Alaco@aol.com
Published in the Star Banner, March 3, 2002
Letter to the Editor
At the risk of repeating what your editorial writers already know, (Editorial Feb. 23) the growing political success of the Catholic church in our country impels me to call attention to the following differences in your comments and the pope's position on these issues.
You state "our Constitution provides certain unalienable rights, one of them religious freedom." The pope defines religious freedom "as the freedom to learn the truth of the Roman Catholic faith." In nations where Catholics have the power, such as Croatia, they have forced citizens to choose being Catholic, dying, or leaving the country.
You state, "No one should be allowed to force their religious views on anyone who objects." The pope states every Catholic has a mandate from God to impose papal teaching on all non-Catholics, politically or otherwise. He urges parishioners to be martyrs in that cause, even if they lose their lives in the process.
You state, "Our country has changed and is increasingly diverse." The Catholic church has not evolved or matured sufficiently to honor this. The pope said the church has the personnel, the resources, and the persistence to have its way in the United States. The Vatican, the U.S. Catholic Bishops, Papal Knight Rep. Henry Hyde, Senator Smith of New Hampshire, the many other Catholics in Congress, Justices Scalia and Thomas who blindly obey the pope, and, now President Bush, are succeeding in making Catholic doctrines the laws of our land.
At all costs, including illegal activities, the Catholic Church wants to make its doctrines the
laws of our land. I value our nation too much to quietly let that happen.
James M. O'Hara