The Catholic Candidate

Over 50 years ago, President John F. Kennedy famously proclaimed "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic." Those words set a tone for his political beliefs which followed the model of our Constitution which is based on a "separation from church and state."

Today we have another Catholic candidate and this time his political ideology is much in lined with his religious beliefs, so much so that it's hard to make the distinction between a man who wishes he was a Priest and the man who wants to be leader of the free world. Unbeknownst to him, not all Americans are Catholic. A lesson I didn't learn until I went away to College (which also happened to be Catholic).

I grew up Catholic and have a fondness for the church. Yet, despite my religious values, I fundamentally understand that as an officer in the military I swore an oath to defend a document which was not the bible. It was in fact the Constitution. It just so happens it is a similar oath that the President of the United States takes.

Unlike Kennedy, he doesn't view the separation of church and state as absolute, but rather intertwined. Throughout his campaign he has made it clear that he intends to move the church into his cabinet thus reversing years of precedence where we as a country have embraced nationwide values, not those of one group. He went as far as to say that when he heard President Kennedy's position on being a Catholic which was separate from his candidacy, it made him want to "throw up."

As a Catholic I detest the notion that Rick Santorum would ever speak for me. Just like America, there are many kinds of Catholics and each of us whose political beliefs contradict our religious ones, understand that our faith ought not to trump the rights of others. Catholics have not voted as a bloc in decades. We are as distinct and independent in our views as any other voting demographic. There is a reason why we are resistant to accept him as "our candidate." It's because he doesn't even remotely represent our values.

Rick Santorum is an arrogant proselytizer who believes he speaks for the church. He does not. If he did, he would surely make it known to all that his mission would be to "feed the poor." Unfortunately his political beliefs says that this is welfare. His plan for the poor? He doesn't have one. The book of Matthew makes if abundantly clear that it would be nearly impossible to reach heaven without doing so. Does he still proclaim to be the Catholic candidate? He rests on so many issues, but on a primary one of helping those less fortunate he is coincidentally silent. Why? Well, because the poor don't vote. They don't contribute money to PACs or campaigns and they certainly don't have a voice in his government.

Jesus said “Whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me” (Matthew 25:40). Catholicsm is a religion of action. What separates us from Protestants is our belief that "works of charity" brings us closer to the kingdom of heaven. There is little disputing this. It's ironic that Rick Santorum continues to campaign on the idea that he is the Catholic candidate with "Catholic values." The only values that I see, is that he puts himself and his agenda first. He has forgotten about the least of God's people. These are the people who will matter most, not the ones that go to the ballot box on November 6th.

Possibilities

Last night I rented "Bobby," and although the cast was star studded, for whatever reason it was unable to break through in the box office. It was not the shortage of ticket sales that I was thinking about however, but instead the striking similarities of two seemingly young, optimistic, Senators who challenged a nation divided to put aside differences and embrace hope.

For those of us who did not live through the 60s, I suppose it'd be hard for us to relate. There were no plasma screen tvs, broadband internet connections, or even starbucks at every corner. What did transcend our differences were the challenges that our parent's generation faced and the struggles that we endure today.

If you were to ask my father how he got his inspiration, he would undoubtedly take you back to 1968 and the day that Bobby Kennedy was shot. He could tell you what he wore, how he reacted and how that tragic date represented the start of his life to see that those ideals did not die with that particular young man that year but were passed on as beacons of hope for the future.

June 4th, 1968 is a day that most baby boomers like my dad will never forget. For many it was a moment in history where millions around the world mourned a man not for his actions but his power with words. While he left behind his wife and family, he also raised a legacy for equality among men, shared responsibility, fairness, justice and peace among nations. And although I cannot claim I knew Bobby Kennedy anymore than I know the candidates today or anymore than Dan Quayle so inadaquetly knew his brother, I can without question see the impact that he had. His torch was one picked up during my father's generation and carried through to ours. It was a message of tearing down divisions in our society and raising the collective conscience of us all. 40 years later that message is still being received.

40 years later this nation is still at war, where there is a candidate trying to offer a better solution of peace. 40 years later there are crowds of people following a man who is the embodiment of the America that Robert F. Kennedy so courageously dreamed of. 40 years later a man with little experience in Washington, has decided that he has the audacity to run for office.
It is a great coincidence that these generations merge at a time such as this where a country has been taken over by the greed of a few. That our nation is at the mercy of the leadership of the weak and our voice has all but fallen on deaf ears.

Today Obama is my Bobby Kennedy, whether he wants to be or not. To me he represents the real possibiliy of change for the better. His vision of America is one that I want to live in and rather than just sit back and observe, his voice has called me to action. I can't claim to have been inspired by Bobby Kennedy since it was not my generation that he was speaking to. I do hold stake in Barack Obama's words though and the strength of character of the man that stands behind them.

There are some that doubt the power of words and refuse to see their impact. These same people are the ones that didn't believe blacks and whites could sit at the same dining room table together and break bread. They are the same naysayers who refuse to understand that diversity is not something that weakens us but which gives this nation its character. They are the cowards who believe war is the answer to perceived political necessity and that our freedom of speech should not be said aloud.

The weight of millions of people's hope rests on the shoulders of this Senator who tells us that the Moses generation in America believed in the mantra of "yes we can." His words tell us that now it is the Joshua generation that must reach the promised land. His words tell us that the rhetoric of fear and hate do not lift and inspire a nation, but inevitably bring it down. His themes are words of promise, of relevance and conviction. They are however, just words.

In his eulogy, Bobby's brother Ted Kennedy remarked, "My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it." To think that a sensibility so seemingly simple could have shaped a nation is remarkable, to think that so many refused to seek out such beliefs is unfathomable.

The point is that no matter if Senator Obama does come out to be our next President of the United States or not, understand that his message like Bobby's was heard and will continue hereafter. The words that he has left for the "Joshua" generation are words that I will one day repeat to my children and grandchildren. This day, I am inspired. I should be so lucky.

Therefore, I urge you to listen to his words, to Bobby's words and then just imagine the possibilities.