Crossing the Line

Just when I thought that I was done with election stories that would greatly upset me, I read this article about a SC priest wrote his parishioners a letter telling them they were ineligible for communion if they vote for Barack Obama. I've been very lucky that our particular parish is both one of the most liberal Catholic churches I've ever been to, and has stayed away from mixing politics and religion.

I realize that this is by no means the only instance of organized religion using it's power to affect policy. We saw numerous instances of this in both CA and AR last week, among other places, but it makes me even more sad when a church official uses his position to essentially excommunicate* people who chose to vote in a particular way.

I won't go into all of the reasons why abortion isn't the only human rights issue that should be considered when voting. Encouraging church members to vote one way is bad enough, but to punish them when they prioritize different ideologies (many of which involve other human rights issues) crosses a line that makes me very sad. I am very glad that other church officials are denouncing the move, but I don't know that is enough to undo the damage that individuals like this priest have done.

*for those unfamiliar with Catholic doctrine, excommunication literally means that you are no longer in "communion" with the church. While sometimes, this is irreversible, the act is essentially the same here.