I find it rather interesting that it is progressive Catholics and the liberal news media that are bringing up that Sarah Palin was baptized as a Catholic.
The America Magazine blog has two posts on this today with one asking is "Is Palin an Apostate?" Though that is rather silly claim since apostasy is the total rejection by a baptized person of the Christian faith he once professed. Maybe he meant that she was in schism.
As canonist Ed Peters notes:
Sarah Palin’s probable Roman Catholic baptism and her life spent outside the Church is of little import in assessing her character. Unlike the case of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who seems to have left the Church as an adult, Palin’s parents apparently took her out of the practice of the Faith while she was yet a child, so Palin cannot be said to have decided against her Catholic identity, nor can anything be concluded about her remaining outside of full communion. Her "re-baptism" at age 12 or so, if that’s what it was, would not however be recognized by the Church (1983 CIC 845.1)
On the question as to whether she can be considered as making a formal act of defection he goes on to say.
Ironically, the only thing that Palin’s Catholic baptism and her life-time spent in good faith outside the Church does, I must say, is underscore again how unsustainable is the interpretation of "formal act of defection" that was handed down in April 2006. How so? Well, if "formal defection" per 1983 CIC 1117 can only be accomplished in writing (a completely new requirement, and one unattested, as far as I can tell, in canonical history!), then Palin never formally defected, which means that she is still bound by canonical form per 1983 CIC 1108, and that therefore her marriage cannot recognized by the Church!
Don’t get me wrong: I think that Palin’s marriage (based on what is publically known about it at this time, of course) is valid (and sacramental if Todd is baptized), and that it is this novel interpretation of "formal defection" that needs urgently to be corrected, not Palin’s matrimonial status. It’s just that I don’t like it when law and life seem to be out of step with each other and, for a change, it looks like the law’s fault.
But even beyond the question of "formal defection", the continued requirement of canonical form for the validity of marriage needs reexamination. There’s nothing new in my saying that: many canonists of the first order have been suggesting for 50 years now.
So this makes for a very interesting canonical questions, but certainly not one that would affect the votes of Catholics as liberals intend it should. It is also rather ironic that they bring this up and yet not to have any problem with Sen. Joe Biden as a culture of death Catholic politician whose voting record at times supports intrinsic evils.
44 comments
Deb Tala, you will be happy to know that Palin and her family have not attended the AOG church since 2002. That was the church her parents took her to. She currently attends a non-denominational “Bible church.”
Not pentacostal.
Susan Peterson
meh, an entertaining academic exercise for some, but no more.
In practice she seems more Catholic than Biden.
Give me 100 more “ex-Catholics” like Palin before 1 “devout Catholic” like Biden.” (Of course, I have and will continue to pray for her to find her way home to the Church.)
Or a problem with Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy (or most of the Kennedy clan), Mario “The Pious” Cuomo, Jim McGreevey (yes, he is “catholic”), Rosa DeLoro, Chris Dodd, Richard Daley, John Kerry, Geraldine Ferraro, etc.
The babykillers of the Democratic Party have already piled up 48 million infant corpses. They’ve outdone the Nazis by a factor of 8.
And now they dare to compare a 12-year old child’s acceptance of baptism under the direction of her parents with Biden’s deliberate advancement of the demonic project of infanticide?
I’d excommunicate all these traitors.
non-issue in my book too. I’m most concerned with the candidate’s character and stand on issues. It’d be cool to have a real, ardent, practicing Catholic on the ticket…but then a real, ardent, practicing Catholic is unelectable.
Straining at gnats.
just something else to mud sling. But I bet you Ms. Palin would not have the audacity to mis-represent Catholicism as Ms. Pelosi is so ready to do.
On the one hand, if she left as a child with her parents, she would not have known the fullness of the faith and could not have made an independent decision and is therefore not fully culpable. On the other hand, as a baptized Catholic, she is considered one of the Church’s daughters and is entitled to a Catholic burial. On the third hand (?) if she has had her first communion, she is one confession away from the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In practice she is a better Catholic than some others I could name. I am praying for her to come home.
I didn’t know this and I’ll pray that she’ll someday enter into full communion with the Church.
Ironically, I was just thinking this morning that Palin as a non-Catholic represents the Church’s teachings on life much better than most “Catholic” politicians. Her witness last night of accepting and loving her Down’s syndrome baby was worth more than a million speeches.
