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04 November 2016

oh boy are you Clinton voters in for Big Posthumous Surprise


 
Click for bigger Hell

Wikipedia:
Mortal sins (Latin: peccata mortalia) in Catholic theology are wrongful acts that condemn a person to Hell after death if unforgiven. These sins are considered "mortal" because they constitute a rupture in a person's link to God's saving grace: the person's soul becomes "dead", not merely weakened. A mortal sin is not necessarily a sin that cannot be repented, unlike an eternal sin. Thus, even after a mortal sin has been committed, there is a chance for repentance. [more details at wiki.]

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The San Diego (California USA) Union-Tribune
daily broadsheet 
Wednesday 2 November 2016



Catholic parish's bulletin says Democratic voters are doomed to hell, Clinton is satanic



by




Between requests for prayers for the sick and a notice for an upcoming chastity luncheon, a newsletter from a Catholic church in Old Town that doubles as an election-day polling site included a flier that told parishioners they’ll go to hell if they vote for Democrats.

Two Sundays later, the message had changed: Satan was working through former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The  Sunday 16 October bulletin from the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was stuffed with a flyer written in both English and Spanish that cited five legislative policies — support for abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, human cloning, and embryonic stem cell research — that will doom a politician and their supporters to eternal damnation.

“It is a mortal sin to vote Democrat … immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell,” the flyer said. It cited the five public policy issues from the “Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” and said that Democrats violate each of them, while Republicans cross  none.
The political messages continued as early voting began and the election drew closer. An article in the 30 October church bulletin claimed that Clinton is influenced by Satan.

The bulletin took a quote from a 2015 speech by Clinton out of context to make it appear that through Satanic intervention the Democratic nominee, using techniques from trailblazing community organizer Saul Alinsky, was telling Christians to change their religious beliefs to support abortion.

“The devil does this through tactics outlined by Saul Alinsky with the outcome as Hillary Clinton stated ‘And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed,’ to draw us away from God’s teachings regarding the sanctity of life to those of the world and its prince,” the bulletin said.

Clinton, speaking at the Women in the World Summit, was actually talking about eliminating cultural barriers that prevent girls from attending elementary school and women from attending college, as well as obstacles that stand between enforcement of domestic violence laws and access to reproductive and maternal healthcare.

Lawyers who study churches and other nonprofit organizations said the statements violate regulations that prevent tax-exempt groups from speaking in support or against political candidates.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego on Wednesday said the messages in the flier and bulletin do not reflect Catholic teaching or diocese policies, are inappropriate, and that voters should use their conscience to determine which candidates to support.

“It’s not a mortal sin to vote for Democrats, number one. And number two, the church doesn’t take positions on this, and we’re not going to,” diocese spokesman Kevin Eckery said.

In a speech Tuesday at the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture at the University of San Diego, Bishop Robert McElroy stressed the importance both for his faith and for the country of religious leaders like himself staying out of candidate elections.

“I speak to you tonight as a bishop who is part of a long tradition in Catholic episcopal leadership in the United States which holds that both the Church and society are best served when bishops refrain from publicly endorsing or favoring, either directly or indirectly, specific candidates in partisan elections,” a transcript of his address says.

The diocese said the flier was not authorized by the parish, but it was somehow inserted into the 16 October bulletin.

“For all I know someone thought that they were doing a service,” by putting it into the bulletin, Eckery said. “The pastor said it was not something he had reviewed or approved.”

In his homily three weeks before the flier appeared in bulletins the church’s pastor, the Rev. Richard Perozich, discussed those same five points from the flier and how they’re relevant in this upcoming election but didn’t mention political parties, candidates, or damnation.

“In the church, we have what we call the five non-negotiables, things that are most important, and they’re around life issues. There’s life, from conception to natural death. There’s marriage and sexuality, embryonic stem cell research, cloning and euthanasia. When we vote, we don’t vote for candidates who support these things, even if they support other things that we really like,” said Perozich, according to a recording of the Sept. 25 homily posted on the church’s website.

Eckery said Perozich was not available for comment.

Francine Busby, the head of San Diego County Democrats, said she saw the flier and thought it was absurd to the point it didn’t seem like something the faith she grew up in would publish.

“My initial reaction was that this was extreme and completely over the top in the accusations,” she said. “I thought it was important to bring it to the attention to the diocese, just as a friend. I know that they didn’t mean it. … Clearly this was something that the diocese would never ever approve.”

While the bulletin cites “The Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” from El Cajon-based Catholic Answers Press to claim that voting for a Democrat results in eternal damnation, the guide references neither Democrats nor Republicans, and says voting by political party is an ineffective way to align with Catholic teachings.

