LSU Newspaper Column on Democrats' Anti-Catholic Smear of Jindal

Michael Denton of For the Greater Glory has had his first column, "Louisiana Needs an Exorcist for a Governor", which addresses the Democrats' anti-Catholic smear of Bobby Jindal, published in LSU's The Daily Reveille.

Christian Science Monitor Profile of Sen. Joseph Biden's "Frank and Abiding Faith"

The Christian Science Monitor's puff piece claims that Joe Biden's "Catholic ideals of fighting the abuse of power have shaped the life and politics of the presidential hopeful":

Washington - From his childhood bedroom in a treeless industrial suburb of Wilmington, Del., Joe Biden looked out on Archmere, an Italianate mansion and Catholic boys high school that he called "the object of my deepest desire, my Oz."

Archmere was also the home of financier John Jacob Raskob, who ran the 1928 campaign of Gov. Al Smith (D) of New York, the first Roman Catholic to become the presidential nominee of a major US political party.

Against long odds, Senator Biden aims to be No. 4. He sees faith and values, as well as his own deep experience in public policy, as a key to that race.

"The animating principle of my faith, as taught to me by church and home, was that the cardinal sin was abuse of power," he said in an interview with the Monitor. "It was not only required as a good Catholic to abhor and avoid abuse of power, but to do something to end that abuse." [ED.: And yet, you fight to defend - indeed, it could be said that your role in "borking" Judge Robert Bork is, in part, responsible for - the greatest abuse of power in the world today: the murder of the most innocent and powerless among us via legalized abortion. Save your sanctimonious ******** about defending the powerless, you disingenuous hypocrite!]

The issues that have most engaged Biden in public life draw on those teachings [ED.: Yeah, too bad you've been engaged on the wrong side when it comes to abortion and ESCR.], from halting violence against women to genocide [ED.: Somehow the genocide of the unborn seems to have escaped his notice]. At a personal level, his faith provides him peace, he says. "I get comfort from carrying my rosary [ED.: In case I need to shove it down any Republican throats.], going to mass every Sunday. It's my time alone," he says.

But the interface of faith and policy has long been problematic for Catholic presidential hopefuls. Governor Smith faced withering criticism over whether Catholic politicians are obliged by their church to take policy orders from Rome. John F. Kennedy famously disavowed "outside religious pressures or dictates," swept the Catholic vote, and won the presidency. By the time another J.F.K. from Massachusetts ran for president in 2004, the ground had shifted. Sen. John F. Kerry lost the Catholic vote because many of his faith questioned whether he was Catholic enough, given his strong support for abortion rights.

But Biden believes he can bridge much of that divide. "My views are totally consistent with Catholic social doctrine," [ED.: What a piece of work! "Totally consistent with Catholic social doctrine" - yeah, abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, etc., etc., are just what Catholic social teaching calls for. What chutzpah!] says Biden, a six-term Democratic senator from Delaware. "There are elements within the church who say that if you are at odds with any of the teachings of the church, you are at odds with the church. I think the church is bigger than that." [ED.: Self-serving tripe.]

[More]

(emphasis and editorial commentary added)


UPDATE
A commenter doesn't like what I have to say about Sen. Biden (emphasis and editorial commentary added):

I don't think I've ever read such ugliness on a blog before. [ED.: Riiiiiight. Ever spend any time over at Kos or Democrat Underground? Besides, your comment is rich coming from a defender of a man who threatened to shove his Rosary beads down Republicans' throats.] Your views on abortion have obviously blinded you to all the good things Senator Biden has done as a member of the Senate [ED.: Obviously.] -- helping stop genocide in Bosnia, fighting for passage of the Violenece [sic] Against Women Act, and so much more.

If you call yourself a Christian, you are truly a disgrace to the basic idea of Christianity. [ED.: I will be the first to admit that I - a sinner - am unworthy of the title "Christian".] You can't even carry on a civil discussion about a man who so obviously tries to live his faith every day as he sees his duty. [ED.: Obviously.]

Shame on you. [ED.: Yes, don't look at the full-bodied shamefulness of a man who professes the Catholic faith and claims to defend the powerless against "abuse of power", yet who wholeheartedly supports the legalized murder of the most powerless among us; rather, look at the "ugly" and "shameful" way people point out the man's hypocrisy.]

Look here. When a man proclaims that his "views are totally consistent with Catholic social doctrine" and professes that "the animating principle of my faith" is to defend the powerless against "the abuse of power", but then has this to say about abortion ...

Joe Biden, a Delaware senator, got the next abortion question and indicated he "strongly supported Roe v. Wade" which allowed unlimited abortion throughout pregnancy.

He said he would "make sure that the people I sent to be nominated to the Supreme Court shared my values" and supported pro-abortion rulings like Roe.

"That's why I led the fight to defeat Bork. Thank God he's not on the court or this would -- Roe v. Wade would be gone by now," Biden added about the battle over a pro-life nominee for the high court defeated in the 1980s.

