Philadelphia gets Archbishop Rush Limbaugh
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Philadelphia gets Archbishop Rush Limbaugh
It seems silly now, but when you heard that tone-deaf and child-abusing-priest-enabling Cardinal Justin Rigali was getting ousted by the Vatican, the first thought was that the Catholic Church was finally getting it.
Yeah, right.
Actually it seems that whatever new Archbishop Charles Chaput's "mission" -- the words used on the front page of the Daily News today -- here in Philadelphia is, it's not really to clean up the big mess here or even put a kinder, gentler face on an archdiocese that's in serious disarray.
Instead, Philadelphia is getting Archbishop Rush Limbaugh:
"I think that with Chaput you will see a much more politically active archbishop than we saw with Cardinal Rigali," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, former editor of the Jesuit magazine America and author of numerous books on the Catholic hierarchy.
Reese described Chaput as an "in-your-face" leader who is "going to be a real pain in the neck for the Democratic Party."
Huh? Is Chaput on a mission for God or for Karl Rove? Both, apparently.
But he has been even more forceful in articulating what it means to live as a Catholic. He has regularly rebuked the Obama administration and the Democratic Party.
A month after President Obama's inauguration, Chaput decried what he called a "spirit of adulation bordering on servility" toward Obama by "some . . . Democratic-friendly Catholic writers, scholars, editors and activists. He said, "There's no way to reinvent his record on abortion and related issues with rosy marketing about unity, hope, and change."
Chaput was also quoted in the New York Times in 2004 as saying that anyone who voted for John Kerry was "cooperating in evil" but Chaput claimed that he was misquoted or at least quoted out of context, so we'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
An early look at Chaput's record in Denver also suggests that his record on the issue at hand -- the child-secual-abuse scandal -- is not that great, as he opposed legislation to increase the statute of limitations for civil suits by alleged victims. Maybe it was sponsored by a Democrat.
A few thoughts:
1) If Chaput is planning to be a "pain in the neck" for the PHILADELPHIA Democratic Party and its traditions of corruption and cronyism I might be OK with that -- but I don't believe that's what is meant here.
2) Whether it's a predominantly black church telling members to pull the Democratic lever or Christian fundamentalist churches pushing GOP candidates, I've never been comfortable with churches overtly getting involved in electoral politics -- and I've thought it a good thing, in extreme cases, when the government looks at the tax-exempt status of such churches. It seems like Chaput -- and his overt partisanship -- is skating on that edge, no?
3) Although personally pro-choice, I have great respect for people -- that would obviously include Catholic leaders and lay people -- who oppose abortion on moral grounds, as it's a complex and difficult issue for most people. But I've never understood why, when it comes to politics, that particular teaching of the Catholic Church seems to override all the other ones, especially the many Catholic teachings that are liberal in nature. Why, for example, would it be any less immoral to vote for Kerry in 2004 than to vote for George W. Bush, whose pre-emptive invasion of Iraq on false pretenses showed an extreme lack of respect for the sanctity of human life?
Was Archbishop Chaput paying attention when Pope John Paul II said this? "The obligation to earn one's bread by the sweat of one's brow also presumes the right to do so. A society in which this right is systematically denied, in which economic policies do not allow workers to reach satisfactory levels of employment, cannot be justified from an ethical point of view, can that society attain social peace." Why does the abortion issue override the rights and the dignity of the working class, the greatest problem facing America today?
If nothing else, Chaput's timing is exquisite. In the 2012 election, Pennsylvania will be a crucial battleground state for President Obama and his Republican opponent -- and Catholics in Philadelphia and its immediate suburbs will be a critical bloc of swing voters. The conservative movement has been looking for a "pain in the neck" for Democrats. Who knew he'd be sent here by Rome?
Michelle Bachmann's long-time "spiritual advisor" thinks the Pope is the Antichrist. I wonder what Chapult thinks about that?— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine- Ah hell I can introduce you to Irish loyalists who think the same thing.
— PAEnglish - Could you get a bit more disrespectul here? The new leader of the Catholic Church in Philadelphia has not opened his suitcase here yet, and you already hit him with your name-calling. Classy move, Will! You seem to forget that the days when people voted according to what they heard in church on Sunday are decades in the past.— DonQ
Comment removed.- You prove time and again it is better to keep your mouth shut and thought the fool then to open it and be...— junethe4th
- Exactly which economic policies do not allow workers to reach satisfactory levels of employment? American capitalism, which allows a man to pursue any job he would like? Or the welfare state that breaks the spirit and keeps men in servitude to an indifferent government?— Mirror
- Comment removed.
- Why, those would be the various tax breaks that encourage manufacturers to close American plants and purchase slave labor abroad! Just for starters.— Susie from Philly
- Hey, at least he's not gay like Cocoa Puff Bachmann's husband, although he will pray the gay out!— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
- Dear bill.atkins, when the day comes that you demonstrate understanding between "slander" and "libel" while dispensing sanctimony, then maybe, just MAYBE, you might be able to be taken seriously.— HazmatCorntail
- The catholic haters are out in force the past couple of days and not one comment section was taken down. NICE.— Captain Terrific
- Although I have no love for the catholic church and quiet a bit of contempt I have to agree you have a point. If anybody posted half as much against islam the screams of faux outrage from the left would be deafening. — PAEnglish
- Tomorrow, Will will criticize Muslim and Jewish leadership. yeah right!— bobbyd24
- Comment removed.
- Here's the simple rule: if you don't agree with the Catholic church's teachings, you're free to choose another religion. If you don't like what your church tells you regarding politics, you're free to choose another religion. If you don't like what someone else's church tells its followers, you're free to choose another religion.— J H
- Andrew Sullivan
- Blinq
- Blogorrhea
- Blonde Sagacity
- Free Republic
- Instapundit
- James Taranto
- ScrappleFace
- The Corner
- Buzzmachine
- Eat the Press
- Editor and Publisher
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Media Bloodhound
- Mickey Kaus
- Pressthink
- Romenesko
- The Inksniffer
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Above Average Jane
- BlankBaby
- Citizen Mom
- Keystone Blog
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- Phawker
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Philly Future
- Phillyblog
- Phillyist
- The Clog
- The Next Mayor
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Young Philly Politics
- Afro-Netizen
- All-Spin Zone
- Atrios
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- Booman Tribune
- CorrenteWire
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- iFlipFlop
- Kiko's House
- MyDD
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Rowhouse Logic
- Slacktivist
- Suburban Guerilla
- Tattered Coat
- upyernoz
- AmericaBlog
- Andy Borowitz
- BuzzFlash
- Crooks and Liars
- Cursor
- Daily Kos
- David Sirota
- Drudge Report
- Echidne of the Snakes
- Fire Dog Lake
- Glenn Greenwald
- Hullabaloo
- Jesus' General
- Jon Swift
- Josh Marshall
- Juan Cole
- Kevin Drum
- Mad Kane
- Majikthise
- Matthew Yglesias
- Oliver Willis
- Raw Story
- Swing State Project
- Talk Left
- Taylor Marsh
- TBogg
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Think Progress
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- A Citizen's Blog
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Beer Leaguer
- Dick Polman
- Phillies Nation
- Philling Station
- Shallow Center
- The 700 Level
- The Good Phight
