This Ramesh Ponnuru post makes no sense to me:
As I was writing about the Catholic vote for NRO, it occurred to me that there is one type of Catholic from whom we did not hear much during the campaign controversies about Catholicism in politics: the type of Catholic who a) is pro-life, b) is liberal on most other issues, and c) believes that Catholic politicians who support abortion should not present themselves for communion. There are plenty of Catholics who meet criteria a and b. But very few pro-life liberals were willing to say that politicians who support legal abortion should be denied communion. I can't think of one.I don't see how c follows from a and b. The communion issue is completely separate from the abortion issue.Among the small band of Catholic elites who are pro-life liberals, it may be that the felt imperative to maintain friendly terms with pro-abortion Catholic liberals sways people's views on the communion question. It may also be that they believe a strong form of the "seamless garment" argument: They believe, that is, that their church's teachings on war and poverty are just as practically definitive, and just as urgent, as its teachings on abortion. In either case, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that pro-life liberals in the Catholic church have let their liberalism compromise their pro-life stand.
But what is the position of Ponnuru and the conservative Catholics for whom he speaks? Do they feel that Catholic politicians who take positions counter to the Church's on abortion, the death penalty, or the Iraq war should be denied communion? Does that include "pro-abortion" Republicans like Rudolph Giuliani?
Posted by digamma at December 1, 2004 05:12 PM | TrackBackkreitajoj nenion suspektas -- ili tute ne komprenas la sarkasmon. Neniam dum mia vivo mi estis tiel kontenta, tiel trankvila, tiel plena de bena paco, kiel hierau, kiam mi eksciis, ke Mikel-Angelo ne vivas plu. Ni eltiris ci tiun sciigon el nia gvidisto. Li kondukis nin tra mejloj da pentrajoj kaj skulptajoj en la vastaj koridoroj de Vatikano, tra mejloj da pentrajoj kaj skulptajoj en dudek aliaj palacoj; li montris al ni la grandan pentrajon de la Siksta Kapelo kaj freskojn, kiuj suficus por freskigi la tutan cielon, -- preskau cio estis farita de Mikel-Angelo. Ni decidis uzi kontrau li rimedon, per kiu ni venkis jam multajn gvidistojn -- malsago kaj idiotaj demandoj. Ci tiuj kreitajoj nenion suspektas -- ili tute ne komprenas la sarkasmon.
Posted by: luca at January 10, 2005 06:10 AM