The occasional, often ill-considered thoughts of a Roman Catholic permanent deacon who is ever grateful to God for his existence. Despite the strangeness we encounter in this life, all the suffering we witness and endure, being is good, so good I am sometimes unable to contain my joy. Deo gratias!


Although I am an ordained deacon of the Catholic Church, the opinions expressed in this blog are my personal opinions. In offering these personal opinions I am not acting as a representative of the Church or any Church organization.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Pseudo-Catholic Joe

Over the years I've tended to avoid politics on this blog since there are so many more honorable things to write about. I'll admit that occasionally I haven't been able to resist touching on things political, but these have been rare occasions when the politicians forced the issue. This has been happening more frequently lately as some politicians have injected themselves into the religious sphere. I would ignore them if they showed any respect for religious views, but sadly most of these power-hungry hacks get the world backwards and believe religion should be subservient to the state.

For example, when Nancy Pelosi, the Bay area's self-proclaimed leading theologian, waxes eloquently on the teachings of the Catholic Church, I cannot often stay silent. I should, of course, simply ignore her since Mrs. Pelosi is just a make-believe Catholic of little understanding and no one with a working intellect need listen to her theological musings. The President, too, likes to lecture the Catholic Church on its teachings, but since no one, including Barack Obama himself, seems to comprehend the nature of his peculiar religious beliefs, I think we can ignore him as well.

And then there's Vice President Joe Biden, another cafeteria Catholic who obviously despises the Church to which he ostensibly belongs. Joe is a strange mixture of beliefs. During his earlier (2008) campaign for the Democrat nomination for the presidency, he displayed his personal racist beliefs when he described candidate Obama using the following words:

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Yeah, man, nothing like a "clean" black man. Would that Joe were as articulate as the subject of his thoughts.

And then a week ago, in front of a Danville, Virginia audience made up largely of African Americans, good ol' Joe tells them the Republicans are "gonna put y'all back in chains." Uh, Joe, in case you've forgotten, it was the Republicans who cut the chains of slavery in the South. Remember that guy named Lincoln? He was a Republican. And it was the Democrats who tried to keep black people enslaved for the century between the end of the Civil War and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Joe, you might want to check the congressional voting tallies for that act: 80% of Republicans supported the act but only 64% of Democrats. But what are history and facts to a demagogue like Joe Biden? C'mon, Joe, what are you, racist or race pimp? Enquiring minds want to know.

Years ago, at a business meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, I met a man who lived next door to Biden. At the time Joe was a freshman senator and I asked his neighbor what kind of man he was. His answer was telling. "Joe Biden," he said, "is the stupidest man I have ever known." Because he said nothing else, I dismissed the comment as something one might expect from a likely disgruntled neighbor, until Joe became Vice President and spent the next three plus years confirming his neighbor's opinion.

I've come to believe, as some have suggested, that the President and his staff keep Joe Biden around as a guarantee against assassination.

Aren't we blessed that God is in charge and not us?

Pax et bonum...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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