The other night Chris Matthews provided riveting television in an interview with Providence, R.I., Catholic bishop Thomas Tobin, who has said that Congressman Patrick Kennedy can no longer take communion at mass because he has supported legislation for abortion. Matthews is Catholic, and said that he believes abortion is immoral, but he berated Tobin for interfering in political life. He said that JFK had established this separation in his 1960 speech in Houston promising not to take orders from the Pope, and he dared Tobin to say how many years in prison a woman should get for seeking an abortion. By the end of the interview, Matthews was almost out of control. See for yourself, at the link. But he’d made his point. Religion is one thing, governance another.
A similar point was made by Terry Gross during a Fresh Air interview with Jeff Sharlet, author of the book The Family. In speaking of Bart Stupak, the Michigan congressman, Gross said, "He is Catholic," and linked his religion with his stance on abortion.
I’m all for this sort of journalism. Religion is a driving factor in a lot of ideological life. Though there are surely a lot of non-Catholics who are against abortion, and Catholics who would tolerate it…
The double standard is that these journalists would never visit anything like this inquisition on the Israel lobby and its adherents– most of whom are Jewish. And yet the Israel lobby is having far greater impact on our public life.
