Prominent Catholic-for-Obama Doug Kmiec defends himself against the charge of apostasy, and tells us he's been denied communion for his position along the way. He's right that he shouldn't have been denied communion. As a matter of fact I don't think the denial-of-communion for abortion supporting politicians is cut and dried. Canon law is clear that the priest must deny communion to a person giving scandal; no wiggle room there. But I'm not certain it's clear what every politician's intent is. What if a politician opposes abortion but believes he is bound by the Constitution to protect it --that his oath of office forbids him not to do so (which is the position of the Supreme Court, and few public officials today understand that the SCOTUS isn't the last word)? I'd argue if that were true a person with any personal integrity would resign, but I'm not sure a person who honestly understands his job that way ought to be denied communion.
Here's why Kmiec's argument doesn't cut. As Bishop Chaput recently reminded us, "personally opposed" is in practice never accompanied by action that puts flesh on the words. If there were a sincerely "personally opposed" politician who actually worked to promote adoption and to support reasonable limits on abortion, that would be one thing. Show me such a person. You can't, and it certainly isn't Barack Obama. Someone sincerely "personally opposed" to abortion doesn't attend Planned Parenthood fundraisers and promise
"There will always be people, many of goodwill, who do not share my view on the issue of choice. On this fundamental issue, I will not yield and Planned Parenthood will not yield."just for starters, and if Obama were a great bridge-builder, he's been around long enough to have built some already. Where are they? Where is the support for adoption, etc. from his time in the Senate and in the Illinois legislature and as a "community organizer"? I have no idea why Kmiec is so taken in by Obama's soaring rhetoric that he never looks at what he actually does or promises to do.
As the likely nominee of his party, Senator Obama can afford to start building the bridges his inspirational messages have described. To my mind, there is no better time than now to announce a fulsome initiative, among other things, to promote adoption as an abortion alternative.Fulsome is just what any such initiative coming from Obama will be. Everyone thinks that word means "abundant." It actually means "nauseous flattery."
Still, you can't be denied communion for being blind.
