Alright, so I think I am one of the last Catholic bloggers to blog this sticker. My mother thinks it should say, “You can’t be Catholic and pro Claire.” It disturbs me greatly that any Catholic could be endorsed by Pro-Choice America, or even think that abortion should be, “safe, legal and rare.”
Claire recently used her Catholic faith to justify her position on Amendment 2 and embryonic stem (ES) cell research. In an interview with Tim Russert on Meet the Press she says, “my faith directs me to heal the sick.” That’s great, Claire, but your faith also directs that, “Those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life. For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them” (Vatican 2003). Amendment 2 is nothing more than an attack on human life at its very earliest stages when it is unable to defend itself. In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II specifically states that, “the use of human embryos or fetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings…The killing of innocent human creatures, even if carried out to help others, constitutes an absolutely unacceptable act” (63).
Claire also goes on to say, “I come down on the side of hope, hope for cures.” This is a common statement from Amendment 2 supporters who believe that, in order to be “pro cures” one must accept cloning and ES cell research. Unfortunately people buy into this myth. At the Turkey Festival last Saturday I heard a number of people walk past our display and say, “if you want cures for diseases you should vote yes on that amendment.” This is what the Missouri Coalition would like you to believe, but it’s just not the case. You don’t have to support embryonic stem cell research to be in favor of cures. After over 20 years of research in animals, embryonic stem cells have produced nothing but tumors. Meanwhile, adult stem cells have been treating human beings for a number of years with new breakthroughs happening everyday! The idea that an endorsement of Amendment 2 and ES cell research means that you are more in favor of cures than someone who opposes such research is completely unfounded.
Clearly, Claire is confused and misguided, both about the Catholic faith and stem cell research. I would say that, more than anything, she needs our prayers, not our vote.
2 Comments on “Claire McCaskill”
I will never understand why kneejerk zealots think that organized religion and its organized invasion of politics should remove from human beings the most sacred position that God takes in his word: free will. It will always remain impossible to create God’s Kingdom on Earth because it is inhabited by fallible humans. That said, the audacity that is required to claim a monopoly on truth and to remove freedom from other human beings is almost certainly the greatest sin of all. To do so in God’s name is almost certainly blasphemy.
True freedom, as a gift from God, does not consist in doing what we want, but in doing what we ought. When one chooses to defend or participate in an action that results in the killing of an innocent human being, such as abortion or embryonic stem cell research, it is a violation of the natural law and goes against the goodness and love of God – which is a truth written in the heart of every man.