Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
A Challenge to the Title of Most Clueless Catholic™
Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Senator Time Kaine is mounting a serious challenge to Vice President Joe Biden and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for the title of America’s Most Clueless Catholic™. (There is a special category for Secretary of State John Kerry, but Ricochet’s Code of Conduct doesn’t allow one to name it).
During his keynote address at the national dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, an influential LGBT advocacy group, Kaine predicted that the Catholic Church will eventually drop its opposition to same-sex marriage. Channeling the gobbledygook that, at times, comes from Pope Francis, Kaine dug deep into his Jesuit training and opined:
“I think it’s going to change because my church also teaches me about a creator who, in the first chapter of Genesis, surveyed the entire world, including mankind, and said, ‘It is very good’.”
Kaine (also) cited Pope Francis’ “who am I to judge” comment, and then said: “I want to add: Who am I to challenge God for the beautiful diversity of the human family? I think we’re supposed to celebrate it, not challenge it.”
Like many of his fellow contenders for the title, Kaine cherry-picked his verses, forgetting the parts about God creating man in His own image, creating them male and female, and commanding them to be fruitful and multiply. But heck, why sweat the details for such a lofty goal?
Of course Kaine, adopts the mantra of his mentors by being “personally opposed” to abortion. This however, has not prevented him from receiving a 100 percent rating in 2016 from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of the nation’s largest abortion provider and, recently, a perfect rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Why let your principles inform your actions, right?
Of course, the progressive media love it when a Catholic runs as a Democrat. For instance, the New York Times gushed over Kaine’s “spiritual awakening” in Honduras. But as one writer has put it, it seems the experience brought Kaine closer to Karl Marx than Jesus Christ. Of course, with his grounding in Liberation Theology, and his upbringing under Jesuit influence — and the friendships he carried on with the liberation theology priests — has given Kaine a bond with the Pope:
“I really feel I know him,” Mr. Kaine said. “The age he was in 1980 and ’81 was about the same age as a lot of my friends were. The Jesuits.”
Sheesh.
But Kaine should not assume his title in this august contest will remain unchallenged. Not to be outdone, two members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops — Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington D.C. — signed a joint declaration last month with Iranian Religious leaders that contained this type of nonsense:
Christianity and Islam share a commitment to love and respect for the life, dignity, and welfare of all members of the human community. Both traditions reject transgressions and injustices as reprehensible, and oppose any actions that endanger the life, health, dignity, or welfare of others. We hold a common commitment to peaceful coexistence and mutual respect.
What a world we live in. The race is on for the title.
Published in Religion & Philosophy
Maybe so, but I was just passing on what the progressive sycophants gush about when a “Catholic” is on their side.
Kaine himself doesn’t seem to refute this.
I’m word limited but how about his latest bit of gobbledygook:
We should certainly be good stewards of the earth but care for the environment as a work of mercy? Really?
Well, as I’ve read that story it’s about Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. But then, I’m Catholic and everyone knows we don’t read the Bible.
Well, if Kaine had a clue about his faith he would understand that the Church cannot change Her teaching on marriage so he is trying to interpret the theology.
Yeah, I know, it’s nauseating.
Of course, when a Catholic says “We should do (fill-in-the-blank)…” you’ll get a load of people who proudly proclaim the authority behind the proposal. And yet when the same guy proposes something they don’t like, the authority mysteriously disappears.
But we’ve had so many cases of hypocritical “arguments by authority” you’d have thought most observers would be onto the scam by now … sadly, a whole bunch of people keep falling for it.
I was under the impression that Leviticus had already been tossed. Every time I ask about shellfish or mixing fabrics, I get told that by some evangelical.
The French Revolution within the Church has never been about changing teachings; its about changing behavior.
The left wants us to take the Pope’s personal opinion on subjects such as capital punishment and the welfare state as dogma, but actual dogma regarding things like abortion, euthanasia, and homosexuality is just some old white man’s opinion.
