About Damned Time!
[Note: I've been offline for nearly a week because of problems with my telephone service. Yes, I'm one of those dinosaurs who relies on dial-up because I'm too cheap and too lazy to get a broadband service. In any event, I apparently now have phone service (due to my own efforts at jiggling wires, and not to any help from AT&T).]
For years now, the Religious Reich has controlled the agenda of this regime. It has also been seen by the media as the only fountain from which to draw spiritual wisdom. Progressives have rightfully resented this state of affairs and have even denigrated all Christians (often rightfully so) for what has happened in this regard. Voices from the community of believers who look to the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount have been noticeably silent on social issues, or at the very least have been muted in their disgust with the decidedly unChristian pall cast over most of the major issues.
Apparently progressive Christians are beginning to find their voices. One example of what will hopefully be a new trend among religious leaders is Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Archbishop of Los Angeles. He made his position clear on the issue of undocumented workers and the pending "Immigration Reform" bills now before Congress. The Washington Post has an interesting story on His Eminence.
Cardinal Roger Mahony... leads the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It is the largest Roman Catholic diocese in the country, and Mahony has recently placed himself and the church in the middle of the national debate on immigration.
On March 1, during Ash Wednesday Mass, the Hollywood-born clergyman attacked a House bill that would turn most people and institutions that aid illegal immigrants into felons. Calling it "blameful, vicious" legislation, Mahony vowed a campaign of civil disobedience in the archdiocese's 288 parishes if it becomes law.
Protest organizers and participants credited Mahony's fire from the pulpit -- and the educational campaign he initiated in January throughout his archdiocese -- with playing a critical role in organizing opposition. They say his efforts helped prompt half a million people, including many illegal immigrants, to feel safe enough to participate in one of the biggest demonstrations ever in downtown Los Angeles on March 25, calling for a more liberal immigration bill.
...Religious observers say that for the church at large and Mahony in particular, the immigration debate provides an opportunity to stress values that have recently received little attention. For the past few years, Reese said, some in the church's leadership have been "appalled" at how Republican politicians used opposition to abortion to capture the Catholic vote in 2002 and 2004. By putting itself squarely on the liberal side of the immigration debate, Reese said, the church's hierarchy can "go on the record and show that the Roman Catholic Church is not in the back pocket of the Republican Party." [Emphasis added]
Like most liberals, I am a firm believer in the absolute separation of church and state. The church does, however, have a role in society, a prophetic one. It should indeed speak out against the immorality of a bill that would make the Good Samaritan a felon, and it should urge its members to struggle against any regime that would scapegoat the weakest and most vulnerable among us. It took the Sensenbrenner House bill to remind Cardinal Mahoney of that role. I am pleased that he finally got it.
For years now, the Religious Reich has controlled the agenda of this regime. It has also been seen by the media as the only fountain from which to draw spiritual wisdom. Progressives have rightfully resented this state of affairs and have even denigrated all Christians (often rightfully so) for what has happened in this regard. Voices from the community of believers who look to the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount have been noticeably silent on social issues, or at the very least have been muted in their disgust with the decidedly unChristian pall cast over most of the major issues.
Apparently progressive Christians are beginning to find their voices. One example of what will hopefully be a new trend among religious leaders is Cardinal Roger Mahoney, Archbishop of Los Angeles. He made his position clear on the issue of undocumented workers and the pending "Immigration Reform" bills now before Congress. The Washington Post has an interesting story on His Eminence.
Cardinal Roger Mahony... leads the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It is the largest Roman Catholic diocese in the country, and Mahony has recently placed himself and the church in the middle of the national debate on immigration.
On March 1, during Ash Wednesday Mass, the Hollywood-born clergyman attacked a House bill that would turn most people and institutions that aid illegal immigrants into felons. Calling it "blameful, vicious" legislation, Mahony vowed a campaign of civil disobedience in the archdiocese's 288 parishes if it becomes law.
Protest organizers and participants credited Mahony's fire from the pulpit -- and the educational campaign he initiated in January throughout his archdiocese -- with playing a critical role in organizing opposition. They say his efforts helped prompt half a million people, including many illegal immigrants, to feel safe enough to participate in one of the biggest demonstrations ever in downtown Los Angeles on March 25, calling for a more liberal immigration bill.
...Religious observers say that for the church at large and Mahony in particular, the immigration debate provides an opportunity to stress values that have recently received little attention. For the past few years, Reese said, some in the church's leadership have been "appalled" at how Republican politicians used opposition to abortion to capture the Catholic vote in 2002 and 2004. By putting itself squarely on the liberal side of the immigration debate, Reese said, the church's hierarchy can "go on the record and show that the Roman Catholic Church is not in the back pocket of the Republican Party." [Emphasis added]
Like most liberals, I am a firm believer in the absolute separation of church and state. The church does, however, have a role in society, a prophetic one. It should indeed speak out against the immorality of a bill that would make the Good Samaritan a felon, and it should urge its members to struggle against any regime that would scapegoat the weakest and most vulnerable among us. It took the Sensenbrenner House bill to remind Cardinal Mahoney of that role. I am pleased that he finally got it.
posted by Diane at 5:46 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home