I found an NPR article online that reported a feud going on between the Rep. from Rhode Island, Mr. Patrick Kennedy, and the Bishop of Providence, the Most Reverend Thomas Tobin.
Tobin and Kennedy have publicly argued over the abortion issue, and Tobin has instructed the priests of his dioceses to stop giving him Communion. This is his prerogative as a Catholic Bishop, of course, and he has stopped short of "ordering" Kennedy to refrain from taking Communion outside of the diocese (something else he could have done... sort of a "light" version of excommunication, I guess), but the fight doesn't seem to end there.
Kennedy has used the opportunity this situation presented (taking the message of Rohm Emanuel to heart, it seems) to make himself seem the victim in the eyes of many people. His public statements voice a desire to participate in the Sacraments of the Church, his "belief" in the truth of the Faith, and only a slight disagreement with the Church hierarchy over such important social issues as a public-option in health care and his "pro-choice" position in the abortion debate. He has done a masterful job of making the Bishop and the Church look tyrannical and repressive.
I can't blame the Bishop for taking a hard-line on abortion... I'm very pro-life myself, as you know... but it would seem that the Democratic machine has a far more effective "spin-corps" than the diocese does, and Tobin is suffering because of it. Kennedy's supporters include NPR, as well, it seems... the article was "biased" to say the least, referring to Tobin as "ultra-orthodox" and "shockingly conservative" in his interpretation of canon law (neither of which are true at all... he is ardently pro-life... but that is the extent of his "conservative" leanings, I feel. More on this later...).
It is so disappointing that ANY traditional position, be it in faith or in politics, held by nearly ANYONE in a high-profile office is incapable of making an argument for a conservative belief with any kind of acceptable recognition in the Age of Obama. It seems that, because I am a pro-life Christian with many conservative political views, I am seen by the majority of my represented Government as intolerant, bigoted, racist, and supportive of a theocratic quasi-religious state where only MY beliefs are allowed to be expressed openly.
The truly sad truth is that it is exactly the opposite. MY views and beliefs are being marginalized more and more every day by this society and by this Government.
Sad.
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