Comments on: Fighting the Good Fight for Religious Freedom

By: G. W. Markle

G. W. Markle — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:04:37 +0000

The greatest threat to America, and indeed to the rest of world, comes from the staunch advocates of right wing ideology, and I must submit this warning to you: There is a grave problem with the right wing movement, in that; they seem to possess a distorted sense of entitlement. They’ve set themselves apart, and seem to think that their faith gives them the right to view the world from a platitude of conceit, through condescending eyes, and with a false sense of superiority. They actually believe themselves to be superior beings, with a manifest destiny and some strange notion that God is on their side. A people with a desire to conquer, under the false guise of Christianity, seeking to dominate in the name of Christ, their view of humanity being reduced to nothing more than a matter of “us” and “them”.

What they fail to realize is; if the Christ you believe in leads you to view other humans as lesser beings, then you are a follower of the anti-Christ. The plain truth is; God doesn’t have a religion and God doesn’t discriminate. Any religion that professes to be the only true religion, or that they‘re special in the eyes of God preaches false doctrine. If the Spirit of God is truly with you, it will only be known by acts of “unconditional” love and charity. No religion can claim exclusive rights to God. He belongs to all that He has created, and to foster a belief in “us” and “them” is to divide humanity, not unite it.

And so it will be in The End, that those who have set themselves apart from their fellow man will find that they have set themselves apart from God. The worth of a soul will only be measured by how much it has loved, nothing more, nothing less. Woe to those who have taken the widow’s mite and built castles and empires in His name. They have incurred a great accountability, their suffering will be unending.

Even Jesus will not claim to be Christian, but will only proclaim the glory of the Father. And when He returns they will shout: “Here we are Lord!” And He will respond: “I never knew you”. They have forsaken the Word and have become prisoners of the Numbers.

Those who have put themselves first will be last.

By: John

John — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:12:02 +0000

Dear Cardinal Dolan – i sympathize with the difficulty you face regarding these difficult decisions. When i consider Jesus’ willingness to associate with sinners, i usually consider how obstinate or open the person may be to conversion. The president seems to be more of the former.

If you are correct about Jesus’ openness to others no matter what (as your example seems to suggest) then there doesn’t seem to be any basis for our notion of causing scandal. Woohoo! It’s nice not to have to worry anymore about that!

However, Jesus was a polarizing figure and He did turn over the Temple tables. He also warned us about who we associate with.

I think the primary cocern for those who think the decision is the wrong one has to do with the difficulty we see with many Catholics who are desperately looking for reasons to vote again for the president.

By: C J

C J — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 23:25:06 +0000

So Heather
Where did you find perfect people, a church who are ‘tolerant, not harsh or rude?

Sad that you left the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus the Christ of God.

By: Heather Wilson

Heather Wilson — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 00:42:20 +0000

To Irene – very well said. The “war on religious freedom” propaganda has definitely served to incite the “faithful.”. What will be interesting to observe in the months ahead is how the bishops will deal with continuing to promote a self-righteous right wing agenda, demonizing President Obama, when Romney’s VP choice is so blatantly hostile to the needs of the poor and vulnerable in this country.
To Tom – we are not talking about simple disagreement here. If you open your mind and read the replies in this blog, listen for the hate spewing from the mouths of all these self-righteous “Christians.” Can you honestly tell me this is how Jesus would want us to be in the world? Intolerant. Exclusive. Judgemental. Harsh. Self-righteous. Rude. Don’t think so. It is, as Irene correctly pointed out, a result of the bishops allowing the Church to be co-opted by the religious right and spewing Fox news sound bytes regarding a war on religious freedom, blah blah blah. With regard to which one of us should leave – don’t fret – I already have – with great sadness but absolutely no regrets. I occasionally venture to this website and my decision to leave is confirmed time and time again as I read the continued hate (yes hate) from the “faithful.”.

By: Maria Leano

Maria Leano — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:51:59 +0000

Dear Cardinal,

this is an article I believe crystallizes the argument for the average Catholic. It was published by the newspaper of the Diocese of Orange (California).

http://rcbo.org/images/stories/occ/july_2012/Pg%204%20DIOCESAN%20NEWS%20Fortnight%20for%20Freedom%20Conference%20Highlights.pdf

By: Freda Muldoon

Freda Muldoon — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:57:20 +0000

Dear Cardinal Dolan, As we — the lay faithful who heeded your call to step out of our own comfort zones to defend the faith by resisting the HHS mandate — as we suffer for our efforts even now — we shall not soon forget the picture you now propose to our minds, of Your Eminence greeting and smiling and laughing it up with our persecutor. The NY Post says this is a “classy” invitation — but it is only “classy” to those who sow class warfare and division in our Church. We urge you to be our good Shepherd now. PLEASE do not betray us — even in appearance. Please rescind the invitation for the sake of the flock.

