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October 26, 2004
Massachusetts Legislator, Democrat, Catholic: Vote Bush

In an interesting opinion piece for today's New Hampshire Union-Leader, Massachusetts legislator Brian Golden (D) endorses George Bush for President. Golden explains that he simply cannot support Kerry as a practicing Catholic:

The Democrats offer Sen. John Kerry, a professed Catholic. You may have heard that Kerry’s own Democratic colleagues, by some creative measure, call him the “most Catholic” senator. That’s like calling Tony Soprano a devout Catholic because he shows up at Mass most Sundays and throws some bills in the collection plate. Catholics know better.

For 20 years, on matters most fundamental to Catholics, Kerry has been consistently wrong. Kerry was one of only 14 senators to vote against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. This year, he opposed the federal marriage amendment, which would give the American people a voice in the definition of marriage, rather than leave it to the whims of activist judges like those in Massachusetts. Kerry has even castigated church leaders for weighing-in on the marriage issue, calling it “inappropriate” and a breach of the “separation of church and state.”

In his first Senate campaign, Kerry promised that he would vote against “any restrictions on age, consent, funding restrictions, or any law to limit access to abortion.” That’s a promise he’s kept. He is among the most fervent supporters of abortion in the Senate, repeatedly voting for taxpayer funding of abortions, against parental notification for a minor’s abortion, and against a ban on partial birth abortion. He voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which treats a violent crime against a pregnant woman as a crime against two people—the unborn and the mother. Even in Massachusetts, Kerry’s positions are far from the mainstream.

That's some record for a presidential candidate whose stump speech of the week insists that his faith informs everything he does. As Golden correctly notes, Kerry's faith has been AWOL during his 20-year Senate career. Golden isn't the only one who's noticed this, either; Planned Parenthood issued its first-ever presidential endorsement to Kerry this year.

As I wrote last week to a book editor of a major newspaper, it would be different had Kerry not told us earlier that he was a faithful Catholic and believed life begins at conception. For one thing, being a faithful Catholic means supporting the basic doctrines of the Church, especially the core beliefs about life and its value. Had Kerry positioned himself as more of a libertarian with a fundamental disagreement about the nature of life, then he would be a Catholic in name only -- which would be his choice, and not one to fault. But Kerry instead tried to eat his cake and have it too, and that's fundamentally dishonest.

If he stated an ambivalence about the beginning of life or a clear belief that it doesn't start until birth, then votes to legalize abortion or take a laissez-faire approach to it would be consistent and understandable. It wouldn't be Catholic, but it would be logical. However, Kerry professes to believe that life begins at conception and that he is a faithful Catholic, a combination which would require him to use his votes to protect life. Refusing to do so is sinful, according to the Church, especially if one professes to believe in the Church.

My admiration and respect goes to Brian Golden, who must feel himself a lonely voice indeed in Massachusetts. He put his faith and his convictions ahead of party politics and endorsed the man who he feels most closely matches his own values.

Sphere It Digg! View blog reactions
Posted by Ed Morrissey at October 26, 2004 12:27 PM

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