The New (& the Old) Evangelization Tension: Catholic media and the Catholic-Dems

Oct 28, 2012

As the Democrat Party becomes more aggressive in its opposition to the Catholic Church, i.e. HHS mandate, the DNC  positioning themselves to remove God from its party platform, the support for same-sex marriage and its unapologetic stand on abortion, the tension and contrast between the party and Catholicism naturally becomes more pronounced. With this, the hands of those in the Catholic media have been forced to talk about such things. In fulfilling their duty to report and comment on the news, they have no other choice but to draw attention to these pressing issues.

Many who are consumers of the Catholic media have had special ties with the Democrat Party and the Catholic Church for years. What many faithful Catholics have known for years is only now becoming apparent to some Catholics. They are beginning to see that the party that they loved in the political world is becoming more at odds with the Church they loved in the world of faith. However, when the Catholic media gives voice to this contrast, accusations come their way. They are being accused by many Catholic-Dems of being partisan or cheering for the Republican team.

No doubt, there are members in the Catholic media who have had a close alliance with the Republican Party. Some have even failed to transcend partisan-politics. As such, they struggle to communicate Catholic principles to the public with objectivity. But there are many in the Catholic media whose aim is to follow truth where it may lead and educate the public as it pertains to Catholic principles. As for endorsing a political program, nothing could be further from their minds. Still, it is impossible to escape the charge of playing partisan politics.

The brutal fact is that when the Catholic media reports on the growing tension between the Democrat Party and the Church, there is bound to be denial, anger and kick back by some. But if the news is to be reported and if Catholic principles are brought to bear on the news, members of the Catholic media cannot draw back or wince from telling the truth about the Democrat Party (or even about the Republican Party as it grows soft on key moral issues). After all, the freedom of the press is essential for this very reason.

The burden of coming to terms with the conflict between the positions of the Democrat Party and Catholic doctrine should be placed squarely on Catholic-Dems to change their party; not on the Catholic media or the Catholic clergy to be quiet about the conflict. Therefore, when clerical preachers and media commentators give voice to the irreconcilable differences between party and faith the charge of partisanship by Catholic-Dems is an unfair one. Attachment to a political party – be it the Democrat Party or the Republican Party – should yield to the fidelity to the Church; especially when the former comes into conflict with the latter. With that said, members of the Catholic media and the Catholic clergy should not have to apologize for this. In fact, to do so would be a sign of weakness.

With all that has been said about the challenges of the Democrat Party, it is in the best interest of Christians to have two parties in our political system that are pro-God, pro-life, and pro-marriage. Just as the Democrat Party has taken the minority vote for granted, the Republican establishment is showing signs of taking the Christian vote for granted. Christians should want competition between the two parties. Until then – until the Democrat Party once again supports Gospel values – members of the Catholic media are duty bound to draw public attention to the recent aggressive measures leveled against the Church by the Democrat Party.

A failure to do so would be to hasten the erosion of religious liberty.