Sister Mary Ann Walsh is Director of Media Relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh is also a perfect example of everything wrong with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh has written an op-ed for the WaPo’s On Faith blog calling for the criminalization of any instrument that resembles forceps and needles, because they are like the instruments used in abortion. Cause that is the Catholic view.
Oh, I am sorry. I got that wrong. She wants to ban anything that resembles scary weapons cause they are just like forceps and needles, because they are like the instruments used in abortion.
No seriously.
Sister Mary Ann Walsh compares the support of a liberty destroying dubious policy imitative that will not save one life to the horror of abortion which kills millions of unborn children every year.
And…and, if you don’t support this liberty destroying dubious policy imitative you are not really pro-life.
The injustice of taking innocent life lies at the heart of the church’s pro-life position. There is no question about the innocence of pre-born children. And Americans are becoming more and more uneasy as we learn of people on death row eventually found innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. And surely, after the gunning down of primary grade children in Newtown, Connecticut, it is clear assault weapons stand out dramatically as a threat to innocent life.
The U.S. bishops now call on people to support federal legislation to require background checks for all gun purchases, to limit civilian access to high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines and to make gun trafficking a federal crime. The bishops also want a ban on assault weapons.
…
A pro-life stance is a noble one. Sadly it must confront the ignoble reality of abortion, the death penalty, and another threat to peace and human life, the preponderance of assault weapons.
Frankly I am sickened by Sister’s moral equivalence between the wanton destruction of innocent human life in abortion to the need to ban some cosmetic features on otherwise legal and normal firearms.
Whatever your position on gun control, this seamless garment approach minimizes the calamity of abortion and is destructive to the pro–life cause. Abortion is an intrinsic moral evil in all circumstances. Guns, even some scary looking guns, are not.
Are guns sometimes used to commit horrible crimes? Absolutely. Guess what, so are forceps and needles. Those forceps and needles actually kill people on an order of magnitude higher than all gun murders, so is Sister proposing banning them? No. Of course not. Because forceps and needles are just tools, tools that sometimes are used to save life or take life. But they are just tools.
I think the Bishops are wrong for supporting such legislation, but it is there prerogative to foolishly weigh in on such topics, even if out of their competency.
But either way, it is morally repugnant to draw a parallel between a particular policy initiative of dubious value and the intrinsic evil of abortion.
April 4, 2013 at 5:32 am
I could not agree more, Mr Archbold. As far as I know there is no prohibition of guns in either God's law or Church law. Personally, I am much more interested in the scandal and sacreledge caused by the refusal of bishops to enforce Canon 915.
April 4, 2013 at 6:17 am
The death penalty, the temporal punishment for capital one murder has been banned in some states leaving the victim dead without recourse to the virtue of Justice. Some capital one murderers deserve capital punishment, if only to prevent them from murdering some of the people in prison, doctors, nurses, contractors and the warden.
April 4, 2013 at 8:43 am
This is what happens when propaganda replaces serious thought. I don't support abortion on demand but let's be honest: The term "pro-life," like it's cousin, "pro-choice," isn't designed to generate thought but to stimulate an emotional reaction that activists on both sides can manipulate for their own agendas.
April 4, 2013 at 9:10 am
They are speaking the language of the secular, relativist, tyrannical elite in an effort to be accepted by them. They are playing their part in their master's game – and it is not the Divine Master. Trying to please and appease, they are losing their moral bearings. This is an example of the Church of America. There is no moral leadership from the majority of Catholic Bishops around the world who ate responsible for many souls going astray. And all the while they laugh and say there is no crisis in the Church.
April 4, 2013 at 11:34 am
"Each instrument may have a purpose some time, somewhere, but as used above, each reflects brutality in our society.
The Catholic Church opposes use of all three instruments to take a life."
I think you mis-read her statement. Only saying that the Church opposes their USE in abortion and death penalty, not banning them. I did not see any mention of banning them in her article.
April 4, 2013 at 12:48 pm
Despite what happened at Newtown, which everyone in the world can agree was a horrible crime, rifles are hardly ever used to kill people. Look at hte statistics. More people are killed every year by other people's BARE HANDS than by all kinds of rifles combined.
This stuff makes me angry. We have many thousands of gun murders every year, almost all of them by handguns, a large proportion of them to do with drugs and crimes, a large proportion of them young minority men. No one seems to care a bit about them, or all the people caught in the crossfire. Then some white children are killed by a madman and it's an emergency that requires us to — what? Control rifles, guns, and ammunition for all law-abiding people in the entire country, which wil do absolutely nothing about the people who are in the most danger from guns. Get a grip. How many people die by guns in Chicago every week? Why doesn't anyone care about them? Why isn't anyone leaping to do something about THAT?
