Quote:
Originally posted by djtestudo
Amusingly enough, I've heard in the past that Catholics tend to be more liberal then other Christians.
My question is, how do they KNOW who voted what way?
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Honor system. In other words, they don't. And as far as OFFICIAL church policy, Catholicism does tend to be more liberal than other Christian religions. That doesn't mean everyone in the church is going to be that way though.
Quote:
Originally posted by MrSelfDestruct
This doesn't mean jack shit unless proclaimed in an Ex Cathedra statement by the Pope (I forget, maybe a high-up cardinal can do it.) However, the more I hear from church officials, the more I step back from my brainwashing as a child.
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Precisely. This is not a matter of Catholic faith. This is not in the Catholic Catechism at all AFAIK. And, only the pope can make ex cathedra statements. Many things are left to the discretion of the bishop running the diocese. So, this one Bishop can make this statement, and that's a reflection of how he would like his diocese to be run, but it's not representative of the Catholic Church's opinion as a whole by any means. And, there's no way for him to know anyway.
So, what it comes down to really, is that this Bishop is a moron regarding this particular thing, but his methods are not representative of the church.
As a side note,
pigglet brings up something that I've always thought about. I don't believe in the church actively denying someone communion - it doesn't really fit with the message of Christianity - but I do find it interesting how so many people cry foul at Church's giving voting advice based on the beliefs of the religion.
Theoretically, if people are going to church, they subscribe to the beliefs of that church, and I see nothing wrong with a church saying "it is a sin to vote for this person because you're aiding the killing of an unborn child" if that's what they believe. It's up to the person voting to vote as they please, but the church has a right to inform the person that voting a particular way would be sinful according the the church's beliefs.