(Non-liberal) Catholics respond to election results

By Matt C. Abbott

The following is a sampling of what some relatively prominent, non-liberal Catholics had to say about the Nov. 4 election results.

Father Frank Pavone:

"Americans have made a grave mistake in electing Barack Obama to the presidency. Yet America herself remains great and is not a mistake, which is why so many of her citizens will continue, with even greater energy and determination, to defend her founding principles. The man elected to the Presidency said during the campaign that he does not know when a human being starts to have human rights. How can one govern from that starting point of ignorance? Governing is about protecting human rights; to do it successfully, you have to know where they come from, and when they begin. The President-elect has already failed that test miserably...."

Deal Hudson:

"...The election of Barack Obama sets the stage for a series of potential executive and congressional acts that could remove all the limits set on abortion since the Roe v. Wade decision. The most pernicious of these is the Freedom of Choice Act, which Obama has promised will be the first bill he signs into law as president. It is estimated that FOCA alone would result in 125,000 more abortions a year in the United States. That figure does not take into account other measures, such as Obama's pledge not to renew the Mexico City Policy and to repeal the Hyde amendment. As a result of Obama's victory, there will not only be hundreds of thousands of additional abortions, but American taxpayers will be paying for them. Polls of Catholic voters prior to the election suggested that Obama might win a majority of self-identified Catholic voters. A more significant measure of Obama's Catholic support will be the percentage of regular Mass-attending Catholics who voted for him. But regardless of the final statistics, it is clear that the Obama-Biden ticket received substantial help from Catholics working for parishes and chanceries, as well as a number of high-profile Catholic politicians and jurists. They successfully promoted the flaws of 'Faithful Citizenship' to Catholics nationwide, neutralizing any advantage the Church's pro-life and pro-marriage teachings might offer to McCain-Palin...."

Peter B. Kelly, JD, MTS, MS(nrp), MS(ce):

"Unfortunately, I believe God gives us the leaders we deserve, and we have now elected the number one liberal in the U.S. Senate who clearly is no friend of life. I would have been (pleasantly) shocked if we, as a nation, would suddenly have become increasingly pro-life by turning away from Obama, who supports the Freedom of Choice Act that threatens Catholic hospitals. So it makes tragic sense to me that we would elect a friend of radical Marxists (Ayers), anti-Semites (Farrakhan), racists ('Rev.' White) and 'Catholic' charlatans (Pfleger). I am certain that God will chastise us because of our strident contempt of faith."

John Grasmeier:

"While many conservatives and traditional Catholics may have gone to the polls to vote against Obama, nobody seems to know many who actually voted for McCain. As opposed to a candidate able to inspire serious conservatives to sacrifice their treasure and time (or in many cases, even to cast their vote) in a positive fashion, John McCain was little more than the reluctant choice as an 'anti-Obama.' Not exactly a recipe for victory. Whether it's business, sports, wars or elections, when the participants are forced to operate from a position of fear or self-defense, morale will be poor, passion will be low and success will be elusive.

"The Angelqueen.org poll, which only members of AQ (i.e. traditional Catholics) could participate in, showed that while none of us would vote for Obama, a full one-third of traditional Catholics would not vote for McCain under any circumstances. This third was largely of the opinion that McCain didn't share their values, and that most of his conservative postures were 'through his teeth.' On that, abortion comes to mind. When pressed, McCain would claim to be pro-life (but in support of Frankensteinian embryonic stem cell research), yet never once on the stump did he heartily take up the cause of the unborn victims of Murder Inc. He was AWOL.