I didn’t know this and I’ll pray that she’ll someday enter into full communion with the Church.
Ironically, I was just thinking this morning that Palin as a non-Catholic represents the Church’s teachings on life much better than most “Catholic” politicians. I’ll take Palin over Pelosi any day! Palin’s witness last night of accepting and loving her Down’s syndrome baby was worth more than a million speeches.
As others have said, She is by far a better Catholic then Bidden!
The post on America says:
“For the rest of us, it is beyond hypocritical for certain conservative Catholics to denounce Joe Biden because he is Catholic and does not support making abortion illegal while applauding a self-described “hockey Mom” who is skating close to apostasy. The Church’s sacramental traditions and beliefs are as worthy of respect and defense as our moral traditions and beliefs.”
****
His real point is: don’t support that conservative “hockey mom” who is out of step with America’s liberal views!
His last sentence is especially absurd. Abortion is a matter of public policy. The state has a real interest in protecting innocent lives, and the views of politicians on this are important to Catholics.
But a politician’s private religious beliefs are not a matter of public policy. To try and equate the two things, as Mr Winters is doing, is ridiculous. Certainly the Church’s doctrinal teachings are worthy of respect and defense. But we don’t cast votes on the basis of a politician’s personal religious beliefs. That’s an entirely separate issue. If that were the case, Catholics would be totally disenfranchised from political life! Who could we ever vote for?
I pray Sarah returns to the fullness of Faith some day, but clearly she internalized an uncompromising respect from life from her childhood. This love for life eludes some of the fakey pseudo-Catholics who trot out the Faith as some sort of folksy-ethnic thing while shucking for votes on Saint Patrick’s Day. Yes indeed; Sarah is a better Catholic than many Catholics, and all honor to her.
Thanks to the Pro Choice efforts, Palin is your Pro Life hero.
Isn’t that strange?
Sarah Palin is a member of the Pentecostal Assembly of God church (or AG as they refer to themselves). I was raised this religion from birth and attended regularly through my teen years. From my first hand knowledge and experience, I can tell you that those who attend that church are extreme fundamentalists.
They believe that Jews and people from all other religions other than some protestant faiths will go to hell. This includes Catholics. (They believe that Catholics worship idols, which is a sin.) They will cover up this fact during this election, but what I’m telling you is the truth.
I left that religion because they are so judgmental and un-christian like. I now teach music at a catholic school and attend a non-denominational church, but it is NOT pentecostal. My brother converted to Catholicism and my parents attend his parish.
It frightens me and my family that this woman (or anyone from AG) has been nominated and could potentially be in the most powerful position in the world.
Please, please…don’t let one single issue be your deciding factor. I don’t believe in abortion either, but this election is truly about much, much more than that.
I suggest that each one of you attend a Sunday morning church service at an Assembly of God church. Don’t tell anyone who you are or why you’re visiting. Just quietly sit in the back and watch. You will understand why I wrote this.
Deb, even if they believe that Catholics and others will go to hell, that doesn’t translate into public policy.
What if the “one issue” were slavery? Would you say that a candidate who supports slavery deserves support if that candidate had other views you agree with?
You are right Sr. Lorraine. By throwing out the single-issue canard which is frankly a curious non-sequitur, makes me think something smells rotten in Denmark.
Pentecostals are hardly monolithic. In fact the very opposite, reminding me of the 33,000 denominations thing people protest. But when everyone is their own Magisterium….
I would have been happy with Romney- a Morman- as he currently stands on abortion. I am much more concerned about public policy than the private religious beliefs or a candidate.
Mrs. Palin seems to exemplify the teachings of the church on life- and I’d rather have a prolife protestant than a heretical Catholic like Sebelius or Pelosi.
I think the choice of Sarah Palin is one of the best out there. My wife and I have been following her for about a year, (not quite I guess) since we first heard about her. I never thought McCain would do anything so intelligent though.
America will have finally matured when the voters are perfectly comfortable voting for an athiest or an agnostic for president. Oh Lord, if you are there, from the Christians deliver us.
Sarah Palin is a trailer park baby machine and a wacko! She’s in good company with Senator McCain who is mentally and emotionally disturbed himself. I’m hoping alleged reports from his first wife of physical abuse will be reported soon.
