On being a Catholic Democrat

    I am a Catholic, have been all my life.  I am also a Democrat because I am a Catholic.  While you may think the two are complete opposites, they are not, in fact, as my Uncle states: "One cannot be a Catholic and Republican."

    Growing up Catholic taught me to love my neighbor, to not judge, to accept, to think of others before myself.  The teachings of the Catholic Church centered on love, or at least in my neck of the woods.

    Why write this diary?  Because each day seems to bring me closer to the realization that it is far too easy to claim how "Christian" our nation is, and at the same time ignore the teachings of Christ. (I do NOT believe we are a "Christian" nation, rather a secular nation that welcomes all, regardless of whether or not they have any type of religion.)

More.....

     Right now I am having a "discussion" with a conservative friend regarding the usefulness of torture.  I am against torture for many reasons,  the fact that the information garnered is not reliable, the fact that we lower ourselves to a level that is hard to fathom, and last, but not least, the question of "Who would Jesus torture?" will not leave my thoughts.

    How can we be a "Christian" nation as so many claim when we justify things that Christ condemned? (I do not believe we are a "Christian" nation, rather I think of our country as a nation of people, some of whom are religious some of whom are not, and neither is better then the other.)

   How can any Catholic be a Republican and justify the Iraq War?  Justify the cutting of funding for those who cannot afford medical care?  Justify tax cuts to the wealthy?  Does the Catholic faith stand for more then "pro-birth?"

    Can someone really embrace the Catholic faith by ignoring everything except abortion?  I say not, and as a local priest has stated "I am concerned about not just the first 9 months of life, but the next 90 years."    

    These things and more are why I am a Catholic, I am also pro-choice, and I am a strong Democrat.  The Democratic party is far from perfect (I am still disappointed and angry about the War vote by our Dems in congress), but for the most part the Democratic party platform is about human rights, fair wages, the rights of workers, the right to affordable health care, the right to a good education, the responsibility of those who are blessed with abundant wealth to help those who struggle to get by.

    Because of my faith and politics I am working with a group called Catholic Democrats, (specifically California Catholic Democrats )I want those who share my faith to realize that the Democratic party represents those beliefs Catholics hold most dear.  

   Last Thursday the Catholic Democratic Club of Santa Clara County was "born." (actually chartered by the local party, whooooo hooooooo), and I am very excited about the outreach we will be able to work on during these months leading up to the Nov. election.  

   Right now we are trying to get a mass together for the CA Dem convention in San Jose at the end of this month, hopefully we will be able to hold it early Saturday morning at the cathedral which is walking distance from all the hotels in downtown San Jose.  This mass would be a way for many of our CA Catholic Democrats to share our faith and our politics, and no, the mass will not be sponsored by the party, nor really the church, it is just a way for Catholic Democrats to celebrate the mass together.

   I also just read this articleand the last paragraph summed it all up for me:

So what's a pro-life, pro-family, antiwar, pro-immigrant, pro-economic-justice Catholic like me supposed to do in November? That's an easy one. True to my faith, I'll vote for the candidate who offers the best hope of ending an unjust war, who promotes human dignity through universal health care and immigration reform, and whose policies strengthen families and provide alternatives to those in desperate situations. Sounds like I'll be voting for the Democrat -- and the bishops be damned.