"Also of note: The meme from the Neocon bleacher section has been that conservative Christians and social conservatives should take a seat at the back of the bus if the GOP was to remain relevant. Some showed outward contempt for conservatives and Christians, imagining that for every one of the 'fundies' or 'purists' they ran off, several moderates or Reagan democrats would enter the 'big tent.' This strategy turned out not to be tragically ill-conceived. Many of the big tent constituencies the 'moderate' McCain had been courting for so long wound up turning their backs on him. For example, he went to the cross for illegal aliens, yet according to exit polls, over 70 percent of Hispanics went to Obama. Even moderates, whom we were told the 'moderate' McCain would bring in droves, went to Obama 60 percent to 39 percent. The McCain campaign has objectively proven the grand designs of the moderates, Neocons, RINOs and northeastern country-clubbers to be an abject failure — castles of sand. They should follow him off the stage and out of our lives."

Michael Brown:

"It is the Vatican that grants us the balanced way of viewing an election and did so with the historic election in the U.S. of a black president. In Christian love, the Pope congratulated Barack Obama, as did the U.S. bishops. Graciousness always has its place. So — above all — does prayer. We note the brilliance in how Rome issued a statement asking Catholics to 'pray that God may enlighten' the new president. The Pope also sent a private letter to Obama that has not been revealed. It is a prayer that could be requested of any leader but also could be interpreted (strongly) as a request for prayer that Obama soften his astonishingly strong support for abortion. Rome offered no harsh language. Instead, it accented the positive, saying that Obama has raised expectations on 'justice and finding appropriate ways to promote peace in the world' — an allusion to the Vatican's opinion on another life matter, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. On this issue, Rome agrees with the new leader."

Judie Brown:

"In a night overshadowed by pro-abortion victories, one bright light shone for the pro-life movement, and it came from Colorado. The vote on Amendment 48, the 'personhood initiative,' marked the first round of the civil rights movement's final battle. Colorado voters were asked to define all human beings, from the moment of fertilization, as 'persons.'

"Amendment 48 made history as the first ballot initiative of its kind. It attempted to answer the question, when is a human being a person deserving of human rights? The personhood movement defied the odds to blossom in hostile territory — traditionally liberal Colorado. A small group of inspired and passionate people, led by 21-year-old law student Kristi Burton, dedicated themselves to the glorious principles our nation was founded upon and spearheaded a movement that mobilized half a million people.

The word 'personhood' made national news and headlines around the country. The abortion debate began anew: 'We want to grant rights to all human beings — including those most vulnerable — preborn children.' The personhood fire began in Colorado and has now ignited personhood campaigns in 16 states.

"God often picks the least likely to move mountains, and so it seems with the personhood movement. Kristi Burton is a brave and courageous young woman who has already inspired an entire pro-life movement with her tireless fight in Colorado. Amendment 48 gained 27 percent of the vote in one of the most pro-abortion states in the Union... Planned Parenthood found it necessary to earmark an immense sum — $3 million — to defeat Amendment 48. Why? Because Planned Parenthood knows that personhood will be its death knell and the death knell of the entire American pro-abortion movement.

"We are inspired by Kristi Burton's efforts in Colorado and plan to champion personhood movements at both the state and federal levels. Indeed, for the babies, personhood is the only defense against the dual threats posed by the Freedom of Choice Act, which President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to sign into law, and the Prevention First Act, which he cosponsored. These acts would eliminate the possibility of any incremental restrictions on abortion and leave us only one viable option to end the assault on human life: a personhood amendment to the United States Constitution."

Michael J. Matt:

"America has a new president. So be it! God Who is still in His heaven has allowed even this to come to pass. All power on earth is given by Him, and we receive the leaders we deserve. We pray for President-elect Barack Obama. We pray especially that he will not make good on half of his campaign promises. On the other hand, let's not forget that for the past seven years the policies of the Neocons and the Bush Administration have left many of us deeply concerned about the direction in which our country is heading. The Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the invasion of Iraq, wire tapping, torture of prisoners — all of it has not only left many good Americans angry but also brought on a sharp decline in America's standing abroad. The big losers in this election, it seems to us, are the Neocons whose agenda was so un-American according to conservatives and liberals alike that even Barack Obama's 'change' resonated...Over the past few months, these same Neocons turned on John McCain for one reason and one reason only — Sarah Palin, the pro-life hockey mom who nearly pulled off the impossible for the Republicans. The politically savvy McCain was quite right to believe that, given the odds and the low approval numbers of President Bush, he had a better chance of riding to the White House on the backs of pro-life Christians than on the Neocons and their globalist agenda. Thus his pro-life running mate. We thanked him for it. The Neocons crucified him for it...."

