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Originally Posted by Ronin
And how does this differ substantively from Chandler saying that the Church thinks that self-described Democrats are wrong and if you want to come over, don't be a Democrat?
The positions regarding homosexuality and abortion seem to be parsed out to political party...and then the adherents to the political party are banned from their own important rituals.
Close enough if you ask me.
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It differs because, if any of these people had wanted to really receive communion, all they had to do was not wear the sash. It was they who, after being duly informed a month prior to the event, wore the sashes.
As I said earlier, the priest has an obligation to see to the spiritual well-being of individuals. These people were broadcasting,
broadcasting, their belief in something which runs contrary to Catholic teaching. They were actively, obstinantly protesting the teaching of the Catholic Church, and then two-facedly came to Church to partake in the holiest of Catholic sacraments, a sacrament in which the Catholic Church states that you must make a consistent and serious effort to be in a state of grace before partaking. And the priest wasn't telling them not to show up, he told them they shouldn't receive communion.
For the record, I'm Catholic, I'm divorced. If I got remarried w/o an annulment, and went to receive Communion, I would be denied Communion too if the priest was aware of it, and it would have nothing to do with abortion or homosexuality. If I were not Catholic, and the priest knew it, I would be denied Communion, and it would have nothing to do with abortion or homosexuality.
As far as politicizing the issue ... I see far less politicizing by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church aims to be consistent and steadfast in her decisions, which have annoyed both Democrats and Republicans. Also, given the fact that only about 6% of the worlds Catholics reside in America ... I doubt the Catholic Church gives two shits about whether Republicans or Democrats are pissed off about any particular issue*.
The archbishop stated that the rainbow sash is a clear indication that a consistent and serious effort to be in a state of grace was not taken, and as such Communion would be denied. If the Archbishop was wrong, I see no action on the part of the Rainbow Sash Alliance to clarify what they meant ... instead, they showed up at Mass and then threw a fit when they were re-told they could not receive Communion.
PS: Though I didn't say this at first, I will mention it here ... For the record, I never once, in my initial comments said anything about Chandler. My initial "sola scripturist" comment was aimed at a lady who made a particularly vitriolic comment.
*In the article you cited, I noticed that it said that the year before, to counter the obstinant refusal of the Rainbow Sash Alliance to drop the sashes and just behave like all other Catholics at Mass, conservative groups kneeled in the aisles to prevent the RSA members from receiving Communion. I assume this had the effect of preventing
everyone from receiving Communion. To that, I send a "
Fuck You" to both RSA and "conservative group" members. The Mass isn't a friggin political event, and it pissed me off to see people using it as such. So no, I feel no particular pity for these people and their being denied Communion... they knew full well what would happen, they did it anyways.