When word gets out throughout PA, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and other strong Catholic states that Sarah isn’t a practicing Catholic and is a member of the Pentecostals, poor John!!! LOL LOL Republicans are foiled again!!! LOL LOL
Pentecostals are indeed a monolithic force and form a major chunk of the evangelical vote the Republican Party is so adamantly pursuing this year. Do not underestimate their power and influence for a moment.
Sarah Palin is a trailer park baby machine and a wacko!
Oh puh-leeze! She’s an amateur! I have seven, and I have a friend with 12. Baby-making machine my foot! Dang, I’m not from a trailer park though. Pashaw. Can’t win ’em all. I be ghetto trash. (Since you were addressing the important issues there Atheistan.)
America will have finally matured when the voters are perfectly comfortable voting for an athiest or an agnostic for president. Oh Lord, if you are there, from the Christians deliver us.
Sarah Palin is a trailer park baby machine and a wacko! She’s in good company with Senator McCain who is mentally and emotionally disturbed himself. I’m hoping alleged reports from his first wife of physical abuse will be reported soon.
If atheists use contemptible language like this, I’m not too worried that voters will get comfortable voting for them.
When word gets out throughout PA, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and other strong Catholic states that Sarah isn’t a practicing Catholic and is a member of the Pentecostals, poor John!!! LOL LOL Republicans are foiled again!!! LOL LOL
Apparently in those states they get news via the Pony Express.
Pentecostals are indeed a monolithic force and form a major chunk of the evangelical vote the Republican Party is so adamantly pursuing this year.
Direct experience contradicts this. I’ve met frings Pentecostals. I’ve also met perfectly reasonable ones.
Now who left the window open and raw meat on the kitchen counter?
I mis-closed the italics in the first paragraph. My words start at “If atheists…”. I’d sure hate to think that someone thought that bilgewater came from me.
Athelestan
Thank you for demonstrating the true nature of atheism. If there is no respect for God, respect for people can easily fly out the window as well.
Why all the furor over Palin? Very simple. She’s different. She’s her own woman and she’s comfortable in her own skin. She gives no quarter and asks for none. She’s independently minded.
The furor over Palin reminds me of lines from the movie, “Doctor Zhivago.” Komarovsky (Rod Steiger) was talking to Lara (Julie Christie) about her boyfriend (Tom Courtenay). “There are two types of men,” Komarovsky said. “One is like your young man: high-minded, pure. The kind of man the world claims to admire and, in fact, despises.”
Just as importantly, she provides perhaps the quintessential example of a woman succeeding on her own merits and skills without a secular feminist mindset and without any regard for those who hold that mindset!
It is beyond irony when she receives criticism from “feminists” who ask whether she can be a vice-president and a working mother –“feminists” who, most likely, would have killed their children in the womb if they were in her position.
It is beyond irony that alledgely sophisticated women — even Peggy Noonan — are dissing somebody who represents the kind of assertiveness that they supposedly admire.
Finally, it is certainly beyond irony that a “Catholic” magazine (America) and a “Catholic” Web site (Vox Nova) has the audacity to claim that Palin is an apostate when they systematically ignore the Bidens, Kennedys, Schwarzeneggers, et al.
For such entities to criticize Palin because she attends the “wrong” church is nothing but anti-evangelical bigotry.
I’m surprised Sarah Palin’s detractors would go after women, children, and the unborn. I guess that’s politics. However, common sense dictates that it’s an untenable position, one that her opponents cannot win. Here’s a clip from Jan & Dean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX7X4FovYRA&NR=1 How ‘bout them Dems everybody; restorative justice: http://theseedsof9-11.com
Boy, you’re all really stupid. Get a life and worry about something important.
“Boy, you’re all really stupid. Get a life and worry about something important.”
Sir, you have totally defeated, deflated and convinced us with your eloquence and articulation. How can anyone argue against such a mature and logical comment like this? 😉 😉
Boy, you’re all really stupid. Get a life and worry about something important.
Sadly, this is some of the better commentary from the anti-Palin camp.
Sarah’s heart is sincere. She supports life. Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.