Biden pointed to his opposition to Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, all of whom voted to uphold the partial-birth abortion ban.

... you can damn well bet that I'm going to point out his hypocrisy and disingenuous sanctimony.

Democrats' Attack on Jindal Backfires

A holier-than-thou attack backfires, by Stephanie Grace. The Times-Picayune August 26, 2007:

If the Louisiana Democratic Party wanted to get people talking about its newest attack ad against gubernatorial favorite Bobby Jindal, well, mission accomplished.

The commercial, which lobs an explosive allegation that the Republican Catholic convert is anti-Protestant, is only airing in the heavily Protestant northern reaches of the state. Still, it has become a hot topic all over Louisiana.

But if the Democrats were hoping the ad would put Jindal on the defensive, it looks like they've accomplished the exact opposite. . . .

(Hat tip: Tobias Danna).

Louisiana Democrats go after Catholic Republican Bobby Jindal

WAFB News clarifies the nature of the Democratic Party of Louisiana's attack advertisements against Catholic Republican Bobby Jindal:

The Louisiana Democratic Party says an attack ad it is preparing to air against Republican Bobby Jindal -will- focus on Jindal's religious writings from his college days, but will -not- focus on a piece Jindal wrote about observing an exorcism being performed on a female friend.

WAFB 9NEWS reported Wednesday night that the exorcism paper would be part of the attack ad, but Democratic Party spokeswoman Julie Vezinot says that is incorrect. Vezinot said other anti-Jindal ads will air that focus on topics others than religion. "The ads are based on facts drawn from his voting records in Congress and his campaign contributions," Vezinot said.

Vezinot says the ad focusing on religion is just one of several the party is planning to launch against Jindal in the coming weeks. The party estimates it will spend nearly $1 million dollars on the series of anti-Jindal ads.

Jindal, a Republican currently serving in Congress, is the clear front-runner in the race for Louisiana governor. Jindal ran for governor four years ago and finished first in the primary. However, he lost the runoff election to then Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat. Blanco is not seeking re-election.

"Bobby is a proud Christian, and attacks against his faith prove just how far old-guard party bosses willl go to resist the change our state needs," said Melissa Sellers, communications director for the Bobby Jindal campaign. "People will see this as exactly what it is - the same kind of baseless mudslinging and gutter politics that has held Louisiana back for generations," Sellers said.

A piece on exorcism that Bobby Jindal wrote for the New Oxford Review in December 1994 is being made the subject of ridicule by some liberal bloggers. In the closing paragraphs, Jindal conveys his belief in "the reality of spirits, angels and other related phenomena" and the efficacy of the Holy Mother's intercessions -- the former being common to many Christians, not just Catholics; the latter I would consider admirable.

See Michael Denton's For the Greater Glory and Tobias Danna's Astonished, Yet at Home for the goods.

Giuliani Professes Ignorance of Catholic Faith

Giuliani Selective on Questions of Religion CNN August 10, 2007:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rudy Giuliani evokes his Catholic upbringing as he campaigns for president, yet he refuses to say whether he is a practicing Catholic.

When a voter asked this week if he is a "traditional, practicing Roman Catholic," Giuliani insisted his faith should be private.

"My religious affiliation, my religious practices and the degree to which I am a good or not-so-good Catholic, I prefer to leave to the priests," the former New York mayor responded in Davenport, Iowa.

It would be difficult for him to answer yes. Someone who, like Giuliani, divorces and remarries without getting an annulment from the church cannot receive communion or other church sacraments.

Yet, the article goes on to note that "Giuliani brings up his Catholic upbringing when it suits him."

"Leave it to the priests?" -- I imagine there are some elementary school kids right here in New York who know what it means to be "a good Catholic."

The article compares the Republican mayor with the Democratic Senator:

Both [Giuliani and Kerry] are at odds with the church because they favor abortion rights. In 2004, several bishops said they would refuse communion for Kerry, the Democratic nominee, over the abortion issue. And, Providence, Rhode Island, Bishop Thomas Tobin has criticized Giuliani's position, calling it pathetic, confusing and hypocritical.

However, while the church lets individual bishops decide whether an abortion rights candidate may receive communion, priests have no such discretion when confronted with someone who remarried without getting an annulment.

Some of Giuliani's critics, such as conservative blogger Stephen Dillard, believe his marital history is fair game. Dillard started a "Catholics Against Rudy" Web site that raises that issue, among several others.

"The way he treated his wife gives us insight into how he views the role of family, how he views marriage, how he views the church's teaching on adultery and divorce," Dillard said.

MORE:

• US presidential candidate Giuliani questioned about his Catholic faith Associated Press August 7, 2007.
  
• Carl Olson sums it up perfectly: "Giuliani admits he doesn't know what a Catholic is".
  
• Conservative Group Running Ad on Giuliani's Abortion Record Pro Ecclesia.