Sen. Sam Brownback for President

A lot is at stake. But now is the time to go for broke and vote with our hearts. Here is a link to a good analysis of Sen. Sam Brownback from Kansas, a genuine Catholic on the life issues who is also a genuine Catholic on other issues of social justice. He doesn't fit the unfair stereotype of the conservative Catholic oblivious to the poor. The primaries are the time to vote with your heart. In the general election, we can all unite against Hillary Clinton. By the way, you can vote your preference in the Pajamas Media Presidential Straw Poll in the side margin of my Catholic Analysis blog and, I am sure, at other websites.

Fargo Bishop: Catholic Politicians Must Act Upon Truth of Inherent Dignity of Human Person to be Faithful Catholics

(Hat tip: Catholic World News)

From the Diocese of Fargo, ND:

Catholic politicians must act upon the truth of the inherent dignity of the human person to be faithful Catholics, Bishop Samuel Aquila writes in newspaper column

In his February diocesan newspaper column, Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo, reminds Catholic politicians of their responsibility to ensure that their actions reflect their Catholic faith.

“Every act of violence that attacks an innocent human person from the moment of conception to natural death is against the will of God and rejects the inherent dignity of the human person,” the bishop wrote. “Every Catholic politician must recognize and act upon this truth to be a faithful Catholic.”

The column is an edited version of the homily Bishop Aquila presented at the Jan. 18 Legislative Mass celebrated at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck. It will appear in New Earth, the newspaper for the Diocese of Fargo, which will be printed Feb. 15.

“We cannot leave God at the door when we walk into the legislature,” the bishop reminds Catholic politicians, “but rather we must allow the truth of God and the truth of the dignity of the human person to guide us in every decision we make. With each law or bill we consider, we must be, first, a people who recognize that there is the inherent dignity of human life that is bestowed by God and that can never be violated.”

He continues, “Once we begin to be the ones who determine what is good or what is evil, once we begin to be the ones who determine which human person has dignity and which one doesn’t, we will see…what happens to a society.” Bishop Aquila refers to the movie “Blood Diamond,” saying, “In that society the lust for power, the lust for money, the lust for control overtakes and guides the human heart, with the result that violence and murder govern the society.”

In addition to the unborn, the column addresses the dignity of illegal aliens and those sentenced to the death penalty. The bishop questions how people who believe in God can express hatred for illegal aliens or “cheer when a capital punishment sentence is given.” He notes what offenses against life are most grave. “As faithful Catholics, we acknowledge that the gravest attacks against the dignity of human life are those that destroy innocent human life, as in abortion, euthanasia and genocide.”

The full column can be found at
http://www.fargodiocese.org/news/FromBishopsOffice.htm.

Terrence Jeffrey at National Review: "Rudy’s a No-Go"

Terence P. Jeffrey, writing at National Review Online, says "Free markets and the rule of law are great, but support for them doesn’t make Rudy Giuliani a conservative":

“Murder and graffiti are two vastly different crimes,” Rudy Giuliani once said. “But they are part of the same continuum, and a climate that tolerates one is more likely to tolerate the other.”

Good point, Rudy.

Now, what about a climate — not to mention a Republican presidential candidate — that not only tolerates, but allows unelected judges to legalize the practice of delivering a child until only its head remains within its mothers womb so the child can be killed by sucking out its brains?

What about a climate where same-sex couples are given the same legal status as married couples, whether the resulting arrangements are candidly called “same-sex marriages,” or are semantically papered-over with terms such as “civil unions” or “domestic partnerships”?

Apply the Giuliani Continuum to fundamental issues such as marriage and the right to life, and where does it lead?

Not where conservatives want America to be.

***
Giuliani’s positions on abortion and marriage disqualify him as a conservative because they annihilate the link between the natural law and man-made laws. Indeed, they use man-made law to promote and protect acts that violate the natural law.

***
By advocating abortion on demand and same-sex unions, Rudy is doing something far more egregious than, say, defacing a New York subway train. He is defacing the institution that forms the foundation of human civilization.

[More]

Fr. John Malloy writes an "Open Letter to Nancy Pelosi"

Fr. John Malloy, pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco, penned this “Open letter to Nancy Pelosi,” which was recently published in the parish bulletin. California Catholic Daily reprints the letter with Fr. Malloy's permission.

Brownback on "Fundamental Kindness"

. . . Fundamental kindness and goodness is the thread that runs through any subject on which Brownback is asked to elaborate.

Acknowledging that he is strongly pro-life, Brownback stresses that Americans need to see each other in a more “human” way in all settings.

“Not just for the child in the womb ... but for the person in prison ... for the child in Darfur. I just don’t think we’re looking at each other as precious enough,” he said in an interview. “I know this may seem to be an abstract concept (but extends to) the way you look at the guy in the coffee shop, or in McDonald’s.

“Do you look through him just to get your cup of coffee, or do you look at him and see him?” he asked. “I think it’s a real problem for us.”

-- Presidential candidate Brownback visits Naples, by I.M. Stackel. NaplesNews.com. February 3, 2007. (Hat tip: Jay Anderson).