Our Bishop, Thomas Tobin made a very important announcement this week: he left the Democrat Party and is now a registered Republican. I say to him, “Welcome aboard.” Many years ago Father Benedict Groeschel, the founder of the Franciscans of the Renewal, summed it up perfectly when he said, “I didn’t leave the Democrat Party, it left me.” Bishop Tobin illustrated at a Young Republicans meeting why he changed his party affiliation by holding up two certificates, one was his Baptismal certificate and the other was his new voter identification certificate. He said to the crowd gathered, "My thesis tonight is that the two of these are related, and can be related very comfortably”. He said that his reasons for leaving the Democrat Party are his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. He also mentioned his disgust with the 2012 Democrat Convention where God was booed and many radical Liberal policies were adopted into its platform. Bishop Tobin said that he had been a Democrat since 1969. This doesn’t surprise me. Many Catholics who grew up in urban towns and cities identified with the Democrat Party. Besides my father, there were few blue collar men who came from either poor or struggling middle-income families, who weren’t Democrats. My father was an exception because he was very distrustful of Unions and did not like the radical turn to the Left the Democrat Party took when Lyndon Johnson, and later George McGovern were its leaders.
The Democrat Party rapidly began to take on a completely different feel than it had in the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. It supported riots, hippie sit-ins and the unraveling of Traditional Judeo-Christian family values. Judges on the supreme court appointed by Democrats legalized abortion and began to legislate from the bench. The party rode high on the wave of social and racial unrest and courted the Black Community through social programs and government give-a-ways, making them dependent on Democrat politicians for generations to follow.
When making his announcement of changing party affiliation, Bishop Tobin communicated his caution that as a Catholic there isn’t a party that is a panacea. Truly the Republicans have their faults and flaws too. A Catholic should never feel truly at home with any philosophy, unless it is that of the Church’s. There are Liberal Republicans who support abortion and Conservative Democrats who don’t, to their credit. It is justified for a Catholic to vote for a Democrat if he supports the moral beliefs of the Church if he is running against a Republican who doesn’t. This is especially true on the local level. In town and city elections, party affiliation is less important. For example, in our town, when the vote for Homosexual marriage came to the floor of the Rhode Island House and Senate, one of our local politicians who is a Democrat voted against same-sex marriage and the Republican in our town voted for it (after promising his constituents he was against it). This is why, on the local level especially, it is important to look at the politician’s views and not necessarily his party affiliation. However on the national level when voting, it is a much different situation.
I always find it embarrassing as a Catholic, that our State of Rhode Island, is known for voting for THE most Liberal, pro-abortion politicians in the Nation. Typically all of the Senators and Representatives we send to Washington in Rhode Island receive an “A+” grade from Planned Parenthood. Sad that this would be true in a State that has the most Catholics per capita. Most of them are “CINO” Catholics. “Catholics In Name Only.” If they have a “D” next to their name they get elected, because for most Rhode Islanders that’s all that matters. It is not taken into consideration if they are faithful in protecting life in the womb, or if they are faithful in protecting the sanctity of marriage, or Religious Liberties, but if they have that “D” next to their name they win. Anyone who votes for a pro-abortion candidate, has jeopardized their relationship with Christ and His Church. The killing of babies
in their gestation period CAN NEVER be justified nor defended, period. As Catholics we must follow our chief shepherd's lead and abandon the Democrat Party in droves. Don’t feel guilty doing so, it abandoned you first.