A lady attending a Catholic Church says the priest “expelled her from Mass because her vehicle sported painted signs in support of president-elect Barack Obama.”
So reporter Ryan Chalk of the Vacaville Reporter went to talk to the priest in question, Rev. Sebastian Meyer. He asked Meyer if the allegations were true. The priest said they were not and the reporter went on his way.
I’m just kidding.
Actually, the priest attacked the reporter:
“He became very agitated,” Chalk said. “He told me, ‘No, we’re not writing that. I did not touch her. I did not talk to her.'”
Chalk said Meyer then threatened to file a lawsuit if any story were written and told him it was “illegal because it’s none of your business.”
“At that point, I took my notepad out and asked what was illegal,” Chalk said.
Meyer became more agitated and lunged at him, Chalk said, clawing at his arm and reaching for his notepad.
Stunned, the reporter turned to run out the door as Meyer continued to grab at him.
He’s not the only Catholic priest reacting to Obama’s victory last week:
The Reverend Jay Scott Newman said Thursday that church law doesn’t allow him to refuse parishioners the sacrament at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Greenville [South Carolina].
But, reports CBS affiliate WSPA, Newman said his congregants shouldn’t take communion until they do penance for supporting the man he called the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president.
So, I’m sure Rev. Newman asks for penance from those Catholics who are pro-war and pro-death penalty, right?
Right…?
Anyway, this is a pretty apparent breach of church-state separation — giving preference to church members who voted a particular way — and this church deserves to have its tax-exempt status revoked.
This isn’t just an issue for individual priests.
U.S. Catholic bishops are asking Obama to think carefully about his abortion policies:
“The recent election was principally decided out of concern for the economy, for the loss of jobs and homes and financial security for families, here and around the world,” Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement issued on their behalf.
“If the election is misinterpreted ideologically as a referendum on abortion, the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis will be impossible to achieve,” he added.
“Aggressively pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion,” George said.
They’re not listening to Obama at all, are they? This is the same Obama who said in a debate:
… But there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, “We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby.”
Those are all things that we put in the Democratic platform for the first time this year, and I think that’s where we can find some common ground, because nobody’s pro-abortion. I think it’s always a tragic situation.
The man’s not even in office for another two months and they act like he’s going to kill a fetus during his inauguration address. He’s not for abortion. He’s for protecting the rights of women in a safe and responsible way.
(Thanks to Stephanie, Larry, and everyone else for the links!)