Dominus vobiscum,
Dr. Ed
This is an interesting site. My first visit. I am a seventy-six year old, life-long Catholic. Go to Church every Sunday and raised 6 good kids after my husband died in his 40’s. I am not a religious nut but I certainly did not have an abortion nor did any of my children. I believe that aborting a baby is a sin. These are my beliefs. I cannot impose them on everyone else I know.
When I am voting for a candidate for office, I do not restrict myself to his or her position on abortion. Consequently I did not vote for George Bush. He is for capital punishment and held a record for executions. I wonder how many of them were innocent. He sent thousands of young men and women to their death based on a lie-there were no weapons of mass destruction. His incompetent or lying Vice President and his neo-con advisors laid out a pattern of lies to convince a man who became a President by manipulating votes and who had been a drunk and ne’er do well until he found religion. He sent thousands of men and women to their death and has caused the death of thousanda and thousands of women and children with our bombing raids. My point is, he was “PRO=Life”. And apparently that is all someone has to say to be elected. He, his father, Ronald reagan and countless REpublican Congresses have come and gone and we still have abortion. They all said, Vote for me and I will eliminate abortion. No matter who gets in, nothing is going to change that. So if Mrs. Palin and John McCain are elected and are totally incompetent, we can at least take comfort in the fact that they are Pro-Life. McCain may start a war in Georgia (not the US Georgia) and send our kids over there on a whim. But he is pro-life. I wonder how you can start unjust 1wars, which kill innocents and still say you are pro-life. John McCain is in his 70″s. The older he gets, the better his chances of not making it to 2012. I am sorry but I do not want to leave my future dependent on a Soccer Mom whose religion is somewhere between holy rollers and evangelical. She seems to change her beliefs pretty often for a 40 something- Catholic, Assembly of God and non-denominational. Give me Joe Biden, experienced, a good Catholic and against abortion in his life but leaving the option available for non-believers. After all, we are supposed to live in a democracy where we are free to do what is lawful and agrees with our conscience.
As I said, I would never have an abortion and I consider it a sin. I also consider executions a sin, but that is not going to stop them from occurring. I say use your heads and vote for the best overall candidate not someone who agrees with you on one point.
Kitsy,
“He is for capital punishment and held a record for executions. I wonder how many of them were innocent.”
Well, at least you don’t have to tax your brain wondering if the 48.5 million American children killed by abortion since 1973 were innocent, or not. Certain issues, abortion being at the top of the list, take priority. Respect for life begins at the beginning. Of what worth is the life of the possibly guilty convict if the life of the completely vulnerable innocent doesn’t have absolute value to those who are obligated to defend it?
We should pray fervently for Sarah Palin and her family during this time, don’t you think? I am sure that she will be nagged and persecuted throughout the campaign. This last “scandal” from, of all people, progressive Catholics, is astounding. As if… Whatever happened to removing the plank from one’s own eye first?
I am both happy and excited about Sarah as VP. McCain’s choice led me to consider that I may not have to do a “write-in” after all.
Thanks for sharing, Deb. I am thrilled by Sarah Palin’s respect for life and the fact that she demonstrates we are not all radical feminists. I am a little afraid though. What if she is a Christian Dominionist? Will she push for special treatment for her brand of religion and their agenda, which includes converting Catholics?
What if she is a Christian Dominionist? Will she push for special treatment for her brand of religion and their agenda, which includes converting Catholics?
Julie, such a position would violate her oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and cannot be implemented in legislature w/o breaking that oath.
I also consider executions a sin, but that is not going to stop them from occurring.
Kitsy, your position does not correspond to Christian thinking in general, nor Catholic thinking in particular, on the subject. Please read the following:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=6903EF18-431F-4C86-BA60-8F2E0C969BDE
Thanks, Joseph, for a much better response than my grouchy one. It would probably be a good rule to not respond when I know i’ve heard an illogical argument one too many times that day.
I’m sorry for being so snappy, Kitsy. But the thought that children are dying every day for “reasons” that are unreasonable is maddening.
What one issue Catholics fail to realize: there would have been countless numbers of abortions without Roe vs. Wade since 1973. They would have been underground or they would have occurred in Mexico or Canada. If you really want to stop abortions, you cannot oppose birth control at the same time. For sure birth control stops abortion.
I am a Catholic, and I came across your site while searching for some information on Assembly of God churches and their attitudes about Catholics. So thank you, Deb, for your insight.
