Bishops warn Obama about abortion issue

What happened to separation of Church and State!? The should counsel their flock on abstinence and birth control and not threaten politicians.

Where is the threat, or even an implied one? Does Obama support abortion or not? In all instances, he does. Simple. I don't want my tax dollars helping to kill innocent children. I'm glad to see the bishops take a stand for the rights of the unborn. If it means removing their support for a candidate and the voting industry that helped him get elected, I'm all for it.

What did everyone expect? That Obama was going to pay any attention to the church? He helped strike down a law that protected babies surviving an abortion to get medical care. Instead, he supported these children thrown into a utility closet to die without even the most rudimentary comfort or lessening of pain, as they died horrible deaths. Obama supports infanticide and death. That's it, quite simply.

If churches want to continue lobbying and recommending candidates I say it's time for us to tax them. The laws are very explicit, unfortunately during the Reagan years the religious right started bending the rules and every politician is too gutless to stand up to these racketeers.

I am glad to see the Bishops take this stand for life. Besides the murder of a child, who is a unique individual, and besides the life-long wounds his mother will bear, the blood-guilt for killing the innocent children will be on all our hands. And, yet, somehow we foolishly expect God to bless the country that supports and perpetuates this holocaust. The laws of a democratic republic are every citizen's business. Good citizenship requires involvement of believers and unbelievers alike. The request that our faith and religion be left out of the debate is denied.

"Referring to Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., a Scranton native, Bishop Martino said, "I cannot have the vice president-elect coming to Scranton, saying he learned his values there, when those values are utterly opposed to the teachings of the Catholic church."" Why is Bishop Martino only now expressing his beliefs and calling out the draft dodger, phoney 4F, extraordinary dull Senator and now Vice President-elect Biden? Biden the man has skated through decades leaching on the public. He is a master leach with only one priciple - to leach off government.

It is not only the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church who should stand firm against abortion, leaders in all Christian denominations should let it be known, formally, whether they stand with the Catholic bishops. If they do not, then the members of their churches need to choose whether to withhold funds for support of their churches. It is time for this fight for life to use all means possible to save the lives of the unborn. Anything less is the gravest sin.

WDCBoomer-The separation between church and state is alive and well. It simply protects our citizens from the government legislating any ban or restriction on religion, or estaablishing a state religion. The separation does not provide that religious groups cannot make thier views clear to elected officials. What could happen in this case is that the government could force a catholic hospital to perform abortions, which are against the values of the church. So, in fact it would be the new administration that would be treading on the separation between church and state, not the bishops http://raisingtherepublic.wordpress.com/

What is this talk of dying "to bring about an end to abortion"? The Catholic Bishops don't even excommunicate the pro-death politicians in their diocese! They have been giving money to ACORN for years and years! Their Parish School of Religion programs have pro-death teachers and they do nothing. Their Catholic schools have pro-death teachers and they do nothing! Quick note to the bishops: Would love for you do something other than talk. It would show leadership. Quick note to clonedlamb: You are frothing at the mouth. God will forgive you for your abortion if you let Him. Let Him.

Separation of church and state was instituted mainly as a protection for the church from the state, this phrase is not in the Constitution of the US.

God bless the bishops and the Catholic Church for finally taking a stand! Hopefully when the wrath of the new socialist federal government rises against the Catholic charities, hospitals, and schools, the bishops will then prove as good as their word. It's just too bad that most Catholics don't back their bishops in their convictions --- America would be a much different and better nation if they did.

Excuse me, did not the forefathers leave europe so they would not be bound by the edicts of the catholic chuch or any church. So if the catholic church can dictate to elected catholic politicians, should you not think twice about voting for a catholic? The catholic bishops are on a slippery slope. What other litmus test do they have for the elected catholic. This is unamerican.

Truthspeaker, well I'd say you almost have it right. Only the forefathers sought to break away from England mostly to escape taxes (which ironically somehow seem to be climbing back to British Imperial standards!) and to escape from under the rule of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND. They sought to establish religious FREEDOM where they could have the right to believe what they want, and speak out from whatever value system they employed. The Catholic Bishops are merely exercising that right by pointing out that enforced regulations of immorality are infringing on THEIR religious rights (which you so amply pointed out were so important to the forefathers). We have freedom of speech so that we can speak out when our government plans to enact laws contrary to our belief systems. Our forefathers were terrified of the power of an established government, so in setting one up, did their best to have a system in which the people could stand up to the government if ever neccessary.

The Church brought this on themselves. The Catholic Church has always had a liberal social stance, but in the 1960's they just sold out to the entire liberal cause. The church became anti-war, anti-military, anti-American, and pro-communist as well as supporting all manner of liberal causes. Remember the Berrigan brothers? Then it was revealed that the most important sacrament of liberalism was abortion. Free, unrestrained, unlimited abortion at will! The Church was shocked, but did they abandon this course? No, they equivocated! "But, but, that one is in favor of capital punishment and that's just as bad" they would say. Or "that one has too much money." And on it went to the current circumstance. Cullen is quite correct that the Church does not even try to correct those members who publicly defy their teachings. We expect that kind of thing from politicians, but the Bishops should at least appear to stand behind their principals. Unfortunately that is not the case and the Church loses more respect every day.

Whizzkey, first of all, EVERYONE (the Catholic Church included) should be "anti-war." To say the Church should be "pro-war" (which would be the opposite stance) is ridiculous. War causes death so why should the Church be pro-death? Second, the Church is not anti-military, anti-American, or pro-Communist in any fashion. Such accusations (particularly when their source is simply people who carried out their own personal beliefs while still labeling themselves as "Catholic") are absurd. That's like saying "Joe Biden is pro-choice so the Catholic Church is pro-choice." The Catholic Catechism says that capital punishment is permissible when (paraphrasing from memory) "absolutely necessary" and this is hardly the case in wealthy North America with state of the art prisons. We too often use capital punishment as a "Vengence Car-Wash" and anyone is right to speak out against that. It is not the duty of Church Officials to call election candidates out by name and say "Support/Don'tSupport THIS candidate!" It is their duty to caution Catholics to really investigate all candidates policies and stances on the issues, as many US bishops have done.