Deciphering Kerry on Catholic faith, abortion

Nothing is more revealing about the personality of John Kerry than the way he handled the issues of abortion, Supreme Court justices, embryonic stem cell research and his Catholic faith in Friday night's pivotal presidential debate in St. Louis. Unfortunately for Kerry, his attempt to straddle both sides of the first two issues is much like a stunt rider in a circus who, while straddling two horses, discovers to his horror that they have decided to go in opposite directions.

There are a few critical issues which require a candidate to become a statesman for one side or another, and there is a definite window of opportunity to make your choice known, past which a skeptical electorate will make its own decision. John Kerry refuses to reveal his absolutes, his foundational beliefs, and President Bush called him out on it Friday. If John Kerry will not tell us the details of his many plans, then we are left no recourse except to examine his words and compare it with his record.

Perhaps nothing shows Kerry "embracing at arm's length" than his profession of his faith in both Catholicism and the right to abortion. This was the question he was asked:

"Senator Kerry, suppose you are speaking with a voter who believed abortion is murder and the voter asked for reassurance that his or her tax dollars would not go to support abortion, what would you say to that person?"

His answer:

"I would say to that person exactly what I will say to you right now. First of all, I cannot tell you how deeply I respect the belief about life and when it begins. I'm a Catholic, raised a Catholic. I was an altar boy. Religion has been a huge part of my life. It helped lead me through a war, leads me today. But I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith, whether they be agnostic, atheist, Jew, Protestant, whatever. I can't do that.

"But I can counsel people. I can talk reasonably about life and about responsibility. I can talk to people, as my wife Teresa does, about making other choices, and about abstinence, and about all these other things that we ought to do as a responsible society.

"But as a president, I have to represent all the people in the nation. Now, I believe that you can take that position and not be pro- abortion, but you have to afford people their constitutional rights. And that means being smart about allowing people to be fully educated, to know what their options are in life, and making certain that you don't deny a poor person the right to be able to have whatever the constitution affords them if they can't afford it otherwise.

"That's why I think it's important. That's why I think it's important for the United States, for instance, not to have this rigid ideological restriction on helping families around the world to be able to make a smart decision about family planning. You'll help prevent AIDS. You'll help prevent unwanted children, unwanted pregnancies. You'll actually do a better job, I think, of passing on the moral responsibility that is expressed in your question. And I truly respect it."

President George W. Bush responded to this rambling statement with: "I'm trying to decipher that."

No wonder. Kerry's answer is so dizzily not pro-life and it is light years away from being acceptably Catholic, at least according to the teachings of the Church. Of course Kerry would deny that it is the only responsible, nuanced position that a Catholic in public life could take. Well, let's just see. [Note to readers: What follows is a Fisking of Kerry's statement.]

"I would say to that person exactly what I will say to you right now."

-- Given Johnny's track record of flip-flops, this sentence is unverifiable.

" I cannot tell you how deeply I respect the belief about life and when it begins."

-- Perhaps he cannot tell because his respect for life and its origins isn't that deep.

"I'm a Catholic, raised a Catholic. I was an altar boy."

-- We'll give him this statement. To be charitable.

"Religion has been a huge part of my life."

-- Forgive us for a little agnosticism on this one.

"It helped lead me through a war, leads me today."

--Translation: Did you know I fought in Vietnam?

"But I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith, whether they be agnostic, atheist, Jew, Protestant, whatever. I can't do that."

-- Ah! A rare moment of truth, based on Kerry's nearly perfect voting record on abortion issues during his two decades in the U.S. Senate. This means, however, that poor Mr. Kerry has inflicted a self-crippling criterion on his public service. If any issue coincides with the teaching of his church, then he must not under any circumstances vote that way. He has taken the concept of "wall of separation" and used it to separate his actions from his conscience. How convenient it must be to live by this philosophy. (This may also explain why there are so few legislative accomplishments in the Kerry record.)

"But I can counsel people. I can talk reasonably about life and about responsibility. I can talk to people, as my wife Teresa does, about making other choices, and about abstinence, and about all these other things that we ought to do as a responsible society."

-- Is Kerry considering a new career as a pregnancy center counselor, just in case? "Hi, I'm John Kerry, and I have a plan to make you abstain from sex!"

"But as a president, I have to represent all the people in the nation."

-- Let's do this poor guy a favor and vote Bush. Any president with this philosophy will never be able to make a solid decision in a timely manner. The House and Senate "represent all the people in the nation." A president is supposed to exercise leadership and run the executive branch. Sometimes that means doing the right thing even if it's unpopular with the masses.

"And I have to make that judgment."

-- Confusion here. Is he saying that he must decide what all the people in the nation are thinking? Or is this a poll-tested talking point from the mind of Joe Lockhart?

[WARNING! Kerry's mind is melting down at this point of his answer. We've just seen a foreshadowing of virulent illogic. The signpost straight ahead ... the Twilight Zone ...]

"Now, I believe that you can take that position and not be pro- abortion, but you have to afford people their constitutional rights."

--Translation: Abortion trumps all other considerations, but it would be impolitic to say so, thus I speak in a manner that'll boggle your mind. Listen to this ...

"And that means being smart about allowing people to be fully educated, to know what their options are in life, and making certain that you don't deny a poor person the right to be able to have whatever the constitution affords them if they can't afford it otherwise. That's why I think it's important."

-- Translation: I want taxpayers to finance Planned Parenthood-style curriculum in your kid's school, and taxpayers should absolutely have to pay for abortions for those who can't afford them, because that's obviously what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote the stupid thing. [Using this logic, poor people should also have taxpayer-supported guns.]

"That's why I think it's important for the United States, for instance, not to have this rigid ideological restriction on helping families around the world to be able to make a smart decision about family planning. You'll help prevent AIDS. You'll help prevent unwanted children, unwanted pregnancies."

-- Translation: I have a dream of a world without babies. No babies, no diseased adults, maybe even fewer conservatives. A world safe for Planned Parenthood affiliated abortion mills in every major city and hamlet. I am indeed an internationalist. Such a catholic idea! Did you know that catholic means universal? That's why my catholic ideas are so much better than the Vatican's or the pope's catholic ideas. I'm less rigid, more universal. And did you know I fought in Vietnam too?

"You'll actually do a better job, I think, of passing on the moral responsibility that is expressed in your question. And I truly respect it."

-- Perhaps Kerry meant to say "fulfilling" one's moral responsibility, but he said "passing on" as in, not opting for the moral responsibility. Slip of the tongue or candidate's true word to the homies? You be the judge.

What's that? Oh, right. In about three weeks, you will be the judge.