John Vennari:

"We wish to thank all those who took part in the nine-day Rosary Novena prior to the US Presidential election. Despite our prayers, the nation chose the party of abortion, of 'gay' marriage and of death. At Fatima, when little Lucia asked Our Lady if Francisco will go to heaven, Our Lady said, 'Yes, but he must first say many rosaries.' Our Lady did not say 'one Rosary' or 'a couple of Rosaries,' but 'many Rosaries.' Though we all offered this Rosary novena — and countless other prayers and sacrifices — to keep the most radical, most pro-death candidate in American history from being elected, there were obviously not enough prayers, not enough good people working to overcome the immeasurable evil that now blankets our nation...The net effect of Vatican II's modernization is a weak, effeminate, scandal-ridden and disoriented Church that, as this election proves, has become utterly irrelevant to the thought-process of not only the average American, but of the average American Catholic. Even the most basic issues of the natural moral law, such as abortion and homosexuality, cannot be upheld by vast numbers of Catholics who lined up to vote for the pro-abortion Senator from Illinois. Let us pray that our Church leaders take this massive defeat as a wake-up call. May they soon return to the doctrinal and mortal stability of Blessed Pope Pius IX, Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Benedict V, Pope Pius XI and Pope Pius XII. Rhetorical promises of a 'new springtime' and a 'civilization of love' will no longer suffice...."

Tom Roeser:

"It will have been said of us one day that we elected the president we richly deserve. The reason Barack Obama won was that his followers resent absolutes...hierarchical and authoritative. That goes particularly for authoritative religion which the Enlightened-mostly the media — despise. This is a secular state. The other day when Justice Scalia spoke and invoked God the media looked at themselves questioningly. Violation of church and state? Only the primitives go to authoritative churches like the benighted evangelicals or the one in four Catholics who attend weekly mass. Oh, you CAN go to church (actually it's good to hear about love-love-love and civil rights, as per the Rotary Club). But what the majority of Americans now hate...with a fury...is definite moral strictures on things. That smacks of primitive superstition. Where once this country was founded on bedrock Christianity with few exceptions...from the pilgrims to the abolitionist moralists... (Jefferson being the major dissenter)...our people now believe science has left agnosticism as the only respectable intellectual position. This is the unspoken credo of the media and the jocular late-night talk show hosts who are so very-very-very clever and cynical. They all imply: Freud, Marx and Darwin have triumphed over the believers...."

An anonymous friend:

"Yes, God will write straight. But the evil choice made tonight [Nov. 4] will bring suffering and death to many. Writing straight will now, to a much higher degree than before, involve a witness to Truth that brings with it suffering. In the end, witnessing to truth will win. But the path to victory now, more than before, most likely lies through persecution. The intense, demonic hatred of pro-life Christianity evident in reactions to Sarah Palin is telling. The Lie has been growing, growing, growing, for decades. It reached a certain threshold tonight.

"We may not yet be in the last battle. We may be able politically to gain back some ground. But overall, given what Obama will do on the Supreme Court and to the economy, with the anger that will arise at the job losses and increased taxes that come from protectionism, and so on, which will then lead to further nationalization of the economy and ultimately to fundamental dependence of everyone on government welfare (disguised, but real), given all that, worldly reversal of the trends is unlikely. We must descend further into the abyss before any resurrection out of it can take place. It may be that this will be limited to the U.S. — the fall of another great civilization takes place as a replacement great power rises — but the great danger now is that it will be global.

"Obama is a Lie, no matter how you approach him. He lied about his opponent, blatantly (and the press would not call him on it — the press is an important safeguard and the press is invested in the Lie, particularly the sexual/abortion Lie). He has lied about his background — Ayers ghostwrote his book and Farrakhan is the dark eminence behind any black who succeeds on the South Side. Thus, Obama is in many ways a stalking horse for Farrakhan.

