from the pro-life cause, but also because it uses people for selfish and short-sighted ends. Was anybody waiting for counselling at Birthright while all this was going on? Sure hope not. I hope Mr Balestrieri enjoyed his evenings sipping some nice Italian wine while waiting for his answer. I think raspberries would be an improvment over grapes in this case.