Friday, January 23, 2009

CATHOLIC BISHOPS APPLAUD OBAMA'S ANTI-TORTURE ORDER




BISHOPS WELCOME OBAMA EXECUTIVE ORDER BANNING TORTURE


WASHINGTON--An executive order banning torture signed by President Barack Obama was welcomed by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, Chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

"Based upon the teachings of the Catholic Church, our Conference of Bishops welcomes the executive order," Bishop Hubbard said. "Together with other religious leaders, we had pressed for this step to protect human dignity and help restore the moral and legal standing of the United States in the world."

He added: "A ban on torture says much about us - who we are, what we believe about human life and dignity, and how we act as a nation."In their November 2007 document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the U.S. bishops declared that "direct assaults on innocent human life and violations of human dignity, such as genocide, torture, racism, and the targeting of noncombatants in acts of terror or war, can never be justified" (No. 23). The bishops asserted: "The use of torture must be rejected as fundamentally incompatible with the dignity of the human person and ultimately counterproductive in the effort to combat terrorism" (No. 81).

In September 2007 Pope Benedict XVI, echoing the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, said "[T]he prohibition against torture 'cannot be contravened under any circumstance.'"

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is torture??????

Anonymous said...

Obama supporters have cleansed the White House of evil spirits of Bush, for the entry of the Obama age. Article here and video.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1470-DC-Progressive-Examiner~y2009m1d21-Ceremony-purges-White-House-of-evil-spirits

Anonymous said...

I would like to thank the president for my new "Tim Geitner" tax exemption, I now will not pay taxes for 4 years or until I am caught and then blame it on Turbo Tax. The era of Obama has begun!

Anonymous said...

are you all feeling pretty stupid, now that federal funds can pay for abortion services overseas now?

Anonymous said...

Marney,
I went to your site, where they were cleansing the White House of evil spirits, it was nothing more than witchcraft, I was very disappointed with this.

Kurt said...

I would guess it is you who are feeling pretty stupid as you totally misunderstand the recent E.O. No U.S. tax dollars pay for overseas abortions.

BTW, can I count on your support for aid to Catholic schools?

Andrew said...

Wednesday's post-inaugural edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show, taped at a Washington restaurant, overflowed with strange and messianic notions about Obama and how the thrill over him is unanimous. Actor Forest Whitaker summed it up for Oprah: "The light of the New Age is here." Oprah pal Gayle King passed along her agreement with a message that "Not only does he hear us. He feels us. That when I hear Barack Obama, they said, he talks to my soul." Whitaker also strangely claimed "we're not used to seeing" a president and a First Lady who love each other, but the Obamas have signaled "it's okay to love."
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin strangely claimed it was "extraordinary" to have a president care about history, and told the audience Obama said to her in 2007 he's not getting the presidency to be Millard Fillmore, but to be great like Lincoln. Ali Wentworth, the wife of George Stephanopoulos, painted an incredible picture of a massive gospel choir on the subway system en route to the festivities: "I took the Metro, and everyone was singing 'Amazing Grace' on the Metro."

This is just great!

angelica said...

A ban on torture says nothing about us as a country when we are still torturing babies in the womb.

The most innocent of innocents.

It is so sad that many catholics still do not "get it."

May God have mercy on us and on all the whole world.

Kurt said...

May God have mercy on you Angelica if you care nothing about the victims of torture because you think there is a greater evil somewhere else down the line.

The bishops were right to applaud the President. God bless them.

Marcus said...

Kurt,

Get a grip!

If you think a little personal discomfort for terrorists who have shot at our soldiers is equal to killing million of babies.

Than you need millions of prayers.

Kurt said...

No one said anything about torture being equal to any other act. As Christians were are not free to condone or be indifferent to torture because we beleive somewhere else in the world there is a greater evil.

If my neighbor is beating his wife, I am not a liberty to say "why should anyone care? That is not as bad as a million abortions."

Anonymous said...

Unrelated to this post, but since it's the most current, I'm posting this comment here.

Where's the post on Obama's signing away of the Mexico City policy?