“Do not just vote based on your political party affiliation, your earlier voting habits, or your family’s voting tradition,” the guide says. “Years ago, these may have been trustworthy ways to determine whom to vote for, but today they are often not reliable. You need to look at the stands each candidate takes. This means that you may end up casting votes for more than one party.”

The Clinton-as-Satan comment was in an article from the 30 October bulletin headlined “Voting Catholic” that discusses contemporary issues that Catholics have long stood against like abortion and same-sex marriage, plus ones that Eckery said are not a part of Catholic teachings and out of line with diocesan policy.

The article, which was written in the bulletin and not an insert, listed 10 “sins” that have “enslaved” American society created by politicians, judges and the voters who support them.

Besides long-standing matters the church has opposed, it also spoke against the “importation of immigrants whose religious values are to eradicate every belief except those of their own prophet and god, and to impose this on America” and public assistance for immigrants adding to the public debt “while paying Americans to sit home and not work.” The article also criticized “regulating the right to bear arms for free citizens in a nation where criminals and terrorists will always have weapons, and where government is now in opposition to the citizens.”

The article goes on to criticize clergy and politicians who think Christians who are concerned about these issues are homophobic or Islamophobic. “We are called by politicians such as Hillary Clinton, deplorables,” it said.

This article does not reflect the Catholic church’s stance, Eckery said.

“There’s no Catholic teaching to national debt, there’s no Catholic teaching on the Second Amendment. Those are civil issues, not Catholic issues,” he said. “It doesn’t reflect official church teaching. We’re a welcoming church, welcoming to immigrants.”

Eckery said the article came from within the parish, but it’s not clear who the author was, or who approved it for the bulletin.

Legal experts said that flier and bulletin run afoul of U.S. federal Internal Revenue Service regulations that prohibit nonprofit organizations, including churches, from backing or opposing political campaigns as a condition of receiving a tax-free status.

“This is absolutely blatant. I would use that word. It is a blatant violation on the ban on campaign activity,” said Richard Schmalbeck, a law professor at Duke University who specializes in nonprofit regulations. “It’s among the worst. Really, when you’re threatening eternal damnation, there really aren’t bigger guns than that.”

But the infraction couldn't be fairly blamed on the church if it were inserted by a rogue actor, he said.

Bruce Hopkins, a law professor at the University of Kansas, said he didn’t think that the flier about Democrats is a problem because it mentions a party, not a specific candidate. The 30 October bulletin — the one that says Satan is working through Clinton — is an issue, he said.

“I think it is a problem, as a matter of law, when you have her mentioned, specifically, that close to an election day,” Hopkins said. “It’s an obvious criticism of her in the context of the campaign.”

They both also said it’s unlikely that the IRS will investigate or impose any sort of sanction, however.

“The IRS these days is not enforcing much in this area,” Hopkins said. “It doesn’t have the resources, and its been criticized so much on (Capitol) Hill and elsewhere that it's kind of skittish about moving in certain areas, and this is one of them.”

When there have been sanctions, they’ve been mild, Schmalbeck said. In 2004 the IRS audited All Saints Church in Pasadena for a sermon that depicted a hypothetical debate between Jesus and then-Sen. John Kerry and President George W. Bush. It didn’t say specifically who to vote for or against, but it could be inferred, and compared to Immaculate Conception, it was much milder, he said.

The IRS investigated, found that the Pasadena church had violated regulations for non-profits and gave it a warning, Schmalbeck said.

Churches aren’t entirely sidelined from the political process. The IRS says they can hold candidate forums and publish election guides and organize voter registration drives, but their efforts must be “conducted in a non-partisan manner.”

The Old Town parish has hosted a polling site for the last four elections, and the flier is not a problem for Tuesday’s general election because voting will take place in a hall adjacent to the church and the polling area will be politically neutral, county spokesman Michael Workman said.

Approximately 250 houses of worship across San Diego County are used for polling places, amounting to around one of every six voting locations. Of those, all but around 10 are Christian churches. There are also at least two synagogues and one Buddhist temple used for voting, but it does not appear that any mosques are used.

The morality of either political party is far from agreed upon among the Catholic clergy and lay people, and likewise, there are Catholics in all levels of government across party lines. There have been two priests in Congress — both were Democrats. There have likewise been two Catholics in the executive branch, Vice President Joe Biden and President John F. Kennedy, also Democrats. Also, Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, and California Governor Jerry Brown, also a Democrat, both studied to become Jesuit priests.

In 1989 then-San Diego Bishop Leo Maher became the first in the country to deny the Eucharist to a politician when the sacrament was refused to state Senate candidate Lucy Killea. She won her race, and years later worshiped with Episcopalians.
 
