Deal W. Hudson: The Case Against Barack Obama

6/27/2008

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November that Catholic support for Democrat pro-abortion candidates "borders on scandal as far I am concerned."

Various pro-Obama Catholic organizations are working effectively to draw attention away from their candidate's weaknesses on fundamental issues. They are well-funded and led by people with extensive experience in the Democratic Party and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

They are not shy about selling their candidate through official channels. For example, pro-Obama e-mails are now regularly sent to the executive directors of state Catholic conferences (several have been forwarded to me).

Probably the most sustained drumbeat of Obama's Catholic circle will be their support for building a "Culture of Life" in spite of their candidate's position on abortion and infanticide. They will argue that reducing poverty and improving health care, among other things, will bring down the number of abortions more effectively than passing laws outlawing the procedure.

In response to this, Catholic voters should be reminded of what Archbishop Chaput said to Obama's Catholics. On May 19 he rebuked a group called Roman Catholics for Obama who quoted him out of context to justify voting for the pro-abortion nominee. The group had seized upon the following quote: "Catholics can vote for pro-choice candidates if they vote for them despite -- not because of -- their pro-choice views."

Roman Catholics for Obama deliberately left out the paragraph following where Chaput added that he could think of no "proportionate reason" to support abortion. "It's the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life -- which we most certainly will."

Archbishop Chaput also pointed out that the emperor had no clothes when it came to Obama's candidacy benefitting a culture of life. He himself was a politically active Democrat as a young man at the time when Catholic politicians began invoking the "personally opposed to abortion" mantra. Chaput writes:

"For most, their personal opposition was little more than pious hand wringing and a convenient excuse -- exactly as it is today. In fact, I can't name any "pro-choice" Catholic politician who has been active, in a sustained public way, in trying to discourage abortion and to protect unborn human life -- not one."

Likewise, if Obama is elected, he has pledged to sign the Freedom of Choice Act during his first week in office, making it difficult for Catholic supporters of Obama to keep a straight face when talking about a culture of life.

Deal W. Hudson is the director of InsideCatholic.com and the author of Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States (Simon and Schuster, March 2008).

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1 - 9 of 9 Comments

jim
4 years ago
Abortion and infanticide are his achievements....but he carries is communist background and goals asa club that he will use to beat us all into socialism....NO Thanks!! NObama
Pedro
4 years ago
Shame on you Deal Hudson for even using the word "infanticide". Do you not think for a moment that the far right who pretends to follow Christian beliefs are guilty of crimes that are anti God. War in Iraq was immoral. Catholics should be equally appalled by this administrations legacy which includes the horrors of Abu Ghraib, more homeless veterans, the death of brave men and women who fought in a war that we got into because of the chronic lying of the Bush administration.

Does it not stand to reason that much of what this administration has done is just against the principles of Catholicism as the few imperfect beliefs that Democrats are yelled at for having?

Thank You Judith for your great posts.
Jon Miller
4 years ago
Abortion is no light topic, it is not simply an inconvenience to people, it is a plague of this nation and the world. For a TRUE Catholic, anyone who supports abortion should receive an automatic NO come election day.
judith
4 years ago
Will the bishop have the guts to ban any Catholic from receiving Holy Communion who supports the war in Iraq ?
juith
4 years ago
so, tell me, is torture in Guantanamo and other places in the world, an unnecessary war in Iraq which is killing human beings, Working Americans without affordable health care and other violations of Catholic Social Issues somehow OK ? Does Right To Life only apply to the unborn, but to all of God's children ? Let's not demonize Sen. Obama without taking a good hard look at Sen. Mc Cain as well or we will be doing what Jesus railed against in the gospels--being hypocrites and self righteous pharisees.
Molly
4 years ago
Great article. It's sad that Professor Kmiec will be remembered by Catholics as another man who sold his soul for thirty pieces of silver (political appointment).
Maya
4 years ago
He will not get my vote. How can one even call themself a catholic if they will not support life?

Wake up cafateria cathoilcs!
Lillian T
4 years ago
This is extremely short-sighted. The entire case against Barack Obama, it seems, is his abortion stance.

Does this mean Hudson would vote for Hitler if his stance was anti-abortion, simply because the other candidate is pro-choice?

I'm sorry. This is one Catholic who cannot, in good conscience, give her vote to John McCain simply because he is the pro-life candidate.
Elizabeth
4 years ago
My husband is a blue-collar, white Catholic, and we're voting for McCain. We're unconditionally pro-life, we can't afford to pay for everyone else's government-funded health care, and we believe tithing Christians, not welfare, is the solution to poverty. We also want the war to stay in Iraq (and, someday, Iran) and out of the United States. In short, Obama would be our worst nightmare, no matter what the rest of the white, blue-collar Catholics think!

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