"Take up your cross and follow me"

My response to Feuerheud regarding his Op/Ed in the Washington Post:

Mr. Feuerherd,

I don't know whether you are going to Hell or not, and while I pray that we both end up forever with God, I must state that I am astonished at your opinion piece in the February 24th Washington Post. It shows that you have little regard for either the bishops or the Magesterium. You claim:

"John Paul's key criterion in choosing the men who lead the United States' 194
dioceses was their vocal support for church teachings that have been rejected in
whole (birth control) or in part (women's ordination and abortion) by many
Catholics in the pews and the broader American culture."

Where else in the world would you make such a claim? Would you criticize the President of the US for appointing folks who uphold the Constitution? It seems that he or she would need to appoint persons who are communist or anarchists because the public leans toward accepting this. Would this be a true servant of the people. Would this be a person who is upholding their oath to protect the Constitution and the United States of America? To meet the standards that you seem to expect from the Holy Father he would need to denounce his mission; a mission that is even more important that where public opinion is. The public onion of ancient Rome and Palestine didn't agree with the teachings of the Early Church Fathers; should they have been more "pragmatic"?

You also claim that,

"To Catholics like me who oppose liberal abortion laws but also think that other
issues -- war or peace, health care, just wages, immigration, affordable
housing, torture -- actually matter, the idea that abortion trumps everything,
all the time, no matter what, is both bad religion and bad civics."

How exactly is it bad religion to uphold the teachings of that religion? Sorry, but while I probably agree with you on many of those issues, support for abortion does trump ALL of those them

The primary aim of a bishop (including the Bishop of Rome) is not to conform himself to your political leanings (nor mine as I am a Democrat as well) but to lead the world to Christ. You may feel that abortion and euthanasia deserve the same moral standing as tax policy or stances on illegal aliens, but the Church, and I dare say Christ, does not. "Thou shall not murder" is what the commandment says and that means it is NEVER ok to intentionally take innocent human life. Nor can one be complicit in that taking of life. You and other may not like that but it is the truth. There is no such creature as "liberal" or "conservative" Catholics. You either follow the teachings of the Church, and thus Christ, or you don't. You are either fully in communion, or you or not.

Although I have many problems with them on certain issues, I applaud the Bishops on this issue and hope that they do more to instruct the faithful who are entrusted to them,

I, as an African-American man, find it hard to say that I will not be voting for the man who could be the first black president of the United States, but Sen. Obama is the most pro-abortion candidate for the US presidency in history. A man that would hold up or vote against a bill that would require babies who survived an abortion to be given life support is no true public servant, no true man and certainly no true Christian, and thus not worthy of my support or vote.

Mr. Feuerherd, and please take this with the love it is given, I will pray that Christ will touch your heart like he did St. Paul's, and like he did mine, so that you come to a true understanding that we are supposed to follow Christ, not demand that he follow us.

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Miserere Nobis, Deus