UPDATE:
Posting link @ Mark Shea because Mark is a friend: this opinion closely reflects mine: http://heroicvirtuecreations.com/2016/08/21/mark-shea-and-catholic-tribalism/
Original Post: The news is that Mark Shea has been removed from National Catholic Register. I have not seen the statement by NCR and if anyone finds it, please let me know.
Official Statement: The Register is no longer publishing blogs or commentaries submitted by Mark Shea. Mark’s writings at the NCRegister.com or published in our print edition were within our editorial guidelines. However, his writings and engagement on other forums were irreconcilable with our editorial vision or standards of charitable discussion.
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Good article by Fr. Dwight Longnecker
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This Post Has 6 Comments
I just heard this and this is great news. The guy is an insult to any 12 year old who can make a rational argument.
I remember once discussing the issue on his blog of irreligious dialogue and why had problems with certain aspects of it (such as the Assisi events) and he all but denounced me as an anti-semite. And anyone who thinks mass immigration might not be a good thing is a racist.
Oh and my favorite was his claiming that von Balthasar’s hypothetical universalism was Church teaching and denouncing people who defend the traditional view as wanting to see people burn in hell.
I didn't know who Mark Shea was until a year ago. He certainly has a robust personality and has been very nice to me. I will give him great credit for addressing Catholic Social Teaching which is a confirmation of everything I have been seeing and experiencing with COVID and the election. This whole election and the effects from the virus have ravaged the disability community I serve in and have nearly ripped apart the Church at-large with political division. As a parent with an Autistic son (one of three), an Academic Language Therapist in the disability field, and having Parkinson's Disease myself, I have witnessed the greatest need for Catholics to implement Catholic social teaching. In my opinion, no other time in modern-day history has Catholic social teaching been more important (not to exceed moral teaching) which is Pope Francis's strong suit: Life and Dignity of the Human Person Call to Family, Community, and Participation Rights and Responsibilities, Option for the Poor and the Vulnerable, The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, and Solidarity. When I did some research and discovered that the abortion rate has increased since 2017, when it has been on a steady decline since Reagan no matter who the president has been, and 75% of women who seek abortion live below the poverty level and are minorities, I realized that my moral compass needed to open to all life issues with abortion still being preeminent as the Catholic Church teaches. I believe this election was a great test of our faith and a great challenge for me to see past political weaponization. The seamless garment argument fails to place the baby in the womb as preeminent, but the whole life ethic includes all lives born and unborn with the unborn as the most vulnerable. That is the Catholic way.
STEVE RAY HERE: Thanks for sharing. There should be full agreement on the matters of the unborn and care for the disadvantaged and disenfranchised, but there are legitimate differences in the way the problems should be addressed. Not all agree that the federal government should be looked to as the agent of change. Legitimate differences certainly exist.
It is true that there are significant disagreements in the role of the government when it comes to the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised, and I respect that. After a 20-year career in the disability field as a private therapist who works as a partner to the state, there is no way shape or form non-profit and the Church alone could provide the necessary state/federal supports for disabled kids to thrive even with supports from parents as primary. Without state services, our son with Autism would not have lived to adulthood because he has other health issues. Even if I had accessed as many private supports available and poured everything we had into our youngest which we did our best to provide, without the state stepping in for ten years, he would not have lived. Here in Texas, Senator Eddie Lucio, a traditional pro-life Democrat and godly Catholic man, overseas disability funding for children but also is in charge of keeping the abortion pill out of Texas. Our organization supports him on anti-abortion bills and disability funding for disabled kids in my second line of work.
Today, our Autistic son is in college, works as a pharmacy technician, and preparing to go to pharmacy school. The poor, disadvantaged, and disabled especially do not make it without a family support at the top and then a combination of state and non-profit charities. That is my life experience over many years working in the disability field, raising a son with a major disability, and having Parkinson's Disease myself. Everyone I know who works in a human service field says exactly the same thing, but it is OK to disagree about this. Blessings–Julie
STEVE RAY HERE: I am pleased you have been able to be so successful with your son. God bless him. I hope he continues to do well. However, the Federal Government is way out of control and should not be the caretaker of the people. Our Founding Fathers tried to keep that on the local level which is much more effective and closer to the people. Before taxes were so high we were able to give more to charities at the local level and the Church. Today everyone just gets taxed to death and depends on Big Brother to take care of us. Not my view of a just society. And by the way, a Pro-life democrat is a rare as a threelegged duck. Even Democrats are banning anyone prolife.
Thanks again for sharing and God bless you.
Thank you; if we were to throw out all government social supports for the Common Good and only rely on non-profit for disabled children, our youngest son would not have lived. I think if it were one of your own children or grandchildren, you might be able to relate. Our family sold our house and most everything we had to pay for our son’s expenses, accessed every non-profit available, but without the state, our youngest would not have lived to adulthood. If even in cases like this where death is certain without state supports, if we think the government should help, I am not sure how to respond to that because that is not pro-life.
A pro-life Democrat is not as rare as one might think. They are rebounding back into the party like crazy. These are the only type of Democrats I support, and I lobby for them aside from my work. At the state and national level this election, 110 pro-life Democrats ran, and 80 of them won because of the multitude of controversies in the Republican party which are apparent to the world. Most of these pro-life Democrats are also pro-religious liberty, pro-family, and fiscally responsible because they are more conservative overall, and most are fully Catholic. These pro-life Dems are critical because they hold the Democratic party to account. There is not one social program for the Common Good that the Republican party supports, so this leaves the poor, the disenfranchised, and the disabled destitute. I personally know people who would not be alive without the Affordable Health Care Act although it needs great reform. If it were not for pro-life Democrats at the National Level, abortion would be part of the Affordable Healthcare Act today. Access to healthcare is life and death, and the common man in America cannot afford it the way it has been for decades and the way it is now. I do not have the answers for these political life issues, but one thing is for sure, I believe the Common Good of my neighbor (no exception) comes above everything else when it comes to politics, even above some of my own personal comforts and material goods. It is just important to remember religious freedoms and balance in taxation. It is ok not to agree. Blessings–Julie
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