Originally posted at Talk to Action

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-five

What does McCain's use of Catholic Right icon Deal Hudson as a campaign advisor and surrogate tell us about the presumptive GOP nominee's view of American Catholics?  Simple: just like President George W. Bush, his Catholic constituency is not the rank and file faithful, but a small reactionary faction in the hierarchy here and in the Vatican.

This is significant for many reasons, not the least is that it signals a disregard for one of American Catholicism's most recent painful episodes.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-four

On July 16, 2008 Catholics United sent the McCain campaign a a letter calling on the Arizona senator to remove the controversial Catholic Right mover and shaker Deal Hudson from the Catholics for McCain National Steering Committee. Hudson, a Catholic Right activist who was forced to resign from a similar position in President Bush's 2004 presidential campaign when The National Catholic Reporter broke a story about sexual harassment on Hudson's part while teaching at Fordham University.

So, who would be brazen enough to defend such a man from a similar firing? The Catholic League's Bill Donohue, of course.

One of the things I have stressed in my series on the Catholic Right is that we have got to understand natural law in order to understand the Catholic Right and increasingly allied conservative Evangelicals. That being the case, I think any reasonable understanding of the wider Religious Right is incomplete without it.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-three

"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well.

The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' His slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up? He replied, 'No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them.

Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, "First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" Matthew 13:24-30

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-two

In last week's post I discussed how the Catholic Right organization Fidelis may be possibly violating IRS proscriptions against electioneering by non-profit, tax-exempt organizations. This week we take a closer look at one of its principle figures -- attorney Patrick T. Gillen. Although not exactly a household name, Gillen has been in the middle of many of the religious right's biggest court battles in recent years.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-one

A little more than a year ago Fidelis, an umbrella advocacy group consisting of various not-for-profit entities, sought to derail the presidential prospects of pro-choice Republican (and Catholic) Rudy Giuliani. It is now going after presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama (the junior senator from Illinois is also pro-choice, pro-embryonic stem cell research, and perhaps what truly horrifies these folks, he favors contemporary liberal economics).

However, my question of May 2007 still stands: Is Fidelis violating the Internal Revenue Code's provisions regarding not-for-profits?

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty

On June 13, 2008 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a declaration condemning embryonic stem cell research. Bill Donohue's Catholic League issued an immediate statement of support, proclaiming, "The life issues, then, are of preeminent importance to Catholics. To discuss social justice, for example, while being dismissive of the life issues is profoundly un-Catholic."

But as a Catholic who both actively supports and would benefit from this research, I began to wonder, what does it take for something to truly constitute a life issue for the princes of the Church?

The Catholic Right, Part Fifty-nine

As several of us here at Talk to Action have discussed, reports of the Religious Right's demise are greatly exaggerated. For the moment their movement is stalled.  But stalled is not the same as finished.  But it might mean -- in transition, And as we've seen in the recent past it is a movement that is both resilient and well-funded.

With that thought in mind, it is time to take another look at one of the up-and-coming faces of the Religious Right, Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal -- who may be viewed as the poster-child for Religious Right's new brand of ecumenical politics.

As many readers who follow my ongoing series on the Catholic Right know I have no tolerance for a demagogue such as the Catholic League's Bill Donohue. He is nothing short of a boorish buffoon who uses the cloak of Catholicism to further a political agenda that often runs contrary to the common good. And in doing so, he uses destructive, false language that constantly debases the public discourse.

This originally was posted at Talk to Action.

A few posts ago I said of the Catholic League's Bill Donohue:

As the saying goes, even a broken watch is correct twice a day. Well, with the Catholic League's Bill Donohue's condemnation of Senator John McCain endorsement by Evangelical John Hagee, ole Bill is at least half right.

Well folks, I take back my conditional praise of Bloviating Bill: The hands have now completely come off the tempestuous Timex.

Recently, I described  how the Catholic Right has abused Holy Communion by using it as political tool, doing so by denying the Sacrament to pro-choice (i.e., liberal) elected officials. Now, according to Catholic Democrats certain Church hierarchs with close GOP connections have begun using this debasing tactic to target a potential Democratic running mate.

Originally posted at Talk to Action.

The Catholic Right, Part Fifty-six
On Tuesday I read the news that Cardinal Edward Egan (Archdiocese of New York) criticized former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for taking Communion during a Mass attended by Pope Benedict XVI.  This comes as no surprise, as the archbishop was repeating an  an increasingly common Catholic Right refrain - that those who support a woman's right to choose should be denied Communion.