While reading these posts, I came to the following conclusions:
Many of you will vote for McCain/Palin because she is pro-life. OK, that’s fair.
But you will overlook the following issues:
1. She is pro death penalty.
2. She does not believe in global warming, which goes against our charge to be good stewards of the land.
3. She spent 30 years in a church which believes that Catholics are “idol worshipers” and does not believe that Catholics are “true Christians.”
4. She currently attends churches in Juneau and Wasilla which have close ties to “Joel’s Army” and the Third Wave Movement. If you don’t know what that is, please do some research. In a nutshell, they believe that we are in the end times, that the war in Iraq is just the beginning of the final Armaggedon, and that their mission is to rid the earth of the non-believers. Sound crazy? Sure, but there are millions of young men and woman flocking to the Joel’s Army movement in the US today.
I don’t know whether she believes any of this stuff. But that’s the point. She won’t even answer the questions. And those of us who are asking the questions are being told we’re “mean” to her. And don’t forget that Barack Obama has had to face a constant gauntlet of questions from the media about his faith.
If John McCain dies, and she becomes President, will she order a nuclear strike in the Middle East to hasten the “end times”? Don’t you think we should know this stuff before November? She has every right to her religious beliefs, but she does not have the right to plunge this country into nuclear war to fulfill her ideas of biblical prophecy. And yes, that would be going against the Constitution of the United States. But have you had your eyes closed and your ears shut the last eight years? What do you think George Bush and Dick Cheney have been doing? And nobody’s been able to stop them.
If you choose to vote for McCain/Palin, that’s your right. But you should at least know what you’re getting into before you put Gov. Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency. And don’t bother answering this post with, “you’re a liberal democrat.” You’re right. I live in Minnesota, and I’m a proud Paul Wellstone Democrat. So calling me names isn’t going to hurt me. I’ve spent the last 8 years being told that I must be afraid of Muslim fundamentalists, and now it looks like I have to spend the next four being afraid of Christian fundamentalists too.
My apologies if I’ve offended anyone. It’s just that we have two sons, and my husband and I don’t like the direction that this country is moving in.
While kao has some good points, it is still a vote of the lessor of evils.
The one point kao has wrong is the major flaw found in the orgs she goes to. These are quasi Militia groups. Their main effort is to fight the anti-Christ. Hence prolonging the arrival of Jesus and not reading their Bibles to see God has shorten the time.
No matter all the other issues, the fact of the daily wholesale slaughter of unborn hums, out weights everything else. So McCain/Palin will probably get my vote. Even though the GOP has used Pro-Life as a carrot to us Catholics. They had control of the White House, and Congress in the last 8 years, and have done nothing about this modern Holocaust.
I am appalled at some of the above responses.
How can these people call themselves Christians when they say such horrific things about others. I think our Lord would be very disappointed with them. Let he without sin cast the first stone.
My goodness, they should wash there mouths out with soap!
I agree with Kao and Kitsy. Sarah Palin is very scary – she is a fundamentalist with a big agenda. She thinks that the war is God’s will. I think it’s pretty arrogant for a mere mortal to think they know God’s will – and clearly everyone has a different idea about that. I don’t want her imposing her religious beliefs on me. America was founded on separation of church and state.
I am a Catholic with a brain. I use the mind that God gave me to consider issues – I don’t blindly follow bishops because they clearly aren’t infallible. I personally believe that abortion is wrong – but I part company with the fundamentalists (on so many issues), on the death penalty issue. Killing is wrong, period. Wasn’t Jesus the innocent victim of the death penalty?? I think our Lord is just as displeased with our executions as he is with our abortions. The christian president executed mentally retarded people when he was the Gov of Texas. How does he sleep at night?
Also, please consider that Catholicism is not a fundamentalist religion. We have a long history of intellectual inquiry and thought on theology, revelation and scriptural studies. We do not interpret the scriptures literally, and we believe that WORKS are required for salvation not just faith. So please, wake up to the real threats that Sarah Palin represents.
Actually you are being lied by the media. She never said the war was God’s will.
The actual quote was.
““Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” she exhorted the congregants. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.””
She actually is saying that people have to make sure that something is God’s will, not that she says she knows it.
The AP turned it into
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a “task that is from God.
And Charles Gibson used the bowdlerized AP clip on air.