In 2004, John Kerry was the last Catholic to receive the Democratic Party’s nomination for president and while he was campaigning he was denied communion because of his abortion rights stance. Besides him and Kennedy in 1960, the only other Catholic to receive the nomination from one of the two major parties was Al Smith in 1928, a Democrat and three-time New York governor. Smith is still a figure in presidential politics as the namesake of a charity dinner where the two candidates appear together to roast each other and themselves to raise money for Catholic organizations that assist children.
 
Critics weighed in on Clinton and Trump’s comedic speeches, giving them both boos and praise, but Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of the Diocese of New York, laughed at them both.

Twitter: @jptstewart
joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com
(619) 293-1841

9 comments:

PatFromCH said...

The former canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (also the father of the current PM) is said to have remarked that when America is sneezing, the Canadians get a cold. Or the flu. The quote is not exact, but you get the idea.

To a degree this goes for the rest of the world as well and we are watching in amazement and astonishment. There are only two (!) candidates who both resemble the huge pile of Tyrannosaurus Rex doodoo in Jurassic Park. So we basically have to piles of shit, one is an incompetent, dangerous buffoon, the other is a liar and cannot be trusted. America – the land of Choice. We don’t know jack shit about their positions on education, environment, infraststructure investment and the points on economic growth, trades and tariffs or foreign policy are more than vague.

What we do hear though is appauling – shitty deals, e-mail scandals, racism, awful behaviour towards women etc. Bloody wonder it hasn’t gotten any nastier, but it is enough to make your hair staund up. This has naught to do with Realpolitik, this is a bloody circus in the bonfire of the vanities. You poor people basically have the choice between the plagua and typhoid as the leader of a (still) influential world power, cultural invader and tech giant.

Speaking of bonfires – I have read Dante and let me assure you the both of these piles of dung will end up in Hell. I don’t know to which malebolga Minos will send them. The pit for incompetent politicians is full to the brim, but there might still be space left in that lake full of fluid tar.........

Vleeptron Dude said...

"Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States!"

-- José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (1830 – 1915) soldier, 7 terms President of Mexico

==============

We (the USA) are The New Rome. Humans (and many lower species) in Ulan Bator shiver when USA turns thermostat down 2 degrees Fahrenheit. (We use heat system of Fahrenheit, who obviously was betronken.)

Oh, thanks for the Democracy thing, CH.

But older parliamentary democracy than CH is Althing of Iceland, with biggest bloc of seats just won by PIRATE!!! Party. Free drugs! Free graffiti paint for all Icelanders!

THE GOOD NEWS FROM AMERICA: 4 more days to Election Day!

Malania Trump just made speech. As First Lady, her personal focus will be to stop cyber-bullying. Maybe she doesn't read husband's 03:00 Tweets.

If you like Crystal Balls which can see the Future, IGNORE NATIONAL VOTER POLLS. Our Constitution got whack thing called Electoral College. The only polls that matter are STATE polls. And Hillary (Uwe reminded me she charges $73,000 per hour, so he will use Trump as emergency babysitter for little daughters) is leading in the polls in the "battleground" states that matter.

But Agence-Vleeptron Presse instantly stopped the presses to publish this story that Hillary works for Satan, and all Roman Catholics who vote for her will go to Hell forever.

Also (A-VP will cover this) there is Silicon Valley gazillionaire, Thiel, who

1. gives $$$$$$$$$$ to Trump

2. wants to Repeal 19th Amendment of Constitution, which foolishly gave Women the right to vote. (Women are for Kirche Kuchen und Kinder.)

PatFromCH said...

Palmer Lucky, the bloke who kickstarted that Oculus Rift Virtual Realty thingy just to sell it to fricken Facebook or whatever and subsequently pissed off every indie developer around the world also has given Money to The Donald (and when I hear the name Donald I instantly think of Donald Duck. There are similarities...). He had to apologize after a social media shitstorm.

As an old newshound you must be irritated as well. One candidate represents the greedy old school establishment, the other one is an idiot Homer Simpson Wutbürger. What about Logic, Reason, Education, Environment, Syria, Russia or China ?

Suppose he looses the election. Will he mobilize his voters or just haggle for a contract for a new reality TV show ?

Also we must not forget Edward Gibbons and the Decline and Fall of Rome, which only went to fuckaroo because in its last stages Rome was ruled by incompetent Emperors coming from the military dictatorship who was not able to secure its borders while its citizens had become decadent, uninterested and dynical. Can’t happen to you, can it ?

Vleeptron Dude said...

Ah, okay, in USA those who are not puking are laughing.

But you ask question that is Not Funny.

USA has since 1797 (when George Washington handed over presidency to The Next Guy) had an unbroken tradition of post-election SMOOTH SMILEY-FACE TRANSITION OF PRESIDENCY.

Trumpkopf has more and more been threatening to disrupt this smooth transition tradition by claiming the election was "rigged" and thus illegal.

If he wins, he vows to respect the will of the voters.

If he loses ...

