Church's Misguided Anti-CCW Efforts in Michigan -- Vote

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straightShot

New member
Did everyone read this Detroit News article on the efforts of the Catholic Church in Michigan to derail the new CCW reform that is to take effect in July? The Pope has stated, in his Encylical Letter, that Christians have a duty to protect their lives from death since life is a precious gift from God, yet some in the Michigan Catholic Conference are fervently gathering petition signatures aimed at preventing the new CCW law from going in effect.

This 'Michigan Catholic Conference' doesn't speak for all Catholics, as this article points out.

Read the article. Vote in the poll. Add an intelligent comment.

http://www.detnews.com/2001/metro/0103/05/a01-195729.htm

straightShot
 
D

Dennis

Staff Emeritus
Straightshot,
"The Pope has stated, in his Encylical Letter, that Christians have a duty to protect their lives from death..."

Can you find me a source on that, please? I can use that in a future class I'm teaching.

Thanks.
 
H

HankB

New member
When your church - ANY church - starts bringing politics in (and this is clearly politics, NOT a matter of faith or doctrine!) dissenting members can, and should, use the power of the purse to bring the pastor/minister/rabbi/monsignor/imam/monk/whatever to heel.

At services, rather than put your usual donation in the envelope for collection, put in a note that there will be NO further donations until the politicking stops.

Organize like-minded individuals in the congregation to do the same en masse.

Better yet, in a case like this, say that your usual donation to the church is going to the NRA . . . AND DO IT!

Believe me, this tactic WORKS if enough people get involved.
 
M

Mike Irwin

Staff
"This is not about the right to bear arms," said Paul Long of the Michigan Catholic Conference. "It's about the right to conceal a gun."

HELLO!

EARTH to Catholic guy!

Talk about jamming BOTH feet in your mouth at the same time.

And I CONTINUE to be amazed that Jews support things like this!!! :eek:

If any single group should believe in a strong defensive position (I guess they do in Israel), it should be Jews.
 
B

beemerb

Moderator
From popes letter'

55. This should not cause surprise: to kill a human being, in whom the image of God is present, is a particularly serious sin. Only God is the master of life! Yet from
the beginning, faced with the many and often tragic cases which occur in the life of individuals and society, Christian reflection has sought a fuller and deeper
understanding of what God's commandment prohibits and prescribes.[43] There are in fact situations in which values proposed by God's Law seem to involve a
genuine paradox. This happens for example in the case of legitimate defence, in which the right to protect one's own life and the duty not to harm someone else's
life are difficult to reconcile in practice. Certainly, the intrinsic value of life and the duty to love oneself no less than others are the basis of a true right to
self-defence. The demanding commandment of love of neighbour, set forth in the Old Testament and confirmed by Jesus, itself presupposes love of oneself as the
basis of comparison: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" (Mk 12:31). Consequently, no one can renounce the right to self-defence out of lack of love for life
or for self. This can only be done in virtue of a heroic love which deepens and transfigures the love of self into a radical self-offering, according to the spirit of the
Gospel Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:38-40). The sublime example of this self-offering is the Lord Jesus himself.
 
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ChrisR246

New member
The Holy See speaks for the Church. The Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Church. Not some lay person. If this were actually Church sponsored it would be the decision of the Bishop. There would probably be a letter from the Bishop being read to the congregations explaining the position.It would be read to EVERY parish in the diocese. There would be no choice at the parish level.

There are over 300 parishes in Detroit alone, so this is not getting universal support. It would seem that there is a group of Catholics circulating the petition, but this is not an official Catholic position.

Dennis - In addition to the Pope's encyclical, the Catechism of the Catholic Church also outlines self defense in the following paragraphs

2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not."65

2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:



If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.
(St. Thomas Aquinas)
 
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straightShot

New member
A little more:

Don't be afraid to write a letter or two and tell the Michigan Catholic Conference and Michigan Catholic Bishops the truth. Be factual but firm. Don't let them twist the facts to suit their goal.

Michigan Catholic Conference link:
http://www.micatholicconference.org



straightShot
 
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