{"id":14356,"date":"2016-11-04T04:39:43","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T04:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=14356"},"modified":"2016-11-04T04:39:43","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T04:39:43","slug":"a-catholic-church-bulletin-says-voting-for-democrats-will-result-in-eternal-damnation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/a-catholic-church-bulletin-says-voting-for-democrats-will-result-in-eternal-damnation.html","title":{"rendered":"A Catholic church bulletin says voting for Democrats will result in eternal damnation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Catholic church bulletin says voting for Democrats will result in eternal damnation<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

A Catholic church bulletin says voting for Democrats will result in eternal damnation:-<\/strong> Plenty of people on both sides of the political aisle have described the stakes of the upcoming presidential election in biblical terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

But at least one person in a San Diego Catholic church took things a step further in recent weeks. In an insert to the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church\u2019s weekly bulletin on Oct. 16, a flier told parishioners that \u201cit is a mortal sin to vote Democrat,\u201d according to NBC 7.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Catholic Church, a mortal sin is one that would condemn a soul to hell unless the person confesses and repents. The flier reminded readers of this fact in graphic terms, telling them they are at risk of \u201cdescending into Hell\u201d and \u201ceternal damnation,\u201d if they support Democratic nominees for office, per NBC 7.<\/span><\/p>\n

The basis of this claim, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, were five issues where the writer of the flier said the Democratic party violated Church doctrine: abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, human cloning and embryonic stem cell research.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, on Oct. 30, an article within the bulletin compared a statement of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to Satan, according to the Union-Tribune.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe devil does this through tactics outlined by Saul Alinsky with the outcome as Hillary Clinton stated \u2018And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed,\u2019 to draw us away from God\u2019s teachings regarding the sanctity of life to those of the world and its prince,\u201d the bulletin said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The article also included a veiled reference to a politically charged statement made by Clinton when she said half of Republican nominee Donald Trump\u2019s supporters could be put in a \u201cbasket of <\/span>deplorables.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are called by politicians such as Hillary Clinton, <\/span>deplorables,\u201d the article said of Catholics who oppose same-sex marriage or accepting refugees from the Middle East. The article went on to express support for the Second Amendment and criticized immigrants while \u201cAmericans … sit home and not work,\u201d according to the Union-Tribune.<\/span><\/p>\n

Immaculate Conception will serve as a voting site on Nov. 8, according to the Associated Press.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego condemned both pieces, saying the Church does not tell members how to vote in elections and emphasizing that those who vote for Democrats are not automatically damned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a mortal sin to vote for Democrats, number one. And number two, the church doesn\u2019t take positions on this, and we\u2019re not going to,\u201d diocese spokesman Kevin Eckery told the Union-Tribune.<\/span><\/p>\n

The diocese also said the Oct. 16 insert was not approved by the parish or any of its priests.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor all I know someone thought that they were doing a service,\u201d Eckery said. \u201cThe pastor said it was not something he had reviewed or approved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the Oct. 30 article, Eckery told the Union-Tribune it was unclear who wrote it and who gave the clearance for it to be printed in the bulletin.<\/span><\/p>\n

The church\u2019s publications didn\u2019t just offend parishioners, who called them a \u201cdisgrace\u201d and a \u201cshame,\u201d but they also potentially violated tax law. Specifically, the \u201cJohnson Amendment,\u201d proposed by Lyndon B. Johnson as a senator, prohibits tax-exempt charities, or section 501(c)(3) organizations, from participating in any political campaign for an elective office, according to The Washington Post. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trump has advocated for abolishing the rule on the campaign trail, and he has benefited from the support of numerous evangelical pastors and preachers. The Union-Tribune, citing legal scholars, said that while the earlier flier may have been permissible because it did not mention any candidate for office, the article\u2019s direct reference to Clinton made it a \u201cblatant\u201d violation of the tax law.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under California law, it is also illegal to display information for or against a candidate within 100 feet of a polling place, though this law would not affect the parish until Election Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Catholic vote has long been considered a pivotal swing vote in presidential elections. In the last three elections, Catholics have favored the winning candidate, including twice supporting Barack Obama, per the Pew Research Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

But both Clinton\u2019s and Trump\u2019s relationship with the Catholic Church has been decidedly fraught. In emails sent to John Podesta, Clinton\u2019s campaign manager, released by WikiLeaks, a Clinton staffer appeared to mock Catholics and evangelical Christians, while Trump has publicly clashed with the hugely popular Pope Francis, after the Church leader said, \u201cA person who thinks only about building walls \u2014 wherever they may be \u2014 and not building bridges, is not Christian.\u201d Trump called the pope\u2019s comments \u201cdisgraceful,\u201d according to The Washington Post.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent polls, sharply contrasting views of how Catholics plan to vote this election emerged. According to a poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute released Wednesday, Catholics support Clinton over Trump by a margin of 51 to 40 percent, but according to the IBD\/TIPP Presidential Election Tracking Poll also released Wednesday, Trump leads Clinton, 50 to 37 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/latest-news\/article112450802.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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