Doug Kmiec � A Response to Deacon Keith Fournier

9/20/2008

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Gospel of Life and by His Holiness Benedict XVI in instruction he gave before his elevation to the seat of St. Peter. We are to �promote life and work within the existing political and legal reality.� To just engage in systematic theology or philosophic discourse loses sight of the unborn children, we might actually � right now, this day -- save by improving the life circumstance of expectant mothers � which, by the way, is the experience of all those who have donated time at crisis pregnancy centers as well as the formal conclusion of studies by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United both showing significant reductions in abortion through economic support.

The Deacon correctly observes that he �could never be accused of being what (Doug) now rejects as a �Republican Faith Partisans� (RFP�s).� �Like him, the Deacon continues, �I might be considered a �Reagan Democrat,� at least in the sense that I left the Democratic Party when it abandoned children in the womb and I voted for Ronald Reagan. . . . The problem is that many Catholics do not know the Social teaching of their Church or have wrongly allowed �experts� on the �left� or the �right� to interpret what it is for them.�

Amen, brother. You are indeed not an RFP, since this shorthand applies to those who do not write with courage and insight, as I described your work in the book acknowledgements, but those who instead ply the trade of demonizing and denigrating their political opponents, and worse, those who unfairly and mistakenly portray voting for Senator Obama as a sin contrary to faith and morals. It is, as you noted at the outset, not the calling of the Church to tell us how to vote and you and I join in the expectation that everyone from bishops to priests to fellow parishioners will not use in terrorem tactics denying Communion, threatening the denial of Communion, pronouncing in public press without pastoral counseling the demand that Catholic office holders go to confession, or otherwise being manipulated by those who have learned to win elections by setting red against blue, and who care little if at all, about the full social teaching of the Church.

And what is that teaching? It is not well discussed in the general church since it has been arbitrarily closed off to many by those who insist on putting out fraudulent voter guides that list the reversal of Roe as a nonnegotiable demand to be fulfilled prior to any consideration of family wage, just war, environmental stewardship, or the reasoned welcome and treatment of the immigrant family. RFPs � Republican Faith Partisans � thus take the carefully nuanced and balanced teaching of the Church, including its just call to give life primacy, and derive from it only their own electoral success paid for by a �pro-life� label without meaningful result; the skewing of the tax code in favor of the affluent and in disregard of the dignity of human work (John McCain over the last decade has voted against a modest increase in the minimum wage at least 8 times, yet he is foresworn to keep �the Bush tax cuts� whose target audience is more concerned with compensation packages in the millions of dollars, than the minimum wage); and a war without justification or even well-conceived military objective costing us $720 million a day or $500,000 a minute, according to the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard public finance lecturer Linda J. Bilmes. The money spent on one day of the Iraq war could buy homes for almost 6,500 families or health care for 423,529 children, or could outfit 1.27 million homes with renewable electricity, according to the American Friends Service Committee.

The costs of war and failed, nay untried, diplomacy are great. Perhaps it is those costs that prompted George W. Bush to veto, and his prot�g� John McCain to sustain, the disapproval of extending (SCHIP) which had sent more than six million children from low income families to the doctor, cutting the number of uninsured children by one-third. No one has even begun to calculate the cost of John McCain�s drastic proposal to dismantle the present health care relationship with employers and to tax the value of health care to employees. There is reason to be leery, however, of McCain�s prescription of the same principles of deregulation that he brought to the financial markets for which we are paying dearly today, and a predicted increase in the numbers of uninsured will pay tomorrow.

Deacon Fournier is a splendid teacher of the faith. Reflecting upon that faith, he concludes: �Truly good governance begins with the smallest governance, the family and should give priority to the principle of subsidiarity. We were made for one another and we find our human fulfillment only in giving ourselves to the other. Then there is that other vital principle, a principle of social charity called solidarity, which insists that we are �our brothers (and sisters) keeper.�

Those are important words, and they are echoed by these:

�Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves -- protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe ; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology. Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who is willing to work. That's the promise of America -- the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister�s keeper. That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now.�

Those are the words of Barack Obama accepting the nomination for President of the United States. Their resonance with Catholic teaching is self-evident. Can a Catholic Support Him?As a matter of faith, yes. As a matter of hope, unquestionably.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

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1 - 10 of 20 Comments

Darin
4 years ago
I am encouraged by the dialog. I find it hard to debate the words of a constitutional scholar and his theology is sound. This is good food for thought right now. It is hard as an American to turn the other cheek while this administrations policies continue to put so many people in harms way in favor of big business. So much of what it is doing in the name of our faith is at odds with the churches teachings. May God have mercy on this administration and may we have the courage to do what is right.
Bill Sr.
4 years ago
The debate over Mr. Kmiec's book and his obsession with Barack Obama "could" go on forever but it "should" not.
It's obvious that this man is more political than he is Catholic. Look, if he gave half as much credence to the teachings of the church leaders and their "followers" and their stance on abortion, especially partial birth and born alive survivors of abortion as he is willing to give Obama and the agenda of his "followers" who want nothing to do with... eliminating abortion on demand, vouchers for non-public school students, secret ballots when voting for/against union membership, or enacting legislation to recognize marriage as the union of a man and a woman only there "should" be no question in his catholic mind that his candidate "could" not be considered worthy of his vote. It's that simple and the effort he is putting forth trying to convince us otherwise in itself proves my point.
"Even the elect will be lead astray".
DS
4 years ago
Ben B-

You said "[McCain] will also select a Supreme Court justice that might at least give us a chance of overturning Roe V. Wade, for the first chance at this in 30 years."