"The danger to Israel, to Iraq (if Obama is foolish enough to deliver on his promises about troop withdrawals, the fledgling Iraq government may collapse), to Ukraine, Poland, Georgia, and so on, is immense. All of these will impact us here as well. Unions will be repaid by eliminating the secret ballot and thus 'thug-icizing' the right-to-work states that have provided so much of the economic growth over the last 40 years. Pragmatic businessmen will make their peace with the union thugs and, combined with nationalization of banks and the rest of the economy, we will have a huge administrative power structure that runs the country and runs people's lives from the top down. The economy will shrink, jobs will be scarce, and people desperate to have any means of supporting themselves will do what they have to do to keep their jobs — they will turn a blind eye to the Lie and the culture of death behind it. Those who refuse to cooperate because they stand for Life and Truth will be turned out the door.

"To some degree there may be refuge in the mountains, in the open spaces of the West, where one might survive in pockets of greater freedom and subsistence living off the land. But that cannot be a solution for large numbers of people. True, those who stand up for Life and Truth will not be large in number. But any successful cultivation of enclaves of Christian subculture will eventually be ground down, crushed, because they will remind the Liars that they are death-dealing Liars.

"Could it turn out differently? Yes, of course. Perhaps political winds can shift already in the mid-term elections in 2010. But my greatest fear arises from the 'stupifying' of the populace. The culture wars have been going on for decades in the schools and in the public-opinion manufacturing institutions. The populace is already largely 'stupified.' The bishops have sat on their hands too long — some of them are themselves 'stupified,' though not all.

"For all their failings, it will be Catholic bishops who will lead the resistance in the end, at the cost of suffering, including loss of financial support and even imprisonment. But not all the bishops will stand up — many will actually contribute to the persecution. 'Catholics' will be enlisted by the Liars as propaganda tools to justify the persecution of the 'false Catholics' (who are the true Catholics but who will successfully be labeled false Catholics by the Liars). Some Evangelicals will join us, but many of them are already drifting away to join the Lie.

"It is time to start in earnest to read the stories of the martyrs under Hitler, Stalin, Mao. We are at 1932, right now, when the German people enthusiastically elected an unknown, presumably incompetent little man to be their chancellor. He moved quickly to stifle dissent. Barney Frank, Charles Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama will move via the Fairness Doctrine to stifle dissent. If people were not 'stupified,' this wouldn't work. But people are 'stupified,' at least too many of them are.

"We must still use every political means we have and fight to the bitter end. But we must also think a lot about what is needed to be able to keep our sight clearly on the Truth, not to waver even when there is no prospect anymore of turning the tide of battle. We never know for sure that the tide won't turn, but we must not fear even if the tide does not turn — we must sell our lives dearly, fighting to the end by witnessing to Truth. You see, they don't really want to kill us. We are far more useful to them if they can flip us, the former valiant resistance, to become cowed allies of the Lie. Doug Kmiec, Jim Wallis, Kathleen Kaveny, and those like them, are far more powerful tools to them than those who have always been pro-death. A former pro-lifer who cobbles up a way to justify voting for Obama is worth far more than someone who has always been in the pocket of the advocates of death. That is why they will use every means at their disposal to keep us alive but beaten-down, flipped-former-resisters who have become 'enlightened' advocates of death.

"If the above sounds hopeless to you, it's not. Bearing witness to Truth is never hopeless. But the time has passed for optimism about turning the tide. We must hope that the tide can be turned. We must steel our hearts and minds and bodies for the likelihood that the road leads, instead, deeper and deeper into losing battles. Win or lose, the battle must be fought."

On a related note, Sen. Joseph Biden, a pro-abortion "Catholic," reportedly received Communion this past Sunday.

I guess we have to hope (and pray) for the best...and brace for the worst.

© Matt C. Abbott