Yes. Yes. Yes.
They use Protestantism the same way, of course. If I have a religious reason to oppose abortion or same-sex marriage, I’d better shut up about it in any political conversation, or I’m a theocrat. If some politician claims to be a Protestant and supports a bigger welfare state because Jesus tells us to care for the poor, he’s just being a good Christian.
Thus sayeth the Left.
Some Jesuits forget that they are Catholic, and resent being reminded.
Excellent point. And many incorrectly think that whenever the Pope speaks, he speaks infallibly. Progs like to push their agenda at all times, but especially where people have an incorrect understanding about facts.
For the record, and as an RC, when Pope Francis addressed Congress, his statements about ending the death penalty globally, but not mentioning the death penalty known as abortion, were absurd.
Probably not, but American Catholic Church in the United States?” Or American National Catholic Church? Those are “Catholics” any Progressive could love – God is love, so haters can’t be real Christians, and the Roman Catholics are haters, so not real religion entitled to protection under the 1st Amendment.
There are some fantastic Jesuit educational institutions, and members of the Society of Jesus to boot. However, there are also, prominent schools founded by Jesuits, which have forgotten their Catholic identity, and have replaced it with progressive politics. In fact, many Catholic schools, aren’t.
Not applicable to Christians, but still in the book.
When we were visiting colleges with my oldest son, we stopped at Georgetown. After the orientation he said we could skip the tour and head straight for NY. When I asked why, he said if he attended a Catholic school it would be one that wasn’t ashamed to be Catholic.
I was going to let this go, but then I decided, Nah. There is a significant amount of dissent at Georgetown over its mission–one prominent critic is William Peter Blatty of Exorcist fame–but the term “ashamed” is inappropriate (even if based on no more than an orientation). Georgetown may well be erring too much on the side of secularism in attempts to maintain its academic stature, but, simply put, if one wants a religious experience there, it’s not hard to find.
Ministry.
Sigh. For the record, he’s not Catholic, so he’s a bit of a forced entry into the Catholic hall of apostasy that started this thread.
I’m guessing having “Western Nazism,” “Nazi hermeneutics” as your specialties doesn’t hold the same panache within gilded ivy halls, which is too bad.
Both systems are repugnant.
Wait, so when did He create all the other genders?
Christians read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. The New Covenant replaces the Old. We don’t discard the Old Testament, we treasure it, but we read the Bible as a coherent whole, we don’t chop it up into bits and then pick the ones we like and discard the rest.
Make a mess.
That’s fine, but it leave a lot of room for doctrine to “evolve.”
There are some fantastic Jesuit educational institutions, and members of the Society of Jesus to boot
Please name them.
Seems about right, but only within certain parameters. In particular, you need a criterion (or set of criteria) for knowing the difference between the Levitical rules that go with “Do not commit adultery” and those that go with the sideburn and shellfish regulations.
There’s a lot that can’t evolve, but our understanding of the relevant criterion/criteria, and of what rules go which direction, can evolve.
There’s a most excellent Lutheran Satire that explains this.
Good thing we have a magisterial teaching authority to guide us, then.
Not sure I understand what you find so objectionable here. Jesus did say “blessed are the peacemakers,” which seems to be what they are trying to accomplish here.
What they signed is certainly true of Christianity, and that’s the only religion they can speak to with any authority. Whether it’s true of Islam is up to the Islamic leaders to say, and if these particular Iranians say it is, is that such a bad thing? Aren’t we always asking “where are the moderate Islamic leaders, why don’t they condemn this violence?” Apparently we found a few. Now we need to hold them to their statement, and point out any future backtracking.
It’s Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. With the guidance of the Magisterium.
Unlike our separated brethren who only have the Bible and their many, different interpretations.
As it is, I can name quite a few, whose holiness, scholarship, and personal decency are extraordinarily edifying. And unless you’re prepared to rebut me on any of them, I’d wonder why you’d demand names.