Catholics, Abortion, and the Landrieus

Huck's comments yesterday about the Catholic Church caused me to go back and re-read his initial comments on an editorial in our local catlick newspaper, the Clarion Herald. The writer, one Susan Mire, is an anti-abortion activist who appears to wear blinders large enough to keep a Budweiser Clydesdale in line during the Bacchus parade. Her focus on the single issue of abortion has her defending a man, Fr. Hughes, who is alleged to be part of a criminal conspiracy that has already cost the Archdiocese of Boston over $100million.

This is a true danger for the Catholic Church in the US. If abortion continues to dominate management policy in dioceses and archdiocese across the country, the many, many, many other things the Church does for the good of the communities will diminish. Arguing that opposing abortion is more important than protecting little boys from being buggered by priests is not only misguided, it's obscene.

Trying to argue that all Democrats are pro-abortion because they're Democrats is also problematical. Moon and Verna Landrieu's response to Mire pretty much knocks her upside the head on that one:

We believe Ms. Mire is a well-intentioned, devout Catholic. We also know she is terribly wrong when she writes: "... Senator Landrieu and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu have, for whatever reason, consistently advocated for abortion throughout their political careers." Neither Mary nor Mitch nor any member of our family is for abortion or has advocated for abortion.

Mary Landrieu catches all sorts of grief from liberals in the state because she votes pro-life. Mire didn't do her homework on the Landrieus at all before publishing her remarks. Had she called the Landrieus and spoke with them before going off on them in print, she would have known that. It's at this point I would add a snarky comment about how she's obviously not very bright, but I don't think that's the case here. This isn't the case of someone who is a fool, but someone who is blind. Take this statement from her editorial:

There is no such thing as a "pro-choice" vote in Congress; one either casts a vote that will further abortion or one casts a vote that will not further abortion. It's really as simple as that.

If she would have stopped at "there is no such thing as a 'pro-choice' vote in Congress," she would have made an accurate statement. Because abortion opponents can't come head-on at the Roe v. Wade decision, most of the legislation they propose usually goes beyond abortion and puts other rights of citizens at risk.

If one-issue advocates like Mire and Fr. Hughes continue to steer church management policy down this road, the Church will end up in a situation where it will be more and more at odds with progressive and Democratic politicians. The Church, through Catholic Charities, supports a lot of social programs that don't fit with in the grand-scheme-of-things that Republicans have created. By alienating politicians like Sen. Mary Landrieu and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, as well as highly influential community citizens like Judge Moon and Verna Landrieu, the Church runs the risk of becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party. When that happens, a lot of the good that the Church does will vanish.