I’m not a Catholic, but adopted a child from one of Mother Theresa’s Sisters of Charity orphanages in India, and helped the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur at several schools in Rwanda when I was a missionary for a Protestant church there, years ago. I’m posting this message to say this: Catholics are foolingthemselves if you don’t think that modern fundamental Protestants don’t continue to cling to pre-JFK views on Catholocism, the Pope, transubstantiation, Confession, your Bible translations, how you count the 10 Commandments (splitting one, lumping two), the Saints, the veneration of Mary, and the litany of issues about which they are taught, soul-destroying issue, by soul-destroying issue. I’m NOT trying to pick a fight. Not at all. But as a Protestant who was once a typical iconoclast, I finally came to recognize the error of “damning” everyone who didn’t interpret Scripture the same way we did, observe the same day, shun the same things, follow the same ritual, etc. But it took YEARS and unusual experiences that I willingly placed myself in, in order to get to the point of breaking away for the judgmentalism that is fundamental Christianity in America. The Assemblies of God are a LOOOONNNNG way from figuring out the meaning of “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Or “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone,” and dozens of other Bible quotations that condemn judging. I don’t know any more about Palin’s fiath than what she has revealed. But I do no many ex-Catholics who have ended up in Fundamental Christian denominations, and ALL of them (to my memory) are anti-Catholic and especially anti-Rome. Many have versy specific beliefs about what role the Catholic Church and the Vatican play in Daniel and the Revelation–and it’s not a good one! They definitely do not belief that Priests have the authority from God to forgive sins (and I know that is a simplification of the real Catholic doctrine on Confession), or that ANY man (or women) can take the role of Christ vicariously (i.e., “Vicar of God,” etc.). If someone is in the Pentecostal church … in this case meaning the Assemblies of God, they do NOT take a lenient view of what God has in store for those who ignore the parts of the Bible that they hold dear. To be blunt: No resurrection to eternity for Catholics who don’t first break away from the power and sway of Rome … effectively becoming a Protestant!–and that stance would be true for MOST Fundamentalist Christian Churches that believe the hierarchy of the Catholic church places a barrier between man and Savior, therefore, between man and God, man and Grace, man and salvation. Simple. They believe that EITHER you “eliminate the middle man” or you get sifted out of the saving process because you failed to make the right connection–which is a direct one … Luther’s “Preisthood of Believers,” and all that. The reason I’m saying this is to tell Catholics: Don’t be so naive … the fact that Palin professes to be a “Christian” does NOT make her similar to Catholics. In fact, her particular brand of Protestantism classifies you are unsaved. You would be foolish to make the assumption that just because she also opposes abortion, that she is somehow a person “like us.” One of you made the comment that it was too bad that she was in favor of birth control! Hey! The rest of the work is in favor of that. That should tell you that her core beliefs that make her opposed to abortion does not come from the same place your beliefs come from. And BTW, although–in spite of what I’ve said–I am also a fundamentalist (Creationist, etc.), I don’t acept the idea that Catholics can’t be saved. Why not? Because Christ said, “My house has many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. If it were not true I would not have said it.” I take many mansions to mean that there are different pacts and conevenants by which the Lord works to save people … people who are exposed to the messages they hear, and not those they didn’t hear [where “hear” really means “could understand, given who they were, what they knew, and their cultural lens”]. I am opposed to abortion, too. But I do NOT presume to think it is up to me or any law to make the decision for a woman. I am FOR the law allowing it, but hope no woman ever chooses to use it. And IF we allow it, we should MAKE SURE that every woman inquiring and looking into the possibilities gets a FULL education about what it means … including the photos of the reality of the horror of abortion. But at the end of the day, it should be between the woman … the mother … and her God. Better that it happen in a clinic than in an alley. Who knows whether your mission work might not later bring that woman into faith? And into a state of mind to ask forgiveness. In my denomination, we believe that women who were barren on earth will have the opportunity to “raise” the babies of women not saved (and that mothers who lost their children to death, will be able to raise them in Heaven. Thought I’d leave you with that idea.
Curtis
I voted for McCain because of his Pro-Life stance. Sarah Palin is also pro-life. Even though I am Catholic, it does not mean I was going to vote for Obama just because he had a “catholic” running mate. Joe Biden is catholic in name only. He is separated by God because of his evils of taking a public stance for abortion.