Friday, August 28, 2020

Protesting the 'Catholic Vote'

I am a life-long practicing Catholic and I am angry and deeply offended by the group that calls itself ‘Catholic Vote’.  I have been flooded with at least 4 multi-page ‘information pieces’, several carrying three slightly different four-page surveys titled: 1) ‘2020 Catholic Voter Registration Confirmation & Presidential Preference Ballot’; 2) National Survey of 1,000,000 Catholic Voters Concerning the Democrats’ War on Catholics; 3) 2020 Elections Catholic Vote Survey Concerning the Left’s War on Catholics and Faith in God.  On each are listed: Your US Representative: John B. Larson, and Your two US Senators: Richard Blumenthal, Christopher Murthy. Thereby suggesting the reader inform their congressmen and senators of their position as ‘Catholic voters’.  My mailings were targeted to Connecticut voters; I assume they likewise identified congressmen for the other battleground states.

 

This is not a simple little flyer favoring a single candidate.  It is a vicious attack against the Democratic Party and Joe Biden designed to strongly influence the recipient to vote against Biden and for Trump.  It offends me on two levels: First, it flies in the face of the Constitution that calls for the separation of church and state.  Secondly, it opposes the official church position that Church refrain from political involvement.  One of the mailings contains a post card addressed to Connecticut Secretary of State requesting voter registration materials sent to the addressee (the person named on the letter.) 

 

Every ‘opinion question’ is strongly slanted against Biden and for Trump with bubbles of various words of  gradations from which to choose.   Examples:

--What is your opinion of President Trump’s performance on getting America’s economy growing again after 8 years of stagnation under the socialistic anti-business policies of Barack Obama?

--What was your reaction to the openly anti-Catholic stance of the Democratic Party leadership?

--How concerned are you that Christianity (which includes Christian morality) has been criminalized in America—especially in Democratic-run states and cities?

--What is your opinion about the Democratic leadership’s total opposition to President Trump’s efforts to secure American borders?

 

These 3 slightly different ‘surveys’ are each heavily loaded to lead the reader to affirming Trump and demonizing the Democratic party.  Why three?  I presume to give them more opportunity to apply pressure to to their audience.  There was of course an appeal for financial support in a brightly colored orange return envelope identified as:

                        Catholic Vote 

The 2020 Elections Project

        Campaign to Educate America’s Catholics

On How Anti-Catholic the Democratic Party Has Become

                        PO Box 7047

                 Merrifield, VA 22116-7047

Thus calling loud attention to their hostility toward the Democratic Party even by way of the US mail.

 

In referring to the similar 2016 campaign one of the letters stated:

“In all, Catholic Vote made more than 50 MILLION contacts with Catholic voters—with digital video ads that went viral, email, our social media campaigns, traffic to the CatholicVote.org website, and our CATHOLIC VOTER EDUCATION postal mailings.  This made the difference.

CatholicVote is undertaking a very similar Battle Plan this year—educating Catholics in the key Battleground states how anti-Catholic the Democrat Party had become.  But we aim to double what we did in 2016.”

 

I have found this so shocking I’m almost embarrassed to call myself a Catholic.  I was unaware of the extent of the so called ‘Catholic Vote’ in the 2016 campaign, I received no such mailings, perhaps because I was not in a battleground state at the time.  Although it is not an officially sanctioned church organization, I have heard no formal objections from the clergy.  

 

Catholics I know are shocked and strongly object to this slander.  How can there be—in the name of ‘Catholic’—such a blatant wide spread bias against the Democrats while giving support to a president known to be amoral, immoral and an inveterate liar?  It is inexcusable that there has been no official Church opposition to this.  It reflects the same silence that was demonstrated by the hierarchy regarding the Church’s sex-scandal.  

1 comment:

  1. You shouldn't be shocked....Dems in general and Biden in particular are viciously supportive of abortion right up thru (and for some) after birth. The scandal is that the bishops should be condemning any political candidate who supports abortion whether that candidate has a D, R or I after their name.
    Wake up and truly be a Catholic.

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