Thoughtful Americans with some education and sense of our own history are authentically scared of what will happen the week or month or years after Trump loses the election.

PatFromCH said...

And if, bloody hell help us all, he wins ?
How much power does the President actually have ? What about the Senate / Congress ? I mean he simply can’t say blue is the new red, that must pass Parliament . And just like with Quinn The Eskimo the movers and shakers could say: Well, we have a problem, but we can block every Presidential Motion via Parliament. It would be very nasty and ugly and dirty – but would they have any other choice ? The Leaders of the GOP must be horrified by now and might have pondered the idea. They wanted a good Evangelical Conservative who believes in Itelligent Design, anti-gay laws and doesn’t believe in Climate Change – but they got a raving loony.

You will have heard of Brexit – which was a very funny event for us Swiss. Before the vote the exit polls claimed that Brexit would not happen – but it turned out otherwise. Now the government was told by the High Court that the must consult Parliament – and the public is apparently furious...

Maybe it’s a good thing I am only a small cog in the wheel and don’t have to deal with stuff like this.....

Vleeptron Dude said...

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
lesson 2

Trumpkopf's Reality TV signature line is "You're fired!"

His true identity as the world's smartest richest businessman is: "I'll sue you!"

(His other genius business strategies are

* Not paying federal or state taxes

* Declaring bankruptcy -- particularly bankrupting his Atlantic City casinos.

Lesson 1 by my Probability Professor: It is mathematically impossible to bankrupt a gambling casino. So Trumpkopf is first human in history to disprove the 1st Law of Probability!

IF (Himmel Verboden!) TRUMP BECOMES NEXT USA PRESIDENT ...

He will have Very Much Power completely independent of USA parliament. The Constitution allows president lots of stuff he can do just by fiat, it's called Executive Authority. He signs paper, it's the Law now, fuck Congress.

Since Vietnam War, Congress (politicians) have been too frightened to exercise their clear right in Constitution: The power of Congress to declare war.

If the war goes down toilet bowl, politicians don't want to be blamed. So they have allowed President to declare all our subsequent wars. (So voters will blame Him.)

So the moment Trumpkopf becomes President of the United States (noon 20 January 2017), he has power to send USA military -- Army, Navy, Air Force, SEAL Team 6, CIA kill-drones -- to invade Switzerland, you fucking neutral bastards. Congress won't stop him.

Must stop now and take anti-depressants and Herbal Remedies. On Election Day, Vote YES on Question 4 to legalize adult recreational Herbal Remedy.

Vleeptron Dude said...

CORRECTION

ballot Question 4 is ONLY for voters in my Massachusetts.

but already maybe 6 USA other states (most famous = Colorado) have Legaliiiiized (and taxed) It!

PatFromCH said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-0TkXuVeYI&list=PL4EE4BF32813D8DD3
One for the herbal remedies....

Holy Fuckaroo, I was not aware that the President has THAT much power. I was under the impression that Parliament has more rights and more power and the President is more a sort of springboard for ideas and laws coming in and out, an exchange of sorts that in the end will benefit the people and The President is the representative of both People and Parliament. And yes, we know about the drone strikes and the Hunt for blody Obama where the Chief Of Staff (the President) sat in his office with his staff, but I got me doubts on wether The Big Red Button is really in his office...

Still, this is worrying...

Mate, you really need to think about an alternative to the 2-Party system. That shit doesn’t work. Not right now, not in the next 4 years. Oh dear.....

Vleeptron Dude said...

oh okay, we do it like France which has what? 143 itty-bitty parties? Israel Knesset also has about 200 itty bitty parties, including my faves, Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc, lefties & refuseniks) and (little wortspeil after Gush Shalom) Gush Hasheesh. Centerpiece of Gush Hasheesh Middle East Peace Plan is free Bekaa Valley hashish for Everyone.

this campaign, Bernie the Altekacker Socialist Jewish Lefty, was sorta a wildly popular 3rd Party candidate. Also on Tuesday's Ballot will be Libertarians (in TV interview, Gary Johnson didn't know what Aleppo was) and Green Party. These parties are polling typically 2 percent and at best 4 percent.

Our Constitution ALLOWS any number of parties. But from about 1800, Two Big Parties worked ceaselessly and hard to monopolize USA's 2-Party System. Don't hold your breath waiting for USA Multi-Party parliament or president race.

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It's not a nuclear button. Everywhere President goes, right behind him is uniformed military officer carrying small suitcase called the Nuclear Football. Inside are today's secret codes for launching our nuke missiles.

The President may ask the lieutenant to open the football any time he wants to launch all our nuke missiles.

in a related matter, did you see this week's satellite fotos of Russia's Only Aircraft Carrier chugging along in Mediterranean (to Syria to assist Assad, the licensed opthalmologist)?