Looking Ahead to 2016: The Estuary Where Politics & Religion Meet | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Politicians, like bishops, get staff driven memos. They have people who do their deep reading for them. As for the Democrats, no one will repeal Roe v. Wade legislatively - although they might move up the stage of gestation where the fetus is considered a legal entity with its own rights - of course, the GOP won't go with that - it gets more bang from the buck by lying about such issues as FOCA, which absolutely no one on the pro-choice side mentioned when Obama was elected. Indeed, he had made noise about compromising on late term abortion in his second debate with McCain. Its the GOP that short-circuited any discussions.
The GOP and the Democrats could agree on privatizing some social services, including the Child Tax Credit (in fact, they just did - but the NRLC would never up any Democratic member's pro-life score for doing so), but the Democrats would insist that more, not less, be spent as a result. As far as immigration, that is simply racist, like Nixon's law and order platform back in 1968.
Libertarianism as a right to be left alone, by the way, is perfectly valid if doing so is better than the competing system of criminalizing conduct based on a moral position, resulting in police state features in society. Indeed, we are seeing that now in states with Trap Laws regulating abortion clinics out of existence. The specter of the coat-hanger abortion is back, with richer women simply traveling elsewhere for the procedure. Oddly, taxation, which actually takes money from people, is more amenable to voluntary compliance than prohibitions on abortion, alcohol, drugs or even smoking.
For the Church to effectively engage, it must understand issues from all angles. That is easy on the environment, not so much on abortion or marriage equality where their position is set. Its not about tone, its about knowing the reality of the situation from all sides, including conceding those areas where constitutional authority requires some actions and prevents others. As a side note, a Church that won't discuss female organization is wholly unqualified to speak with authority on abortion. If you can't see why I say that, perhaps you should take a pass on both debate. Abortion, by the way, is a non-issue because there are no active proposals on the ground except trying to end federal supremacy in equal protection matters - a strategy no Catholic should ever endorse. Related matters, like the Partial Birth Abortion Act, which was a Trojan Horse rather than legislation solving an actual problem - its purpose being to rehear Roe (which the Court did not do) - are not progress - they are a way to keep socially conservative voters in line without having a chance of actually doing anything that might help them - like raising the minimum wage. Low information voters actually hurt their own interests by continuing to vote for life issues and not tax issues. The Church getting involved with labor is a good thing. Sadly, the GOP will focus on abortion to stop any real progress, hurting real people's lives.
I doubt the bishops will call for calm on the GOP side. Leaders in a party generally try to stay neutral and the pro-life establishment of the GOP, including the bishops, is no exception. On contraception, shuttering ministries when the Supreme Court finds that the government can make reasonable distinctions when administering employment law, is like Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" which was as much about anti-communist loyalty oaths as the Salem witch trials.
The divisions among the bishops on certain issues is a dead give away on their politics. Hopefully the new Nuncio will take notice and put a stop to the cozy relationship between some bishops in the pro-life movement and the GOP. I would suspect they all do OK on immigration, but after Trump I won't expect them all to behave - and that is sad. Coalition politics should not "trump" preaching the Gospel. Hopefully this Pope will moderate that tendency,
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