AmericanPapist Comments
Yes yes, the bishops oppose FOCA, but if I support it can I receive Communion? And if I'm a Kennedy, and I vote for FOCA, can I still receive Communion?
Bishops? Hello!? Hello? Can we get a response? Sounds like the USCCB is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Racism and segreegation in Catholic churches did not end in St Louis untill there were ecclessial sanctions.
According to a statement I heard last week, congressmen only receive 2-3 calls a day from constituents concerning issues that are being voted on in Congress. I'm not sure if this is on the local or national level, but isn't it a shame that we wait until we are threatened with this dictatorial legislation before we complain to those who have the power to reverse the asinine way of doing business in government?
Pray to end the complacency and indifference concerning abortion. Then and only then will we make a mark in reduction and finally ending this holocaust.
I seriously wonder what will happen when all those Catholics in the House and Senate cast a Yea vote for FOCA. That's pretty specific and clear cooperation, isn't it? Excommunicable, right? Beuller? Beuller?
j vino, interesting point....
I'll believe it when I see it. In order to be appointed a bishop, you have to be able to get along with charismatics, traddies, and everyone in between. That doesn't lend itself to a personality that seeks conflict.
Unless, of course, the conflict is between said bishop and traddies (case in point, Arch. Wuerl in Washington)
I agree we must fight and we must the political parties and not let the political parties change us. I do not want to discourage anyone from signing the petition but I just want to make sure people have realistics expectations. If you have ever worked in a congressional office, here are some things you know.
1. The form letters where citizen x signs his name and sends it to his representative aren't worth the paper they're printed on when it comes to political capital. They are opened and then inserted into the trusty circular file. Open letters and petitions are the same. It takes about 2 seconds to sign your name. One person cares enough to write and 1000 people take 2 seconds to sign their name. Not impressive.
2. Phone calls to your representative are actually counted ALOT. The number of 'pro' and 'con' telephone calls is used to determine constituent sentiment at about a 10 to 1 ratio; for every one call received, there are about 10 other voters who feel the same way about the issue at hand.
3. Individual, personal letters have the highest political capital. Letters that you write yourself and sign yourself. It takes a lot of time for a secretary to respond to all those letters, but she does. Because for every person who took the trouble to write their representative, its thought there must be at the very least 20 other voters who feel the same way.
Open letters may generate media coverage depending on how prominent the signers are. PROMINENT signers, not numbers, are what get the item deemed newsworthy. If it is picked up by the media, then it makes it possible that whomever the letter is addressed to will have to respond to it publicly. The chances of this are slim to none, which is why open letters are typically bad investments, especially if they're published in expensive newspapers.
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