Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be the sixth Roman Catholic on the current court. Of course Roman Catholicism is the largest religion practiced in the U.S, so perhaps that's not unexpected? Does that endanger Roe v Wade? And the gay-marriage question that will surely go before the short at some point? Of course not, since we're all being assured that justices should ONLY consider the written law, not their own feelings and beliefs, right? The linked Boston Globe story suggests she goes to church for special and family events. Last I recall, Mass on Sundays is not an optional activity for Catholics. So just what kind of a Catholic is she?
[UPDATE: N.Y. Times article on Sotomayor and abortion rights.]
[UPDATE: N.Y. Times article on Sotomayor and Catholicism.]
This response is in TWO parts.
ReplyDeletePart I.
I think it's disingenuous to, on one hand, to write that "...we're all being assured that justices should ONLY consider the written law, not their own feelings and beliefs," while simultaneously asking "...what kind of a Catholic is she?"
To this point, few have heard of Justice Sotomayor. She has done well for herself, to be certain, being raised in poverty in a slum, to attending Ivy League schools, to be sitting on the federal judiciary.
This morning, I found in my e-mail in box a message circulated from an organization that, in my estimation which serves nothing more than to stir the proverbial pot. It was entitled "Oppose Judges Who Impose Their Personal Beliefs." Similarly, I found that message disingenuous (at best) because the judiciary is precisely about personal opinion on matters concerning the rule of law. That's what judges do! They interpret the law!
For anyone of any stripe to so assert otherwise demonstrates a fundamental ignorance of our system of government - which should have been learned in grade school. Congress writes law, the judiciary interprets it, and the executive enforces it.
Concerning attendance of Mass on Sundays...
Your comment that "Mass on Sundays is not an optional activity" is neither reflective, nor fully informed. No one holds a proverbial sledgehammer over the head of the faithful Christian in the Catholic church. Remember the phrase "free moral agents"?
"Due to the many hours people that some people work in our society... many Catholics share in the Eucharist each day during the week. Some people worship out of fear. Some approach worship as a debt to be paid. Some worship God fully out of love. Once we discover the great goodness and love of God for us, we want to return that love."
ref: In His Light: A Path into Catholic Belief, by Rev. William A. Anderson, D. Min. Ph.D.
Mass and Eucharist are offered at various and numerous times throughout the week. For example, Eucharistic Mass is offered twice daily (M-Th, once on F, Sa, and thrice on Sunday - that's a total of 13 times a week) at Holy Spirit here in Huntsville. Other parishes offer additional services similarly dispersed throughout the week, and on Saturday. So Sunday is NOT the ONLY day.
Part II follows.
This response is in TWO parts. This is
ReplyDeletePart II.
Regarding your comment about Roe v Wade...
While I am personally opposed to abortion for numerous reasons (and I've never heard one woman rhetorically say, "Oh! My abortion was better than double latte with crème brûlée frappé with at Starbux! May I have another?"), I think it should remain a legal elective procedure for several reasons, among which are that the couple should wrangle with their own thoughts about the procedure, options, potential risks, and effects upon mental health and relationship. As well, it should be available for medical necessity - to preserve the life and health of the mother.
If reductions in the elective procedure are to be realized (and I believe such reductions would beneficial for all concerned, that is, society as a whole) and in fact, according to data, have been reducing, if even slightly.
"For women whose marital status and race were both known (37 reporting areas), the percentage of reported abortions among black women who were unmarried was higher (89.0%) than that among white women (81.5%) or among women of other races (66.1%). The abortion ratio for unmarried women (485 per 1,000 live births) was 8.4 times that for married women (58 per 1,000).
"Investigation of the 2004 cases revealed that seven of the 19 deaths were related to legal induced abortion and one to illegal induced abortion (Table 19). Of the seven legal induced abortion-related deaths identified in 2004, one occurred after a medical (nonsurgical) abortion procedure. This case has been described previously (62). This is the second year for which a maternal death related to a medical abortion procedure has been identified.
[Writer's NOTE: That's a 36% rate - an EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH RATE, and an unacceptable rate for ANY procedure, invasive or not.]
"Possible abortion-related deaths that occurred during 2005--2008 are currently being investigated."
"In this report, the abortion rate for the United States was higher than recent rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain newly independent states of the former Soviet Union (23--25)."
[Writer's NOTE: Why is this so?]
"In addition, the abortion rate for black women has been approximately 3 times as high as that for white women (range: 2.6--3.1) since 1991 (the first year for which rates by race were published) (61).
"Approximately one in five U.S. pregnancies have ended in abortion, according to the most recent estimates from NCHS (31). Inconsistent method use of oral contraceptive methods (75.9%) and condoms (49.3%) were the most common reasons that women became pregnant and obtained abortions (22). Unintended pregnancy is a pervasive public health problem for all population subgroups and women of reproductive age (10,61,67)."
NCHS=National Center for Health Statistics
source: CDC, MMWR, Abortion Surveillance, 2005, published November 28, 2008 / 57(SS13);1-32 - the most recently available data