\n
But some Catholics I spoke with saw that statement as disingenuous, and called out the Thomas More Society for what they saw as blatant partisanship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m intrigued because the mission of the TMS is to restore respect for law, life, family, and religious liberty. Challenging election results is directly related to none of those,\u201d said Stephen P. Millies, the director of The Bernardin Center\u00a0at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Millies told me he was \u201cbaffled\u201d by the Thomas More Society\u2019s rationale for getting involved in the elections issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless you construe the mission of the TMS so broadly that anything that defeats an administration who sees law, life, family, and religious liberty in their way must be challenged to achieve those ends,\u201d Millies said. \u201cIf so, then this is a very honest admission that it always was partisanship, anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing about these litigious efforts to discredit the election outcome is what they have said about the limits and the extent of partisanship in Donald Trump\u2019s Republican Party,\u201d Millies added. We\u2019ve seen encouraging limits in state Republican officials in Georgia and Arizona who have fulfilled the mandates of their offices despite pressure from the President. We\u2019ve also seen the discouraging extent others\u2013like, seemingly, the Thomas More Society\u2013will go to in order to keep their White House influence at (literally) any cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen Schneck, a retired Catholic University of America professor who supported Biden\u2019s campaign, told me he was \u201cbaffled\u201d by the Thomas More Society\u2019s\u00a0\u201centirely partisan approach\u201d to election-related litigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s kind of a scandal that a branded Catholic organization, whose real focus is supposed to be litigation to protect the unborn and religious liberty, is essentially acting as a proxy for the Trump campaign. It\u2019s really hard to understand,\u201d Schneck said.<\/p>\n
Also critical was Robert Christian, the editor of Millennial, an online publication for young Catholics that skews progressive in its political commentary. Christian told me that \u201cany group that wants to contribute to the pro-life cause should be working to strengthen American democracy, rather than undermining and attacking vital democratic norms and institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said Christian, \u201cFreedom, democracy, and the rule of law are necessary components of a true culture of life, where conflict is resolved peacefully rather than through force and other authoritarian tactics. This group\u2019s shameless, brazen attempt to steal an election and overturn the will of the voters is unethical and badly damaging to the pro-life cause. The pro-life movement needs to operate with honesty and integrity if we want to win people over to our cause. Pushing conspiracy theories and undermining democracy will have the opposite effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered that last comment in viewing Catholic participation this past weekend in something called \u201cThe Jericho March,\u201d which was really nothing more than a political rally where participants espoused debunked conspiracy theories and called on God to somehow overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 presidential election and keep Trump in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n
Among those high-profile Catholics listed as speaking or attending the event were: Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas; Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, our former nuncio who has taken to conspiratorial screeds from an undisclosed location in hiding; YouTube personality Taylor Marshall; pro-life advocate and culture warrior Abby Johnson; and Father Frank Pavone, the director of Priests for Life.<\/p>\n
A video circulated on Twitter showed a priest leading a group praying the rosary while participants holding \u201cChristian\u201d flags marched behind them. What this all means for the longterm health of our democratic republic remains to be seen, but there is reason to be worried.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Electoral College is meeting today across the country to formally cast the ballots to make it official: Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States. President Donald Trump, who lost his bid for a second term, is not going to concede, and will continue to cry foul and yell \u201cRIGGED ELECTION!\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4269,"featured_media":1457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[469,6,412,475,472],"class_list":["post-1678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2020-election","tag-catholic","tag-donald-trump","tag-electoral-college","tag-thomas-more-society"],"yoast_head":"\n
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