Exclusive: Legislating faith

I am going to bring to your attention something that you will not see in the media. The only channel on television not afraid to bring up the topic I am about to discuss is TAFN (Trinity Broadcasting Network), and you really should not listen to them anyways.

First I will reproduce the entire relevant section from the debate last night, to provide context, then I will get into the dirty details.

SCHIEFFER: Senator Kerry, a new question for you.

The New York Times reports that some Catholic archbishops are telling their church members that it would be a sin to vote for a candidate like you because you support a woman's right to choose an abortion and unlimited stem-cell research.

What is your reaction to that?

KERRY: I respect their views. I completely respect their views. I am a Catholic. And I grew up learning how to respect those views. But I disagree with them, as do many.

I believe that I can't legislate or transfer to another American citizen my article of faith. What is an article of faith for me is not something that I can legislate on somebody who doesn't share that article of faith.

I believe that choice is a woman's choice. It's between a woman, God and her doctor. And that's why I support that.

Now, I will not allow somebody to come in and change Roe v. Wade.
The president has never said whether or not he would do that. But we know from the people he's tried to appoint to the court he wants to.

I will not. I will defend the right of Roe v. Wade.

Now, with respect to religion, you know, as I said, I grew up a Catholic. I was an altar boy. I know that throughout my life this has made a difference to me. And as President Kennedy said when he ran for president, he said, "I'm not running to be a Catholic president. I'm running to be a president who happens to be Catholic." My faith affects everything that I do, in truth.

There's a great passage of the Bible that says, "What does it mean, my brother, to say you have faith if there are no deeds? Faith without works is dead." [at least he did not misquote the bible]

And I think that everything you do in public life has to be guided by your faith, affected by your faith, but without transferring it in any official way to other people.

That's why I fight against poverty. That's why I fight to clean up the environment and protect this earth.

That's why I fight for equality and justice. All of those things come out of that fundamental teaching and belief of faith.

But I know this, that President Kennedy in his inaugural address told all of us that here on Earth, God's work must truly be our own. And that's what we have to, I think that's the test of public service.


Kerry said this, "I believe that I can't legislate or transfer to another American citizen my article of faith. What is an article of faith for me is not something that I can legislate on somebody who doesn't share that article of faith."

Then in the SAME question Kerry said this:

"And I think that everything you do in public life has to be guided by your faith, affected by your faith, but without transferring it in any official way to other people.

That's why I fight against poverty. That's why I fight to clean up the environment and protect this earth.

That's why I fight for equality and justice. All of those things come out of that fundamental teaching and belief of faith.

But I know this, that President Kennedy in his inaugural address told all of us that here on Earth, God's work must truly be our own. And that's what we have to, I think that's the test of public service."


He first says that he cannot "legislate or transfer to another American citizen my article of faith", then he says "And I think that everything you do in public life has to be guided by your faith, affected by your faith, but without transferring it in any official way to other people".

If your faith guides you, but you are not allowed to transfer "it in any official way to other people". What happens, in the cases of abortion and the death penalty, when your faith guides you to transfer your beliefs into policy? The result is that you end up not using you faith to guide you. If Kerry was intellectually consistent about using his faith, I would probably be voting for him, but he is not. Kerry then uses his faith to justify fighting against poverty, fighting to clean up the environment, and fighting for equality and justice.

By using taxpayer money to fund causes justified by your faith you are TRANSFERRING your article of faith. Kerry did a zig, a zag, then a complete 180 in the exact same question. This was, to me, a clear flip-flop.

cube