SHJIHM :: Catholic Discussions :: Tea Party Catholics ~ Runboard
"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing." -Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
Placating terrorists, meeting with dictators, compassion for murderers... but no humanity for the unborn... incredible.
OOT
But it seems no one in the Tea Party movement has penciled in a Tea Party for the unborn. I suppose that is because the Tea Party constituency generally views abortion as a matter to be decided in each state as the majority sees fit—naturally without federal interference, since that would violate “states’ rights” and “the intent of the Founders.” The radical rabble of Boston held their Tea Party to defy a trifling tea tax, but there will be no Tea Party, not even a metaphorical one, to defy the perpetrators of the abortion Holocaust. For the majority has spoken, and as much as we might abhor the result we must follow “the rule of law” the Founders established, at least until we can persuade 50%-plus-one of the voters that the unborn should be spared summary execution by their own mothers. Let freedom ring!
For that matter, I do not see any Tea Parties in the offing concerning any element of the tyrannical regime of state law by which apostate majorities or the courts have legalized not only abortion throughout the nine months of pregnancy but also active or passive euthanasia (in Oregon, Ohio and Florida), have authorized abortions for children while “bypassing” parental consent, have usurped jurisdiction over marriage and made an institution of the Protestant “sacrament” of divorce, thus destroying the family, have filled the drug stores and supermarkets with contraceptive devices available to minors, and have forced all citizens to fund (with onerous real estate and other taxes) a system of universal public education—the dream of Jefferson and his fellow Enlightenment philosophes—that cranks out vast legions of perfectly tolerant drones with the efficiency of an automobile assembly line.
As far as the public schools are concerned, what about a Tea Party addressing compulsory sex education and “gay sensitivity training” in the elementary and secondary schools—diabolical programs that are destroying souls and corrupting our entire society? What about a Tea Party to oppose the extirpation of Christianity in any form from public school classrooms, while the captive audience of students is subjected to “cultural education” in Islam, eastern religions and even witchcraft? I see nothing on the Tea Party schedule.
Nor am I aware of any planned Tea Party over state law “hate crimes” based on religious or “homophobic” speech. And when will there be a Tea Party to resist state laws compelling citizens to recognize “gay marriage” and “gay adoption”? Answer: never. Here too the majority has spoken and the “rule of law” obtains, however much we might deplore the voters’ decision. And Ron Paul quite agrees: “I am supportive of all voluntary associations and people can call it whatever they want.” Let freedom ring!
The Tea Party movement also apparently fails to detect any tyranny worth a Tea Party in the legally mandated absolute separation of Church and State (not merely in the schools)—a regime the legislatures in almost every state had enacted even before it was imposed on the last holdouts via the Fourteenth Amendment. Today every state in the Union prohibits the establishment of so much as a hamlet organized according to Christian legal principles, as Tom Monaghan learned to his great chagrin. I see no upcoming Tea Parties to resist the destruction of the perennial alliance between government and established religion that Madison and Jefferson were determined to accomplish.
Re: Tea Party Catholics Though I have little hope that I will live to see any success towards the goal of devolving federal power back to the states, exactly why wouldn't that be a good thing? It is the federal government that rammed abortion on demand down our throats. It is the federal government that is destroying our economy. It is the federal government that strides the earth without being answerable to its own constituency.
Re: Tea Party Catholics I guess the question is whether or not the states will be any better at it than the federal government. State governments are having almost as much difficulty. Over in East St. Louis, for example, they have just had to make cuts to their police and fire departments. I'm thinking less police officers is not really a good thing for that particular area.
Do I think that, given more control, individual states will be able to turn the tide of this country in the things that really matter? Probably not. Why? Because, as the author points out, it's not really about those things these tea parties symbolize. Until we get that, I don't think it's going to make that much of a difference.
Re: Tea Party Catholics It is impossible to make a change at the federal level. We know that. Any populist revolt can always be stamped out before it achieves its objectives. States can be controlled at least to some extent and if the federal leviathan along with its influence were to be reduced you can be sure they would more readily answer to the people.
I find this whole, " We shouldn't even try" mentality to be perplexing but I do see it alot. Aren't we called to try to make the world a better place?
Re: Tea Party Catholics "I find this whole, " We shouldn't even try" mentality to be perplexing"
Not at all , just a coward one - I've seen a lot under communism . 1 man in 7 went to prison , 1 man in 70 ended up dead , and the rest were actually begging for their lives . If anyone disobeyed all the extended family ended in prison or dead , and even in these conditions some people were revolting against the system . The federal government is not strong Michael , it's the people who are weak . Look at the role of the RCC in Poland for clues .
Re: Tea Party Catholics It is incredibly powerful but the only reason it remains unchallenged is that people for the most part do not question its legitimacy. It was bad before but under Obama it has become government by fiat. Whatever the ruling cabal says, goes. No one doubts that fuhrerprinzip is the basis for our government.
I find this whole, " We shouldn't even try" mentality to be perplexing but I do see it alot. Aren't we called to try to make the world a better place?
I am not suggesting "we shouldn't even try" and I don't think the author is, either. Rather, try something that has some real meaning. Avoiding the real reasons for our problems is not courageous, and it doesn't work very well.
Re: Tea Party Catholics We have for decades hung our pro-life hopes on an amendment to the constitution that would have outlawed abortion. The idea of vacating the Roe v. Wade decision and returning the power to the states has been raised. Surprisingly, some pro-lifers have strongly opposed that idea because some states might still allow abortion. Meanwhile, they all are forced to allow it by the federal government and that will likely never change with the current pro-life strategy.
We, as Catholics, are far too enamored with federal power. We want the ring for ourselves rather than being willing to throw it into the lava to destroy it. We won't ever control it.
The proper place of Catholics, for the foreseeable future, is alongside the people at Tea Parties, supporting candidates like Ron Paul -- even if some of our fellow travelers are packing heat or smell of weed.
John Zmirak is one of my favorite writers. I recommend his books as well as his opinion articles. This one addresses the issue of Catholicism and libertarianism better than I am able. In summation, when faced with the power of a secular state, it is in the Catholic interest to work to minimize that state. The secular state is the political reality of this era despite the SSPX contentions that we should be living as if the ancien regime is in place and we need only wish it to be Catholic.
Re: Tea Party Catholics Discussions about government almost always seem to end up being about religion... which is kind of funny, as there is supposed to be a rigid separation of Church and State, for good reason.
If 95% of the population was muslim, would we still want religion to be on the plate, and held up high when considering rules and regulations?
The only way to be fair in governance is to base laws on the physical, the measurable. Anything that comes down to faith has to be a matter of choice.
Not speaking directly to pro-life, more to the comments about where authority should lie - federal or state level. I would say federal level, as giving the states power to do as they will, for the most part, gives too much sway to local pressure groups.
From a statistical perspective, this would also indicate a broader sampling group, a better chance of a happy medium being reached through greater collaboration.
