First came the highlighting of Joe Biden's nominal Catholicism at every opportunity, followed by the "faith-(or something) filled" convention opener (with a Catholic sister in the lineup of speakers).  If the thing had been any more "faith-filled", there would have been an altar call.  And of course, in political terms, there was; an entire week of the faithful (Obama supporters) and converts (Hillary's delegates) coming forward to declare acceptance of the annointed one into their hearts.  (Well, except for the PUMAs.)  Nothing new about that, convention-wise.

But Catholics were being wooed, wined and dined in a big way.  Gee, you think somebody wants our votes?  If the fundamentalists and most evangelicals are all but lost to them, we're "up for grabs".   So we got to hear about everybody's Catholicism from Biden's to Sr. Prejean's to Pelosi's (although obviously she needed a bit of a catechesis refresher, and got it).  As if that weren't enough, they have Doug Kmiec, a Catholic university professor with a long list of impressive credentials, telling us with no authority whatsoever why it's okay for Catholics to vote for Obama (though he may -- or may not -- have been denied Communion since he came out publicly in support of Obama) and his book with roughly the same title is due to be published soon. 

There's one teeny tiny problem with all the feel-good stuff about Obama: Much as some of us want to see changes, there looms large the Democratic party's plank on abortion.  In case it's escaped anyone's notice in all of the talk of God and faith from the podium, that plank no longer even bothers to couch their position on abortion in the cautionary language of "safe, legal, and rare".  It now baldly states:

“The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right”.

And the Church states:

"Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life ... Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense."

A vote for the Democratic party candidate is certainly a conscious act in agreement with their entire platform, including this plank, and therefore looks a whole lot like formal cooperation. 

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver has put it in even clearer terms, stating that Catholics who support pro-abortion candidates need "a compelling proportionate reason to justify it.  What is a 'proportionate' reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It's the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life - which we most certainly will. If we're confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed."

I can't come up with any "proportionate" reason to vote for a candidate who supports many "rights" but not the one right which all other rights presuppose:  Life, for every person.  Nor have the thoroughly seduced Catholics like Kmiec given us anything more substantial than the opinion that gee, at least Obama is willing to listen to pro-life people.  He's also very willing to make statements such as the one in July 2007 to a Planned Parenthood group that the first thing he would do as President was sign into law the "Freedom of Choice Act".  

Therefore, it's not a quote from Obama or even Kmiec that will drive my vote in November, but Dr. Seuss: "A person's a person, no matter how small". If that makes me a much-derided single-issue voter, so be it.  I want to face those victims, and most especially my Savior, with a clean heart.

 

EDIT:  Board-Certified M.D. over at Powder Tracks found a nice quote from Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life that kind of makes all the flowers and candy the Dems are handing us look even more slimy and calculating: