What I find odd about most Catholics (not all of them), is they will normally support or endorse liberal Democrats, who happen to support abortion. Pat Buchanan & Alan Keyes are just two exceptions to this rule (both are Catholic & both are very conservative).
You would think that if Catholics were supportive of their church & their leaders, they would support a candidate who is pro-life & not pro-abortion.
There is plenty of reason for this dichotomy which you see in Catholics. Many are indoctrinated in the discipline of their church where everything is centralized and flows out of their church. Many believe in a salvation of works.... although they may not recognize it for what it is. Many of them believe it is through a particular church that they are saved OR that it is the church (referring to the physical earthly authority) which saves them.
However, just because one was brought up Catholic and indoctrinated in their church's doctrine and accustom to various rituals and celebrations, doesn't mean they are dispossessed of the Word of God nor that it has no power to bring God's grace into their lives. To those who are accustomed to no other experience of fellowship and worship, the Catholic church is their familiar form of worship and all they know..... their church and the Bible. But though they still remain in their church... not all believe in the infailability of the Pope, or that the church or its rituals save them. Many do believe it is Jesus who saves them and believe their prayers are going through him.
They have strange teachings about punishment and the afterlife of the soul and are either taught or supported by practices which encourage superstition. Not all receive their teachings from the church just like many members sit on the benches of Protestant churches and donot receive all the teachings of their denomination; so it is with some of them. In their services and their Bible stories, some get more of the truth than others. Some read and trust what they understand of the Bible more than others.
Like many people viewing the same picture which is full of complexities...... if you ask one what they see after veiwing it, they may tell a different description than another person who viewed it with them. If you ask a person ahead of time to look at a picture and tell you whats wrong with it..... he'll look for the flaws first .....and if any are found .....that's what he'll remember the most: Your parameters set the condition of the 'filters' by which he views the picture. If you 'set up' another to view the same picture and tell you what is beautiful or interesting about it... and latter ask him what he remembers, then these are the aspects which he is most likely to have observed and best remembered...... and the flaws went unrecognized, or, once you told him or reminded him of them, they were inconsequential to what he observed and took away.
The Word of God, when it is available, when it is presented, whenever it is read, it has power and substance and doesnot return void. Some hear and receive it more than others.... but the Word has spirit, and some people are more sensitive to the holy spirit and open their heart to receiving the truth in the Word. It is not their attendance or affiliation with a church which saves or condemns the individual..... it is what did they do with Jesus: Have they met the savior and did they believe in him and what he did to save them and is he their Lord. While many other things are important, this is most essential and it is an individual experience and relationship with the Lord.
Their church has a central leader. It has a very formal hierachcy of command. Their church has many involvements, many which are pertaining to social needs which are identified and used to keep its membership involved, and to meet the needs of the body within its organization, and to reach others who are non-members to draw them into its circle. Through such it maintains the loyalty, service, and dependance of many who attend.
Because of its political structure, and because of its social structure (referring to these social programs) it has lent itself to both take political advantage of others.... and to be used for political advantage by others. Because of such attention to social needs..... it is a small jump for many within to accept this structure in government and not see the difference between services and ministries which originate 'within the body' from those socialistics programs which originate 'outside the body'.... through politics and government.
Many Protestant churches are also moving into this direction of incorporating social service type deliveries or 'ministries' into the mainstream of their work to encourage utilization of talents and skills present in the body membership, to meet the identified needs of members within the body, and as a tool of growth to reach out into the community and draw others in. If it seems good for the church, the message to many is that it is also good for the community and the government. Socialism may start to appear like an ideal, because the body is ignorant of the inherant evils which enter every godless but 'good' intention of man: many have not received the full instruction of the scriptures pertaining to the authority of God, man's responsibility to God and to the stewardship of talents, time, and resources, and God's priciples of prosperity and provision and walking in faith.
There's a difference between giving instruction and receiving instruction. If Biblical instruction pertaining to certain areas of discipleship, is only taught or preached at certain services or classes and not others..... then it is narrowed down to being taught to just those who are present to receive the message. If those who are present to hear the message, are preoccupied with their own thoughts, or preconditioned through their own experiences and beliefs, then they are inclined not to receive all of the message or only those parts which they agree with. By hearing, not all hear, and by seeing, not all see. One's openness to the Word depends not only on its presentation, but also on the reception in the hearts of those who receive it or the movement of the holy spirit in wooing them to receive.
The practice of meeting social needs within the Catholic church, and that movement which is growing in the Protestant churches, lends itself very well and often without recognition by the church body to political activism. Wherever there is good intention without careful watchfulness and guarding, covering with prayer and seeking God's direction, these programs lend themselves very well to those who work in these programs for their own purposes..... such as identifying areas within the community at large which give the appearance of being 'under served and ignored' by the governmental authority and services.... and perhaps by the church.
Those who receive these services, well meaning folks, are happy to introduce people who have helped them to others within their community. If such a person being so introduced is fully committed to the gospel of Christ and interested in expanding the ministries of the church... then little or no harm comes: But if a person so introduced, has political motivations and ambitions and lacks committment to the church ministries and the gospel of Christ, he enters the community of 'need' with favorable introduction, protective barriers are dropped, and involvement with the community reveals areas where some believe themselves to be victimized and the who, what, how and whys of their belief system which supports their feelings of victimization and powerlessness. All they need is a pied piper to show them the way through political avenues to get what they suppose they need. This is one reason why people, like Obama, frequently affiliate with a body such as a church which has a platform from which they can develop or expand their purposes.
to be continued....................