That is incorrect. In Planned Parenthood v Casey, 1992, an initial majority of five were poised to overturn Roe v Wade. But then O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter joined the side that voted to UPHOLD Roe. So you are definitely wrong that we haven't had a chance at this in 30 years.

And while you are right that we would have some chance of overturning Roe v Wade with McCain Supreme Court appointees, it should be pointed out that O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter were appointed by Reagan and GHW Bush. So in the past, supposedly pro-life supreme court appointees have failed to overturn Roe v Wade, and have in fact supported it.

So you can certainly understand why some people might be cynical about the likelihood of McCain appointees overturning Roe.
john
4 years ago
Doug Kmiec wrote:
In my judgment, the position represented by Senator McCain in the 2008 election represents such an inconceivable chain of events that unborn victims could legitimately ask how could an honest heart ever have expected anything favorable to human life to come from it.

I don't understand how he could say "inconceivable chain of events" - other inconceivable events have happened before... as well as "...unborn victims could legitimately ask ...". How does the unborn victim ask anything when not given a life, let alone a voice.
Harold Olsen
4 years ago
There is no way a true Catholic could or should vote for a candidate who supports not only abortion but infanticide. Obama supports killing babies who survive botched abortions. His record proves this. Also, Obama is a racist. He has used the race card during his campaign several times and now says that if he loses it will be on account of racism, not his stand on the issues. Kmiec can spin things any way he wants. If he supports Obama he is supporting the murdering of not only the unborn but the killing of babies who survive botched abortions and a racist candidate.
Sean O
4 years ago
I have struggled with the dichotomy laid out in the opinions of Doug Kmiec and Deacon Fournier. In all, the Democratic platform (and its candidate seems so much more Catholic than does the Republican (and its candidate). I am pro-life in my beliefs and it caused me to vote for George W. Bush, who has squandered lives of Americans and Iraqis in such reckless fashion that its unfathomable to me that he could be regarded as pro-life. I then read an article damning Doug Kmiec by Michael Gaynor at http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=gaynorm&date=080922. The author was so vitriolic that there must be some basic truth in Kmiec's position. Mr. Gaynor's insistence on using Senator Obama's middle name (Hussein), his reference to "drinking the Obama Kool-Aid", and his labelling Obama as a present day Karl Marx all indicate a bigotry that is, put mildly, counter-productive to the author's argument to reasonable Catholics. Gaynor has solidified my support for Obama and the Catholic policies espoused by the Democratic platform and Mr. Kmiec.
Wes Lisitza
4 years ago
I think that the issue of a mal-formed conscience is aptly applied to Mr. Kmiec. However, the true problem that I see is that Mr. Kmiec is aware of the evil of abortion. I can see his reasoning, where the Catholic Church, to this day, is still enduring the evil of the Death Penalty. It bear to reality that perhaps the Church is not the voice of the majority (even though it is the voice of pure reason and morality). The problem, herein, is that even though Doug Kmiec is aware of the "Truth", he has allowed his conscience to be swayed for some reason. Psychology's term for it is cognitive dissonance, where we are willing to justify another person's rights and beliefs in an organization that we detest or strongly disagree with, not because we agree as well, but because we like the other person (probably because they are charismatic). It's similar to why it is that cult leaders and terrorist leaders are rarely ousted by their own (their charisma and earnestness in their efforts cloud the logic and reason of those subjugated by them). It is a form of manipulation, and it is what I fear is the reason many Catholics are standing by Obama (he is very likable, and a model citizen for the poor; he just gets the issues of abortion and gay marriage wrong).

Doug Kmiec is well aware of the Gospel of Life, by Pope John Paul II, as well as many other references of faith defining Catholic stance on abortion. Nothing justifies killing a child (to present alternate situations where the intent of the mother varies is the devil's work of changing darkness into light). It is an issue of severity of sin when a person looks the Church in the face, after having been informed of the Truth, and spitting in it in defiance by saying that it is wrong or doesn't have enough research into the issue. I would not dare to pass judgment on Doug Kmiec; I can only pray for one so deceived. Whatever his motivations, I hope he should understand that he will be accountable for what he utters and what he does when heaven comes. I will pray for him.
Sean Tierney, M.D.
4 years ago
I think Mr. Kmiec has now gone too far and am truly suspicious of his motivation and truly think that he has been promised a high ranking position in the Obama government. There is no other explanation for a pro-life person to so vigorously and swiftly defend Mr. Obama in trying to capture that critical Catholic swing vote. His reasoning defies all the recent Bishops statements and the Catechism itself. I continue to pray for his soul and the rest of my fellow Catholics that we see through this shallow rhetoric and vote their conscience which must regard the sanctity of life as our foundation.
Nathan Lewis
4 years ago
Around 4000 babies are killed by surgical abortion each day. People who say that abortion is just one issue among other issues don't recognize how bad abortion is. What they are really saying is "Abortion is bad, but it's not THAT bad." If Obama was against women voting we would not even consider voting for him. Abortion is worse than not allowing women the right to vote. We should not support Obama who believes killing babies is sometimes ok.
Ben B.
4 years ago
Dave S. -
I'll tell you one thing McCain won't do. Sign the FOCA,, repeal the Mexico City agreement, or make me pay for other people's abortions or artificial contraception (this is also against Church doctrine, if you care). He will also select a Supreme Court justice that might at least give us a chance of overturning Roe V. Wade, for the first chance at this in 30 years. He will also use the bully pulpit and participate in Right to Life rally's instead of NARAL ralies. He will also sign a bill against late term abortion (unlike Clinto who vetoed it), and if we are lucky enough to get Justices lke Thomas, Alito, Roberts or Scalia from McCain (remember, those are justices Obama would have or did vote against) it just might be upheld. I could go on, but I really doubt it matters to you.

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