The smack down regarding abortion continues for Joe Biden as two more Catholic Bishops take him to task for his latest comments.¹

Two prominent U.S. Catholic bishops said Tuesday that Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden contradicted church teaching by saying in a weekend interview that determining when human life begins is a “personal and private” matter of religious faith he would not impose on others.

The statement from Cardinal Justin Rigali and Bishop William Lori said Biden, who appeared Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” is the latest case of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy correcting a Catholic politician.

Asked on the program about when life begins, Biden said: “Look, I know when it begins for me. It’s a personal and private issue. For me, as a Roman Catholic, I am prepared to accept the teachings in my church.”

He added that while he believes life begins “at the moment of conception,” it would inappropriate to impose that view on others in a pluralistic society.

So essentially he takes a position that life begins at conception, but then ducks into a “don’t want to push my beliefs on others” defense.  While that is, on the surface at least, a reasonable sounding perspective, it is also semi hypocritical as it seems that Democrats (and to be fair, politicians in general) are often semi hypocritical as they are quite happy to push their beliefs off on pother people all the time.

This is an artful dodge really, nothing more.  By making the doctrinal stance, he figures he has made the appropriate concession to church, and by leaving it to privacy and individual choice, he has divested himself of responsibility of other choices.  It just isn’t that easy.

The bishops said Biden was right to say human life begins at conception. But the church “does not teach this as matter of faith; it acknowledges it as a matter of objective fact,” they said.

“Protection of innocent human life is not an imposition of personal religious conviction but a demand of justice,” they added.

And that seems to be the key.  If life begins at conception than abortion, as Joe has stated he believes, then abortion has to be the deliberate end of a human life according to those beliefs. 

Joe has painted himself into a moral corner.  Either he has to diverge from his faith’s teaching and embrace the blob theory, that an embryo is just a blob of protoplasm until birth, or he has to contend with saying that he votes and legislates in support of laws that allow the taking of an innocent human life, and as such he is out of communion with The Church.

The issue of abortion remains one of the most divisive in American politics, and that will not change any time soon.  And comments like this will keep it there.

Now for a lesson from Father Ron.  Ron is a longtime friend of mine, and a Catholic Priest.

He posted this in some comments on another site, and it provides some interesting commentary into the mindset surrounding the “do not impose” argument:

I am going to take a stab at something here. Pelosi, Biden and other like-minded Catholics have to come to realize that Catholicism, indeed Christianity, is a way of life, not a club one belongs to. It is not rules, regulations, and a viewpoint on life, but is a transformation from a mere human being to one who is transformed into the image and likeness of Christ.

A Christian’s task in this world is not to ensure that he/she gets into heaven, but rather to live out the Gospel in their daily lives, in their occupation, in their family, in their friendships, and so on, so that all can see to Whom we belong. We are to conform ourselves to God’s will and to carry out that will in their lives.

And if God gives us the opportunity, or if He puts us in a position of responsibility, it is because He wants us to make a difference in the world. Thus, if one is involved in the politics of their land, they are called to stand up for the God they profess to believe in and to do His will in the position we find ourselves in.

Christians are to be the salt of the earth, meaning that we are to be the preservative against rot and corruption of the world. A politician, as a result, is obligated to use whatever power they have to turn the tide. A light is meant to be placed on a lampstand, not hidden under a basket.

If God gives us a platform from which to make His will known, and we decide, all of a sudden, that “we have no right to impose our morality on others,” we have betrayed the Gospel, are not true followers of Christ, we are no different than Judas.

So, either Biden, Pelosi, et al, are NOT Catholic and should have the sense and the guts to admit it, or they should live the Gospel they profess to believe in, and damn the torpedoes. As it is, they have put their very souls in peril for doing a Jonah and running away from doing God’s will.

They should realize that this is not a game played out in this world, but that their choices, decisions and actions will determine where they will spend eternity. All said, they were granted, by God Himself, the opportunity to make His difference in the policies of our government. In stating that they have no “right” to impose morality on others, they are missing the point of their appointment by God, and come under the judgment of their own actions and lack thereof.

Christianity is not meant to be private, but rather to transform the world or die trying. The holy martyrs did not adopt the posture of, “I cannot impose my lifestyle on the pagans” but faced and suffered death to proclaim the Gospel. Every person who calls him or herself Catholic and Christian is called to do no less.

Previously:

Pelosi and Biden unrepentant about Abortion

Democrats, Catholics and abortion

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1. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080909/D933GK981.html [back]

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