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Damian Thompson at the Telegraph asks if Senator-Elect Marco Rubio is still a Catholic or if he has become, in Thompson's word, "an apostate."
The right wing is always quick to condemn "bad Catholics" like Nancy Pelosi, and I share some of their misgivings at the way the now-former Speaker has expressed her understanding of the Church's teachings. But, at least she has not turned her back on the sacraments. It is unclear to me why abandoning the Church entirely is less horrible in the eyes of conservative Catholics than abandoning some, not all, of the Church's moral teachings.
Rubio is not the only former Catholic on the right. Sarah Palin left the Church too. So did Tim Pawlenty. The right may continue to decry the "abortionists" among the Democrats, but will they also be decrying the "apostates"?