April 4, 2013 at 1:53 pm
File this in the ever expanding "The Church cannot be forced to fit nicely with either liberalism or conservatism" file. Whatever our opinions on gun control are, we should be happy to see our Church continuing to flaunt our political categories. The Church has, paradoxically, been a proponent for "gun control" since before there were even guns, seeking to ban the crossbow in the Middle Ages, the Medieval equivalent of today's assault rifles. Was the ban effective? Of course not, but neither will be our stand against gay "marriage." Luckily, mother Church takes her stands based on moral truth, not some kind of pragmatic moral calculus. God Bless.
April 4, 2013 at 1:57 pm
Agree with article. I'm very disappointed with the USCCB. Gun control is really none of their business. They should be speaking out strongly and frequently against homosexuals being allowed to marry. That's the battle we are losing.
April 4, 2013 at 2:46 pm
"The Church has, paradoxically, been a proponent for "gun control" since before there were even guns, seeking to ban the crossbow in the Middle Ages, the Medieval equivalent of today's assault rifles. Was the ban effective? Of course not, but neither will be our stand against gay "marriage." Luckily, mother Church takes her stands based on moral truth, not some kind of pragmatic moral calculus. God Bless."
Honestly, I don't wonder if this position isn't a hold-over from the Middle Ages to begin with. It is all well and good to oppose people having weapons in the time of Christian Kings and rulers that were at least somewhat beholden to the Church. But I would think the examples we have in the last century of completely amoral governments, that could not care less about the opinion of the Church, mowing down those who are inconvenient would at least give them pause before they advocate taking away our ability to defend ourselves.
April 4, 2013 at 2:47 pm
Should say I *do* wonder. Auto-correct fails me,yet again.
April 4, 2013 at 2:59 pm
Brian,
Really?
The title of the piece is "Catholic bishops: It’s pro-life to ban assault weapons"
And they she says " The bishops also want a ban on assault weapons."
What were you reading?
April 4, 2013 at 4:19 pm
This is disgusting. To have sound laws that protect the lives of elementary school children does not contradict Church law. Even a majority of members of the NRA favor background checks. Why should a person with a history of violence be allowed to by an assault weapon at a gun show? How does that promote respect life morals? The laws of God do not guarantee an individual's right to have assault weapons when that decreases others' right to life. Unfortunately, some American catholics would rather follow partisan talking points over the UNIVERSAL sensus fidei.
April 4, 2013 at 4:21 pm
@Nathan
The canon "banning" crossbows did no such thing. It was a cannon forbidding their use in war by mercenaries against Christian armies.
Traditional Church teaching is silent on the ownership of Firearms.
April 4, 2013 at 4:23 pm
@Anonymous
A majority of NRA members do not favor Universal Background checks, they favor the background system we already have in place called NICS and does what it is supposed to do in preventing felons from obtaining Guns.
April 4, 2013 at 4:53 pm
This looks like the contamination of the Bishops' moral authority with the seamless garment where anything can be conflated because I felt like it. Yuchi! Bishops, please fight against things that are moral evils like redefining marriage. If there is a problem in your diocese, lead from the front there, Cardinal George!
April 4, 2013 at 6:39 pm
Sr. Mary Ann Walsh ought to have come out for the Ten Commandments being intalled in the public square if she wants to reduce murder. Disarming the moral man, Sister is lending her support to the immoral man.
April 4, 2013 at 7:06 pm
How timely. This came out yesterday. The American Catholic Church indeed.
http://youtu.be/LRZQ399Ynj4
April 4, 2013 at 7:10 pm
Personally, I would not mind if the USCCB were disbanded. Many times this group or their spokespersons have been in error or have been an embarrassment or even given scandal.
When bishops care all about light bulbs or concern themselves over much with secular issues (often with no expertise) and fail to teach the truths of the faith or wimp out on pertinent issues or fail to keep the salvation os souls as first priority, the world notices and scoffs and it all serves to decrease what moral authority some still have.
April 4, 2013 at 7:15 pm
Agree.
April 4, 2013 at 7:34 pm
Although the bishops are supposed to lead their flocks, it is not incumbent upon us to follow when they go off the reservation. This latest case is yet another example of a "social justice" misapplication trying to contravene actual Church teaching. They should be ashamed.
April 4, 2013 at 8:14 pm
As stated above:
"Personally, I would not mind if the USCCB were disbanded. Many times this group or their spokespersons have been in error or have been an embarrassment or even given scandal.
When bishops care all about light bulbs or concern themselves over much with secular issues (often with no expertise) and fail to teach the truths of the faith or wimp out on pertinent issues or fail to keep the salvation of souls as first priority, the world notices and scoffs and it all serves to decrease what moral authority some still have."
Unfortunately I agree. Since it's unlikely the USCCB will disband, I'd settle for immediate termination of it's entire support staff. IMO that's where a lot of the problem resides.