Why don't the Catholic Bishops fight against war with the same zeal as abortion?

[tk2kewl]

:shrug: I mean really? WTF?! :wtf:

[MNDemNY]

1. Or the fucking death penalty.

[Le Taz Hot]

2. Because they're not fetuses, of course.

It's all about fetuses.

[SIMPLYB1980]

3. Why do those who support abortion.

Have a problem with the Death penalty or war?

I mean really? WTF?! :wtf:

[tk2kewl]

6. so are you suggesting that on some moral scale...

abortion is more reprehensible than war?

[SIMPLYB1980]

7. Yes and I don't have a problem with either, because

I'm not a hypocrite on the subject.

[tk2kewl]

11. And I am?

I haven't even posted a position. I do, however suggest the the Bishops are logically and morally inconsistent and possibly hypocrites. And I would like to hear someone make the argument for abortion being more morally reprehensible than war.

[SIMPLYB1980]

15. I didn't say you were,

I just stated my position. I'm not religious so I could care less what a Bishop says.

[tk2kewl]

18. I'm not religous either. But if what a bishop says affects public policy...

then I care.

[SIMPLYB1980]

19. And that one Bishop has sway over who?

What policy will stay the same or change because of what he said?

[tk2kewl]

24. it is not a single bishop. it is THE United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

that has been lobbying for the HCR Bill to exclude coverage for abortion

[SIMPLYB1980]

27. Without a link I thought you were talking about someone

specific. I could care less weather this bill covers abortions or not. I do think people ought to be able to decide weather they want their money going to abortions, but I doubt that could make it in the bill.

[MrMickeysMom]

39. How do you feel about...

all the premature ejaculations that have become a mass grave for all that sperm on your bed sheets?

I mean, :wtf: Really?

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Maybe because the death penalty and war affect living, breathing human beings and

abortions affect objects that have a potential to become such.

[tk2kewl]

4. unrec?

why? seems like a legit question to me.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

5. war is power

to them

[Ian David]

8. Because war breeds poverty, despair and desperation.

And THAT is a prime hunting ground for converts.

[ensho]

17. kick

nt

[pleah]

23. K&R

[ingac70]

28. k&r.

[Ignis]

37. Oof.

That one stung a little. ;)

[Octafish]

9. Excellent question.

All life is sacred.

[baldguy]

10. Being anti-abortion extremists give them a seat at the wingnut table.

It makes them popular with RWers. Taking a stance against their wars & the death penalty - not so much.

[Kolesar]

21. Insulates the bishops from criticism of the pedophile culture in their clergy...eom

[sinkingfeeling]

12. Good question.

[glinda]

14. Psychologically it secures the "fold" with "emotional control".

[area51]

16. Catholic hierarchy

I wish they'd fight for the right of people already here, such as fighting for single-payer. There's nothing more pro-life than single-payer.

[Deep13]

20. Because they don't give a shit.

War against infidels can be justified as god's will. OTOH, if the RC Church loses control over matters of birth, maturity and death, they know they will have no purpose.

[Bonobo]

22. Because they are fucking hypocrites who will never die from a back-alley abortion? nt

[WinkyDink]

25. Why don't you try Google before you post?

http://www.americancatholic.org/news/JustWar/iraq/papalstatement.asp

http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/deathpenalty/compendium.shtml

http://www.criminaljusticeoffice.org/death.html

"When Benedict was a cardinal before the 2003 invasion, the now-pontiff categorically dismissed the idea that a preventive strike against Iraq could be justified under Catholic doctrine."
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:2jnYOT8X3HkJ:www2.ljworld.com/r/303/462299/+papal+statement+against+iraq+invasion&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

[ingac70]

29. Still not the same zeal....

Remember how the Catholic church interfered with the US elections in '04.... I don't remember the filthy bastards denying communion to warmongers.

[tk2kewl]

30. your right...

i never said they didn't oppose war.

[tk2kewl]

31. I havent seen them say "Catholics who support war should not receive Communion"

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13562">Catholics who support abortion should not receive Communion

[ingac70]

26. Because abortion means less small children to molest. n/t

[unpossibles]

32. because God apparently loves war

it's all over the Bible after all.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

33. Well, they do, actually.....

....but it's much easier to lie and say they don't.

[tk2kewl]

34. see replies #29 & #31. NT

on edit 29 not 25

[BlancheSplanchnik]

35. the answer is the same as the answer to the riddle,

"Why do animal rights activists protest against fur but not leather?

Because it's easier to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs."


The logic is the same:

It's easier to control and harm women than to challenge the guys with the big guns.

[anonymous171]

36. They can't get the funding. The rich donate a lot to those places you know

And the rich like war, poverty, and other social injustices. I like to call them "Republican Catholics" (as opposed to "Roman Catholics".) They claim to be Catholic but worship the protestant work ethic and hate the poor.

[Arugula Latte]

38. It's all about controlling the wimmenfolk with those misogynistic bastards.

[FBaggins]

40. Fairly simple really.

Catholics are not required to be "anti-war" in all circumstances. The Vatican doesn't make infallible statements about particular wars (leaving it up to the individual's conscience). The pope can (and did IIRC) say that he opposed the war and even that it fails under any "just war" theory, but it isn't binding on Catholics.

Abortion, OTOH, is never acceptable to the church unless it is literally a case of mom dying otherwise. Catholics do not have a freedom of conscience on the issue (though of course many hold differing personal views anyway).

The death penalty (brought up elsewhere here) is similar. Catholic theology allows for a death penalty in some circumstances... but the church believes that as it is currently administered it is improper. There is no theological mandate that forces catholics to agree with a judgment of application.

[tk2kewl]

41. thanks for an informative answer.

but it still sounds a bit like a technicality. if the pope says the current wars are unjust then i think the US Bishops should be vociferously opposing them.

[FBaggins]

42. And they do... it's just that

there isn't a comparison to be made to abortion.

WE see both as political issues to be supported/opposed. They see one as beyond any possible dispute and the other as a matter for persuasion.