By: Ernesto Kortright

Ernesto Kortright — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:14:14 +0000

Dear Father Dolan,
You have chosen a position of leadership in order to feed your sheep. Please don’t add another scandal with this invitation. Rescind it immediately. We’ve had enough with Obama at Notre Dame, Sebelius at Georgetown, pseudo Catholics like Cuomo, Biden, Pelosi and others taking Holy Communion in spite of their scandalous apostasy.
HELP US!!! And if you can’t rescind it. Sit as far away from this evil man as possible and don’t let anyone take video ot pictures with the 2 of you together.
Sincerely,
Ernesto Kortright
Helena, Alabama

By: Mare Ulicne

Mare Ulicne — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:46:48 +0000

Dear Cardinal Dolan, When you took over the archdiocese of NY we were glad to see such a strong conservative Catholic at the helm. If you go through with this invitation to dinner with the president, you will be
harming your credibility by throwing pearls to swine. It’s an insult to your vocation to ignore well meanijng Catholics who are warning you of
this sin of scandal by dining with a man who claims to be a Christian but ignores God’s commandments ” Thou shall not kill” &” thou shall not commit adultery ” the commandment against fornication as anyone who has relations outside of marriage are committingb adultery. this does not only apply to the married. many sins have many sides to them. For him to promote these sins is a scandal against Christianity.He also has shown no proof that he is a Christian & has publicly mocked Christians in his speeches. We actually don’t know WHO the man is as he has denied every truth revealed by his history, companions & those who knew him. Because of this behavior- who can trust him? The comments here about him using you & the fundraiser as a means to promote him & not Catholic charities or Catholic principles is spot on. what good is all the work to defeat & pray against the mandate if we can’t count on the leader of our bishops to do the right thing. please don’t be one of the bishops who brought Jesus’ church to shame by a scandal you can avoid. By breaking bread with an anti-catholic ( possibly an anti-christ based on his lack of support for Christian values taught by Our Lord. )
if you do this- you would be betraying Jesus Himself. Words are empty no matter how charming they sound. Actions speak louder than words. it’s also not a great idea to be sharing a comedy show with blasphemous comedian Colbert. You will only make a fool of yourself & the Catholic church if you associate publicly with unrepentant sinners who flaunt their sins. We need more leaders who call a sin a sin. Catholics learn nothing from leaders who don’t set a good example ymeaning what they say. to socially visit with both men who have insulted God himself will not make it appear that you wish to convert them. it will only lead to more scandal. We love your sense of humor, but there’s a time & place for everything. The jews can be forgiving, but they wouldn’t invite hitler to a passover meal. those who promote abortion by defending it are just as guilty as abortionists. This is a time for you to discern & pray about your own lack of discretion. if you want to meet with these men privately to discuss their sins, is one thing. To pal around with them is another. You remain in my prayers with all priests in this time of temptation in the world. . Even the holy have to guard their senses more carefully as we are surrounded by evil which aims to steal our souls. and it is often a subtle theft.

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:00:02 +0000

To Heather Wilson:

Since when is accusing those you disagree with of hate a Christian value?

One of us doesn’t belong in the Catholic Church. Cardinal Dolan has only left me confused as to which of us should leave.

By: Irene

Irene — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:34:37 +0000

These comments show that our bishops’ very strong “religious freedom” rhetoric has borne some poisonous fruits.

Right here on a Catholic website, some Catholics now feel free to call our democratically elected President, (a political moderate by the way) “the man who is intent on taking away our religious liberty”, “a man who is determined to undermine the Catholic Church on every front”,” “the most evil leader this country has ever known”, or simply “the enemy ”

But, heck, why limit ourselves to just the President, ban all Democrats, as one commenter suggests, “The thought of any Democratic politician invited to any Catholic Charity function is scandalous and total unacceptable.”

Cardinal Dolan, Is this really the face you wish Catholics to present to the world? Or maybe its time to change tone?