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E-mailChurch: Life, not left
Cliff Kincaid's position in "A socialist blueprint" (Nov. 22 and TribLIVE.com) is that since many Catholic bishops have spoken out in favor of health care reform legislation, they are the lead agents in a left-wing conspiracy to create a socialist United States. So now that we have heard the apocalypse according to the xenophobic libertarian perspective, let's see who else is after the church of late.
The New York Times has blasted the Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., for refusing to quietly countenance gay marriage. The rest of the left-wing establishment continues to excoriate the church for its failure to cave in on government-funded abortion in health care legislation.
Conservatives are incensed with the church's position on capital punishment and its description of universal health care as a right. And the xenophobic libertarian chimes in with horror at the church's position that immigrants must be covered as well.
It looks like any part of the ideological spectrum can find a reason to attack the Catholic Church. But the common thread that ties all of the church's public positions together is the fundamental respect for the dignity and sacredness of every human life.
That's why the church works so hard to preserve marriage; help the poor, the sick, the aged and the immigrant; end capital punishment; and resist the effort to see needed health care reform destroyed by pro-abortion politics, euthanasia for the elderly and anti-immigrant nativism. That's not arguing for socialism. It's believing in humanity.
Robert P. Lockwood
The writer is director for communications for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
