Nancy is plain

Let's give credit where credit is due.

It is refreshing to see someone tell it like it is.

This is where a lot of Catholics find themselves.

They may still go to church, or then again they may not.

They know that there's a controversy regarding abortion, but are unaware of the specifics.

They have even heard that they're not supposed to use birth control, but think it may be one of those out-dated ideas, like Confession.

And here, thanks to Nancy Pelosi's sharp insight, is the crux of the matter... "To me it isn’t even a question.". If you think it's OK, it's OK. If you think it is not OK, it's not OK. I'm OK, you're OK. OK OK.

It simply does not matter. Unless you are an activist or a fanatic.

I am more and more thinking that "women's rights" are just a sloppy phrase that means it simply does not matter. And because it doesn't matter, leave it alone.

If I am right, that pro-choice catholics like Pelosi really mean that abortion doesn't matter, when instead they automaticlly say "a woman's right", then things get easier to understand.

No amount of Church teaching has an effect because the Church is talking about something that does not matter. To folks like Pelosi, only fanatics would make such a big deal about abortion.

What else can we deduce? That the Church itself does not matter. It's somewhere to go on Sunday maybe. It's something to mention as a part of one's 'background'.

Now the Church is a very big thing with a lot of volume. Its members under this big roof are at all different places on the journey. Some people are Saints, and most are not.

Of course we will find people there like Pelosi. Let's not be surprised, and let's not think it a scandal. In some ways it is like the crowds that followed Jesus. Some were bound to walk away, and some stayed a little longer to hear Him more, and some became his followers.

The controversy is very good. It makes catholics like Pelosi admit that abortion really doesn't matter. And when we know this, we know what we are dealing with, and a little about where they stand on their journey in the crowd.

So what should we do about their standing under the Church's roof. I think wise teachers might say to let them continue to stand there where they can hear the Word of God and change their minds about what really does matter.

link

NEWSWEEK spoke to Nancy Pelosi, who is likely to become Speaker of the House if the Dems win, and Steny Hoyer, who is in line to become majority leader, to get some answers. Excerpts:

NANCY PELOSI

Clift: I think the issues that brought you into politics were the environment and also choice. [You had] five children in six years, a Catholic background…Was embracing choice an issue with your family?

Pelosi: To me it isn’t even a question. God has given us a free will.

We’re all responsible for our actions. If you don’t want an abortion, you don’t believe in it, [then] don’t have one.

But don’t tell somebody else what they can do in terms of honoring their responsibilities.

My family is very pro-life. They’re not fanatics and they’re not activists. I think they’d like it if I were not so vocally pro-choice.