The silence of the shepherds
Voters say "No" to Proposition 73 and I am angry.
In my Mexican barrio where my polling station is located, the turnout was incredibly strong. All across Cardinal Mahony's archdiocese, millions of Latinos -- even viejitas [little old ladies] who pray their Rosary to the Virgencita every day -- cast their votes against Prop. 73.
Most of my people do not even know what they are voting for (and I suppose that's true for large segments of other groupings of people). They watch lots of Spanish language TV which is sleazy, pro-abortion and politically ultra liberal, and they vote accordingly.
Do I blame them? Not really. I blame the bishops and priests of the Church for failing to teach their people.
Most of my neighbors had no idea what Prop. 73 was really about. They obviously swallowed in big chunks the propaganda they had heard from the Spanish media.
There was little or no mention of the "Parental Notification" ballot measure in the several parishes in my part of town. And even in those parishes where it was mentioned, support for it was, at best, anemic.
I know the Conference of California Bishops and even Cardinal Mahony "endorsed" Proposition 73. But when it comes to saving young girls and unborn children from the scourge of abortion, "endorse" is not a very generous word.
In the crucial month before yesterday's election, where was the spiritual leader of the millions of Catholics in Los Angeles who could have easily and overwhelmingly approved Proposition 73 had Mahony done his job?
He was in China cavorting with his newfound friends in the communist government sponsored Patriotic Church.
The blame for the defeat of Proposition 73 should be laid at the feet of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and shepherds like him for failing to preach the Gospel of Life to the people entrusted to their care.
Read more about the "silence of the shepherds" HERE, HERE and HERE.
In my Mexican barrio where my polling station is located, the turnout was incredibly strong. All across Cardinal Mahony's archdiocese, millions of Latinos -- even viejitas [little old ladies] who pray their Rosary to the Virgencita every day -- cast their votes against Prop. 73.
Most of my people do not even know what they are voting for (and I suppose that's true for large segments of other groupings of people). They watch lots of Spanish language TV which is sleazy, pro-abortion and politically ultra liberal, and they vote accordingly.
Do I blame them? Not really. I blame the bishops and priests of the Church for failing to teach their people.
Most of my neighbors had no idea what Prop. 73 was really about. They obviously swallowed in big chunks the propaganda they had heard from the Spanish media.
There was little or no mention of the "Parental Notification" ballot measure in the several parishes in my part of town. And even in those parishes where it was mentioned, support for it was, at best, anemic.
I know the Conference of California Bishops and even Cardinal Mahony "endorsed" Proposition 73. But when it comes to saving young girls and unborn children from the scourge of abortion, "endorse" is not a very generous word.
In the crucial month before yesterday's election, where was the spiritual leader of the millions of Catholics in Los Angeles who could have easily and overwhelmingly approved Proposition 73 had Mahony done his job?
He was in China cavorting with his newfound friends in the communist government sponsored Patriotic Church.
The blame for the defeat of Proposition 73 should be laid at the feet of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and shepherds like him for failing to preach the Gospel of Life to the people entrusted to their care.
Read more about the "silence of the shepherds" HERE, HERE and HERE.
posted by Quintero at 9:18 AM
11 Comments:
I agree with you about the failure of certain hierarchs in preaching the Gospel of Life. But it wasn't Latinos who were responsible for the failure of Prop. 73.
Look at Imperial County, which has a very high proportion of Latino residents, and tends to vote Democrat. Prop. 73 got a 68% "yes" vote there. 68% "yes" in Tulare County, as well.
Look, on the other hand, at San Luis Obispo County. Not many Latinos there, and supposedly moderately conservative. Yet Prop. 73 failed there.
b knotts-
Thanks for your post. Your points are well taken.
I think what I wanted to say was that given the huge Catholic composition of L.A. and L.A. County -- giant portions of which are Hispanic -- there is absolutely no excuse for an initiative like Prop. 73 to go down.
Mahony didn't care enough or do enough. In fact, he has hurt the prolife cause by blessing pro-abort politicians both living (e.g., Villaraigosa, Wardlaw) and dead (e.g.,Roybal, Contreras).
An uninformed electorate sees this and gets confused.
I blame Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and I pray that Pope Benedict XVI does something to remedy the situation in L.A. before too long.
I am not realy suprised this didn't pass. However it doesn't really upset me anymore than usual. It seemed like a bandaid on a bursting damn to me. The problem isn't that 13 year old girls are going out and getting abortions without telling their parents, its that they are having sex. Parents should know the intimate details of their childrens lives from the moment they wake up till the moment they rest their heads at night. Packing a lunch in the morning and making dinner at night just aint gonna cut it.
Quintero,
Unfortunately, you and I both know that given the Holy Father's concern for collegiality, nothing is likely to happen in that regard, unless and until enough damaging information comes out about the L.A. component of The Scandal, which implicates His Eminence in any kind of malfeasance, to justify his removal.
I think people are uninformed and easily led. A couple of weeks ago, a woman from the local liberal Episcopal church (All Saints in Pasadena) was coming around door-to-door handing out literature about the election. When she started in about Prop. 73, I said was pro-life and for Prop. 73. She then launched into this speech about how she was a teacher and worked in inner city schools, yada, yada, yada, and that we need to have free access to abortions for the all the children who couldn't talk to their parents because they live in abusive households. According to her, many of these girls are impregnated by relatives (fathers, brothers, etc.), and we have to "protect them." This is a very sly argument that most people fall for. Hmm. I wonder if, when one of these children comes to Planned Parenthood or whoever gives them an abortion, they will report the sexual abuse in the household to the authorities. Probably not.
Good blog, I just found it today. The horrors that are found in the LA diocese are terrible, especially considering the possiblities it holds for spreading the Faith. With the tradition of faith in Latino communities, the seminaries should be overflowing, not shuttering their windows and closing doors. It just goes to show the damage that "modernism" and "tolerance" can do the Church.
No, not "non-thinkng non-humans." They may be intellectually dishonest, they may be misled, they may actively engage in actions that they know are wicked, but they are still human beings made in the image and likeness of God and as Catholics we are obligated to love them and treat them with charity and respect - which does not mean agreement with them or a relativistic stance.
Pax+
Prop 73 should have been about parental permission, not parental notification with no power to stop the abotion. It was a sidestep, not a step forward. I'm not crying over its defeat.
Maybe next time we can have a proposition with real teeth and we won't have Arnold Schwarzenegger motivating his opponents to get to the polls to stop a blatant power grab.
California is inhabited, for the most part, by non-thinking non-humans
Looking at the results, one would not come to this conclusion. For liberal proposition 80, Electric Regulation, the entire state overwhelmingly rejected. The only county voting for it was San Francisco, and that by a small margin. All other typically liberal coastal counties voted it down by wide margins. For Republican proposition 76, Spending/Funding, the largely conservative central valley area voted against it.
The results in this election do not show lock-step block voting on a county by county basis, with one exception. Only Orange County voted consistently the way you would expect it to vote.
The results don't show non-thinking this time around.
Skeetor! You hit the nail on the head!!
The problem isn't that 13 year old girls are going out and getting abortions without telling their parents, its that they are having sex. Parents should know the intimate details of their childrens lives from the moment they wake up till the moment they rest their heads at night.
Who, in their right mind, would vote for NOT knowing about their children's abortion?
People can NOT have understood this proposition. Or else the people who voted in the state of California in this past election are amoral.
I think your information on the Cardinals schedule probably speaks a lot about how much time is spent in his office of Apostle.
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