Lane Core Jr. asks “Why is it important to have Catholics in public life if, once there, they’re no different from anybody else?”
Unfortunately most modern politicians who advertise themselves as Catholics are martyrs in reverse. The word martyr means witness and regardless of the mindless justifications that come out of their mouths their actions are anything but a witness to the faith. John Kerry’s recent quote as saying that “life begins at conception” reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the two sons. The one who did what the father asked was the one that was obedient and not the one who only said they would do it but didn’t.
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I think the wish to have one’s own in public life springs from a rather schoolyard attitude I call “Hooray for our side.” It really is hardly at all different from the sentiment expressed by the kindergarteners on my bus (which had a blue card in the front window in lieu of a number because we presumably didn’t know numbers) when we chanted “We beat the white bus!” every time our driver got to school first. I have no objection to partisanship per se, but for Heaven’s sake let it be partisanship to a principle and not to a label.
Thanks for the notice. Actually, though, that’s a quotation from Rosenberg.