CASE CLOSED is a novel which answers the question “Why did the FBI fail to solve the 2001 anthrax case?” … click here to … buy CASE CLOSED by Lew Weinstein
Here’s what readers say about CASE CLOSED …
“CASE CLOSED is a must read for anyone who wondered … what really happened? … Who did it? … why?” … and finally, why didn’t they tell us the truth?”
“Fiction?? Maybe?? But I don’t think so!! More likely an excellent interpretation of what may have really happened.”
******
The Catholic Church should be severely condemned
for over-stepping its bounds
on the issue of abortion restrictions
in healthcare legislation
******
Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Associated Press (11/11/09) …
- Catholic bishops have emerged as a formidable force in the health care overhaul fight, using their clout with
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick ... on the phone with Nancy Pelosi
millions of Catholics and working behind the scenes in Congress to get strong abortion restrictions into the House bill.
- “The Catholic Church used their power — their clout, if you will — to influence this issue. They had to. It’s a basic teaching of the religion,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., a leading abortion foe and architect of the health measure’s restrictions.
- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the church’s Washington-based advocacy organization, which is staffed by more than 350 lay people, derives its power in large part from the sheer number of Catholics in this country — 68 million — but also from the special moral and religious standing of its members. Many of them are in regular contact with lawmakers, weighing in on issues from immigration policy to benefits for low-income people.
- The group distributed fliers to every parish in the nation asking people to pray for abortion restrictions and to call their congressmen and senators asking them to “fix these bills with pro-life amendments.”
- And in recent days, the conference staff got elbow-deep in the legislative machinations on the health measure, even having bishops intervene with Republicans — who were loath to help Democrats pass their bill — to make sure they supported the abortion provisions.
- Another factor that undoubtedly helped: Democrats are keenly aware of the power of Catholic voters, more than 50 percent of whom embraced Obama in the 2008 election.
- And Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a prominent abortion rights supporter who has gathered the signatures of more than 40 representatives who refuse to back a health bill that contains the restrictions, said the bishops had been allowed to overstep their bounds.
- “No one group should get to dictate the outcome of legislation in Congress,” DeGette said. “Every group should be listened to, but I don’t think one group should be given veto authority over what we do.”
read the entire article at … http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_overhaul_catholic_lobby
LMW COMMENTS …
Catholic bishops are certainly entitled to tell Catholics what the Church says about abortion or any other issue. But it is offensive to all non-Catholics to be told by leaders of another religion what we should do or support. We have been blessed in this country by a separation of Church and state. The importance of this can be seen in Muslim countries where religious rule prevails, and women are treated like chattel. The Catholic Church should be severely condemned for over-stepping its bounds on this issue.
