That Ridiculous Cartoon
Sometimes I wonder if Catholics are a little too sensitive, or maybe even guilty of overstating when we claim that anti-Catholicism is the last remaining acceptable prejudice in America. Then stuff like this happens:
The Philadelphia Inquirer printed this cartoon a couple weeks ago following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the ban on partial-birth abortion. The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Virginia, has a nice editorial.
The cartoonist's message is clear: Those who voted to uphold the ban were unable to separate their religion from their decision.
But who is to say that those who voted in the minority were not to some degree influenced by their faith? You can find "progressive" churches that stoutly defend the right to unfettered abortion. And why shouldn't religious understanding, in a broad sense, inform the law? The tablets Moses hauled down from Mount Sinai overall are a pretty fair basis for secular jurisprudence.
The president, who isn't Catholic; Congress, which is mostly non-Catholic; and most Americans, only a minority of whom go to Mass, support the outlawing of partial-birth abortion. But why miss a chance to kick the papists? [source]
