All the liberals (especially liberal Catholics) who complained the church was entering partisan politics when Cardinal Timothy Dolan agreed to give a blessing to the Republican National Convention -- before he accepted the same assignment for the Democrats -- apparently had no complaint about Catholics entering partisan politics when Sister Simone Campbell drew standing ovations on Wednesday night in a convention address attacking Paul Ryan as a terrible Catholic.
A peek at the transcript suggests something amusing: at the same time Democrats scrapped the word "God" from the platform, and then hastily returned it despite heavy booing, Sister Simone never used the word "God" in her anti-Ryan lecture. She began:
In June, I joined other Catholic sisters on a 2,700-mile bus journey through nine states to tell Americans about the budget Congressman Paul Ryan wrote and Governor Romney endorsed.
Paul Ryan claims his budget reflects the principles of our shared Catholic faith. But the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that the Ryan budget failed a basic moral test, because it would harm families living in poverty.
We agree with our bishops, and that's why we went on the road: to stand with struggling families and to lift up our Catholic sisters who serve them. Their work to alleviate suffering would be seriously harmed by the Romney-Ryan budget, and that is wrong.
During our journey, I rediscovered a few truths. First, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are correct when they say that each individual should be responsible. But their budget goes astray in not acknowledging that we are responsible not only for ourselves and our immediate families. Rather, our faith strongly affirms that we are all responsible for one another. I am my sister's keeper. I am my brother's keeper.
The most obnoxious part of this speech was this dissident Catholic hailing Obamacare as the truly pro-life social program: "The Affordable Care Act will cover people like Margaret. We all share responsibility to ensure that this vital health care reform law is properly implemented and that all governors expand Medicaid coverage so no more Margarets die from lack of care. This is part of my pro-life stance and the right thing to do."
Or it came at the end, where the same Sister Simone who slammed the bishops of her church as being clueless males urged the nation to listen and not "yell at each other." Listen, and then slam your opponent for an "immoral budget" that attacks the poor:
She wishes they, and the rest of the nation, would listen to one another with kindness and compassion. Listen to one another rather than yell at each other. I told her then, and I tell her now, that she is not alone.
Looking out at you tonight, I feel your presence combined with that of the thousands of caring people we met on our journey. Together, we understand that an immoral budget that hurts already struggling families does not reflect our nation's values. We are better than that.
So I urge you to join us on the bus. Join us as together we stand with Matt and Mark, Billy and his family, the woman in Hershey and the Margarets of our nation.
This is what we nuns on the bus are all about: We care for the 100 percent, and that will secure the blessings of liberty for our nation. So join us as we nuns and all of us drive for faith, family and fairness.
