I am supremely tired of this pernicious piffle from Catholic bishops and priests.

"Deny so many teachings of the faith"?

Which dogmas are we discussing here? Which parts of the Nicene Creed do they reject? Do they deny the Incarnation? Real Presence? Lumen Gentium?

Thread: https://twitter.com/BishopStika/status/1300775377330151424

What you mean, @BishopStika, is that they dissent as a matter of prudence on the not-obvious political application of an unambiguous moral truth (i.e. that abortion takes the life of a preborn human person).

They dissent.

So do most Catholic bishops on a number of issues.
1/

Is every single lay employee in the Diocese of Knoxville paid a just/living wage in accordance with Magisterial Catholic doctrine, @BishopStika? If not, why not?

How can you defend violating our sincerely held religious beliefs? Do you deny the truth of these teachings?

2/

The fact of the matter is that every Catholic bishop who doesn't guarantee that diocesan/parish/school employees are paid a just wage, as outlined in the Compendium of Catholic Social Doctrine under Pope John Paul II, is, in material effect, dissenting from these teachings.

3/

But it's not just wages. Catholic doctrine says that every human person has the right to adequate health care. Does every Catholic lay employee in your diocese have that? If not, why not? Why have you decided THAT teaching doesn't apply?

4/

If you are a Catholic bishop or pastor who is keeping employees at 20-25 hours a week so you don't have to provide health insurance, how does that jibe with our Catholic teaching that says every person deserves it as a human right? How do you defend that?

5/

And if your response is, "Well we'd go out of business if we paid every employee a just wage and provided health insurance"

Then—you should go out of business. Isn't that what you said about contraception? That you'd rather go out of business than violate religious beliefs?

6/

Isn't that what Catholic social service providers say when they're asked to place adopted children in same-sex households? That you'd rather go out of business than violate purportedly sincerely held religious beliefs?

Why don't we say that about a just wage and healthcare?

7/

See the thing is that white U.S. Catholics have been so effectively catechized to believe that:
1) abortion is the only political issue that matters
2) overturning Roe is the supreme goal
3) you can justify all manner of evil if you claim to oppose abortion...

8/

And in the Trump Administration, white conservative Catholics recognize a level of evil that they simply cannot defend. So instead, they're attacking Biden, Pelosi, the Dems.

That's the entire strategy, and the Trump campaign is happy to partner with Catholic bishops on it.

9/

Many Catholics—deep down—recognize Trump for the moral monster that he is, so rather than trying to defend 180,000+ coronavirus deaths, children dying in ICE cages, USPS mailboxes disappearing, they're just gonna say "Biden" + "abortion" as many times as possible til November
10/

If you have a substantive reason for why Catholics should, in forming their consciences, discern that a vote for Trump is a morally superior option, then make it.

Otherwise, find a different way to help the faithful prudentially discern their vote this fall.
11/

Because if you, a Catholic bishop/priest, only ever weigh in to say that a Catholic can never vote for a candidate who supports legal access to abortion, then you're effectively telling your flock that they may only vote for Donald Trump.

Understand that. And own that.

13/13

Post-Script: If you're going to form your conscience for voting in U.S. elections this fall, read Evangelium Vitae AND Laborem Exercens AND Laudato Si.

Taken together, they make clear that Catholics cannot be single issue voters.