That conservative Catholics pick and choose which teachings they want to follow is not news to readers of this blog. But that they're being called out for it by Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson is.
"Gaps in the justice and compassion of a society require government intervention to secure the common good, which is not common until it includes the poor, the immigrant, the sick, the disabled, the unborn. Catholic teaching elevates the primary importance of families, charities and strong communities - while rejecting the simplistic notion that such institutions render government unnecessary," Gerson writes in today's column titled "Catholic Republicans' political beliefs challenged by their faith."
He's talking to you, Catholic Tea-Partiers, especially those with a Libertarian slant. "Catholic social teaching is simply not libertarian," Gerson writes. And he's right.
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He also scolds some liberal Catholic politicians "who elevate autonomy and choice as the highest political values - higher even than the rights of the weak."
But it's clear he believes Republicans and conservatives are more prone to forgetting or ignoring major portions of Catholic teaching, especially Catholic social teaching. Is he right?
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