Catholic League Torpedoes Democrats' Religion-Outreach Director

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode CCCXLIX

That didn't take long.

Rev. Peterson told Religion News Service that ‘it was no longer possible for me to do my job effectively.’ The Washington Post added today that her decision was made ‘after the New York-based Catholic League issued three blistering news releases attacking her positions.’

The only question now is whether John Kerry and the DNC have finally got the message. When we exposed Mara Vanderslice as a Left-wing activist who cavorts with anti-Catholics, the Kerry camp silenced her as its Religious Outreach Director. When we exposed Rev. Peterson as a Left-wing activist who went into the U.S. Supreme Court on the side of atheist Michael Newdow to censor the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge, she was forced to quit her role with the DNC. The first hire may have been a mistake, but it is not credible to maintain that the DNC erred in hiring Rev. Peterson: they knew what they were getting and they knew what happened to Vanderslice, and yet they persisted anyway.

Why are Kerry and the DNC imploding on religion? Because too many of the elites running the show are devout secularists who put a premium on freedom from religion. Their idea of religious liberty is banning nativity scenes on public property. Their idea of diversity is censoring ‘under God’ from the Pledge. Their idea of tolerance is forbidding a moment of silence in the schools. Their idea of a good Catholic is Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice. Their idea of compassion is hiking taxes. Their idea of helping the poor is giving them directions to a soup kitchen. And their idea of choice is abortion, not school vouchers.

Kerry and the DNC now have two strikes against them in their religious outreach efforts. Whether they strike out is up to them. We’re certainly not dropping out of the game, and we’re certainly monitoring Bush and the RNC on this subject just as closely.

Here are the League's other press releases on Peterson. First, Wednesday (ellipsis in original).

We know that Rev. Peterson wants ‘under God’ thrown out of the Pledge, and that she believes ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ means paying taxes. Now we will show the positions of the Clergy Leadership Network (CLN), the organization she recently left as its executive director.

In the CLN’s ‘Debate’ section of its website, it says a lot about separation of church and state, but virtually nothing about religious liberty (e.g., it is against faith-based initiatives). Regarding tax policies, it would be an understatement to say it likes taxes: ‘Taxes provide a way to look out for our neighbors.... Slashing taxes denies that!’ It then says that slashing taxes is ‘inevitably an appeal to our greed, not to our generosity or compassion.’ In other words, the greedy want to keep the money they’ve earned; those who want to take it from us are the altruists. No wonder Rev. Peterson says, ‘The federal budget is a moral document.’

Under the ‘Current Issues’ section, there are three issues listed: stem cell research, global security and the federal marriage amendment. It has something to say about the first two issues, but, inexplicably, the third issue cannot be accessed. This is deceitful. Consider that the CLN’s CEO, Albert Pennybacker, is on record favoring gay marriage. And another senior official, William Sloane Coffin, has said that most of the other CLN officials ‘view marriage as a human right, not a reward for being heterosexual.’ The ‘Focus Statement’ of the CLN website even says that ‘gay, lesbian, bisexual [and] transsexual people are being attacked through legislation and even constitutional amendments.’ It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what Rev. Peterson believes.

The website even provides a link to an anti-Catholic site, Chuck Currie (see his piece, ‘When Catholic Girls Go Wild’). To top it off, there is a link to MoveOn.org, a smear site that has nothing to do with religion. Remember, Rev. Peterson presided over it all, and for this she was rewarded by the DNC as its number-one liaison to religious groups.

And, Tuesday.

Last November, a small group of mostly Protestant clergy members on the Left started a group called the Clergy Leadership Network (CLN) to counter the efforts of the so-called Religious Right. Its first executive director, Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson, explained that ‘Our sole mission is to get a national leadership change.’

The CLN seems more at home with politics than religion. For example, when Rev. Peterson was asked whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God, she breezily answered, ‘I would rather you not quote my theology.’ She is similarly uneasy talking about abortion. That is why she said her clergy group takes no position on abortion, saying only that it would interfere with the CLN’s ‘reason for existence.’ Which means getting rid of Bush.

When Rev. Peterson was tapped to become the DNC’s Senior Advisor for Religious Outreach, the Democratic activists knew exactly what they were getting: all she had to do was walk across the street from her CLN office to join the DNC. And what they got is a person who believes that ‘paying taxes is a way of loving your neighbor.’ Maybe she’ll persuade Teresa Heinz Kerry to tell us how much she pays in taxes so we can get a handle on just how much the billionaire loves her neighbor.

So this is the kind of person the DNC wants practicing Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims to embrace. If Peterson were a plant by the Bush camp, we’d understand it. What we don’t understand is political suicide.

Apparently, Bill, the Democrats do not understand political suicide, either.

See also Democrats' New Religion-Outreach Director is Anti-"God" Female Minister and John Kerry's Obscenity.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 08/06/04 06:35:06 AM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode.