CONSERVATIVE CATHOLICS' DOUBLE STANDARD

I don't understand why everybody's so shocked that the Catholic groups continue to villify John Kerry.

The difficulty in achieving "moral purity in politics," as New York Times columnist Peter Steinfels noted over the weekend, was underscored by the case of Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). A strong foe of abortion, Santorum campaigned hard in Pennsylvania's Republican primary for Sen. Arlen Specter, a supporter of abortion rights. Specter prevailed narrowly over Rep. Pat Toomey, a staunch antiabortion advocate. The question: Why is it acceptable for a committed Catholic abortion opponent such as Santorum to support Specter over an antiabortion candidate, but not Kerry over Bush? Might Specter's party label have something to do with it?

It is painfully obvious that the Catholic church in the U.S., after decades of scandals concerning the church's ignoring and, thereby, condoning, hundreds, maybe thousands, of documented actions of pedophiliac priests, is eager to regain its moral authority among its congregants. What is also painfully obvious is that many in the U.S. Catholic hierarchy have decided that the way to do this is to align the Church with the right-wing conservative movement. How pitiful. Not long after the Pope was declaring that the proposed Iraqi invasion by the U.S. did not meet the standards of a "just war," some American bishops and priests have decided that politicians that support a woman's right to choice should be denied communion. But this apparently applies only to Democratic politicians, not to Republicans such as George Pataki, Rudy Giuliani, or Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It is not much different among the Christian fundamentalists. They just have MORE litmus tests, including homosexual policy and "ungodly" public education.