CBS Highlights Liberal Catholic Faculty Attacking Boehner on the Poor
Saturday’s The Early Show on CBS gave attention to a number of liberal faculty members at Catholic University who, in a letter, questioned House Speaker John Boehner’s Catholic credentials on helping the poor ahead of the Ohio Republican’s speech at the university’s commencement.
CBS’s Betty Nguyen noted that "not everyone" at the university "is looking forward to" his speech, and recounted that some faculty members accused Boehner of having "one of the worst records in Congress on programs for the poor," as the liberal professors recommended that he "re-familiarize himself" with the church’s teachings.
On the May 14 The Early Show, CBS’s Nguyen read:
Speaker of the House John Boehner is delivering the commencement address at Catholic University today, but not everyone at the Washington, D.C., school is looking forward to it. A letter signed by dozens of faculty members says Boehner has one of the worst records in Congress on programs for the poor. It also asks Boehner, who is a Catholic, to re-familiarize himself with church teachings on the subject.
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Comments
As I've said previously,
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 7:27am.
As I've said previously, these people continue to operate under the delusion that Jesus was a political activist. He talked about personal charity, not government programs.
I will point out that the signatories do not call on Boehner to decline to give his address, nor on CUA to revoke its invitation, as many conservatives called on Notre Dame to revoke its invitation to President Obama in 2009.
Wow. That's quite a leap to moral equivalence: not ascribing strongly enough to the meme of "social justice" is the same as supporting abortion.
Boehner should just give a speech on the personal responsibility of each individual to help the poor, and to encourage everyone in the audience to tithe and work through their churches to support the poor in their communities.
They would certainly applaud that, right?
Aren't these professors the same
Submitted by dr-go on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 7:26am.
Catholics who support a woman's right to a choice or am I missing something about having Boehner re-familiarize his knowledge on the teachings of the church?
Liberal Catholics talk about
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 7:51am.
Liberal Catholics talk about budget cuts, not abortion, as "anti-life."
These particular liberal Catholics are also making dishonest arguments.
They claim that Medicaid and Medicare reforms would leave the elderly and poor without adequate health care without a shred of proof.
Along with that, they repeat the canard that the new budget "slashes" $500 million from the WIC program. Not true.
"The funding level that was provided last year...turned out to be more than what's needed," explained Zoë Neuberger with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
"Participation didn't increase as much as was expected," Neuberger said. "Food prices ended up being lower than what was anticipated. And both because of the participation and lower than expected food costs, there are funds left over from 2010 that are available to be used."
These same catholics
Submitted by johnsonl on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 7:41am.
need to step up and start tithing their income, just like mormons do. Governments should not be responsible for providing a living for those who choose not to work.
Are they Catholic?
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 7:49am.
I would be willing to bet many of these lay teachers aren't even Catholic.
Rad, the article does say
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 8:02am.
Rad, the article does say that they are "Catholic academics."
But also keep in mind that the article is from the National Catholic Reporter, which is not a publication of the Catholic Church, but an independent publication, which, as its name implies "reports" on the Catholic Church.
That publication often showcases stands that disagree with traditional teaching (women priests, etc). Not saying that this particular stand is at odds, but this is the kind of thing they emphasize.
motherbelt
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 8:04am.
That could just mean they teach at a Catholic school. My daughter attends a Catholic university, and she's had more than one professor who isn't Catholic. I don't mind that, but I object when they degrade the institution the school was founded by.
I would think that in the
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 8:32am.
"Catholic college professors" could be taken to mean professors at a Catholic college, as well as college professors who are Catholic. Simply saying "Catholic professors" however, limits it.
So I will give them the benefit of the doubt, and take it as academics who are Catholic.
It's not farfetched; there are certainly plenty of liberal Catholic, in and outside universities, who emphasize "social" teachings and ignore those they deem "optional" like abortion and divorce.
The irony
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 8:00am.
Catholic Colleges and universities rarely follow the teachings of the Catholic Church anymore. No one the staff objecting when Obama spoke at Notre Dame, even though his views on abortion are antithetical to the Catholic Church.
I doubt these professors are even Catholic.
A lot of Catholic
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 8:15am.
A lot of Catholic universities have not been Catholic in more than name for a long time.
A lot of it started with the Land 'o Lakes statement in 1967
The Catholic University today must be a university in the full modern sense of the word, with a strong commitment to and concern for academic excellence. To perform its teaching and research functions effectively the Catholic university must have a true autonomy and academic freedom in the face of authority of whatever kind, lay or clerical, external to the academic community itself.
Believe me I'm well aware of
Submitted by Radical1979 on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 8:25am.
Believe me I'm well aware of that fact. We researched a lot before deciding who would get so much of our money.
Whatever happened to:
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Mon, 05/16/2011 - 8:20am.
"Poor in Spirit?"
Or has 'poor' been redefined to mean just monetary poorness (not being able to shop at ‘high-end stores’ but having enough for cigarettes, booze, drugs, and an Ipod?).
Just asking.
- Grump