I promised to track Pres. Obama's actions in light of Catholic social teaching (which I will do soon) - I'd love to be able to comment on the Mexico City policy.

Kurt said...

Dear peregrinator,

Thank you for your comment. This blog started about a year ago and almost daily posts were put up. It taxed our time given the other obligations of our lives, but we felt great satisfaction for our efforts when on Election Day, not only did our nation give Barack Obama the greatest Democratic victory in 44 years but the President won a good majority of the Catholic vote. Catholics were even more favorable to the President than the general public.

On Election Day, we acheived the purpose of this blog. We posted now and then (but not daily) during the Transition period of various items that might be of interest to the Catholic community, particularly if they were not widely reported elsewhere.

Now, the President has taken office with soaring approval ratings (79% of the general public and even higher among Catholics).

We may still throw up a post now and then, depending on our free time and we will leave the blog up as part of the historical record of the wonderful Catholic support for the President.

If you are looking for some commentary on MCP, you may want to go here:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/pontifications/2009/01/obamas-mexico-city-repeal-a-pr.html#preview

Thank you for your interest. God bless.

Brian said...

"we will leave the blog up as part of the historical record of the wonderful Catholic support for the President. "

History will tell us if that was a good or bad thing. I personally think it will probably turn out to be something that anyone of faith who was deceived by Obama will one day regret and wonder how they could have been such fools.

But we shall see over the next 4 years who is right.

Kurt said...

As for the topic of this thread, I am certain I will not regret the President ending the immoral practice of torture.

FinishTheRace said...

The Mexico City Policy required all non-governmental organizations that receive federal funding to refrain from performing or promoting abortion services in other countries. Thanks to President Obama, our tax dollars now include the funding of performing and promoting abortion services through these NGO's.

Kurt said...

FTR,

In applauding Obama, the Bishop were referring to his Executive Order against torture.

As for the MCP, it has nothing to do with groups using tax dollars to fund abortions. It deals with the eligibility of organizations to apply for government grants to provide non-abortion related contraception if they otherwise that provide abortions with their private funds.

FinishTheRace said...

Kurt, it seems you are saying that these organizations can now apply for government funds that include paying for abortion services. It seems to me that the abortion industry is being subsidized in foreign countries and when something is subsidized that "something" increases.

To clarify, The Mexico City Policy prohibits U.S. taxpayer funding of international-aid organizations that use abortion as a method of birth control.

I don't want my money to subsidize abortion policies in another country. This is foolishness.

Do you think the President Obama's position is correct?

Kurt said...

Kurt, it seems you are saying that these organizations can now apply for government funds that include paying for abortion services.

No, that would not be correct. Under Obama, no group can apply for government funds and use them to pay for abortions.

There is an indirect issue. To use another example, let us say the federal government wants to buy 20 helicopers for federal firefighters at national parks. It puts out a RFP ("request for proposals") and entities capable of building helicopters submit bids with the best bid getting the government contract.

Let's say some pacifists said that any company that also builds war munitions should not be allowed even to bid on the helicopter contract. You might have a strong opinion one way or another about making war munitions and if letting a defense contractor bid on the helicopter RFP is subsidizing bomb making, but there will also be a lot of people with a third view -- that they are not endorsing building bombs but just see the non-governmental activities of government contractors as a side issue.

For me, I stand somewhere inbetween the middle position and support of the MCP. I would kind of like to see Planned Parenthood screwed anyway possible. But on the other hand, it is pretty low on my priority list and it opens up the door to alot of other meddling in government contracting and grant making.

Anonymous said...

Don't insult the Catholic Church and it's faithful members by labeling your site "Catholic". We are all sinners, but many of us, through the grace of God, did not vote for obama who is doing everything he can, thanks to your misguided votes, to desecrate the teachings of Christ and the Church and to destroy everything Christian in this country. Unfortunately generations to come will suffer as a result. We know how this will end, however. Christ will win the war between good and evil. As for me and my house, we will remain faithful to Jesus Christ. May God have mercy on your dark souls.

The Pope said...

Another anonymous wack job.