Prepare for Catholics for Obama Phone Calls

by Deal Hudson - September 28, 2012

The head of a pro-life committee at a parish I know just received a call from the Obama campaign. The caller asked for her daughter by name, and when she was not there then asked where she could be contacted. Her mother responded by telling the Obama supporter, "not to waste her time as my daughter is supporting the pro-life candidates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan."

When the caller hesitated and acted surprised, the mother, a staunch pro-life Catholic, said:

"My daughter is a practicing Catholic and would never cast a vote for a pro-abortion, pro-same sex marriage, pro-embryonic stem cell research, pro-euthanasia candidate who supported the HHS mandate that will take away religious freedoms from Catholic hospitals, Catholic charities, and Catholic institutions."

The Obama supporter then launched into her "canned response" and started reading from her call script: "Well, I am a practicing Catholic, and I strongly support President Obama." The mother then asked her if she was "familiar with the Pope's five "non-negotiable's."' The Obama supporter had no idea what she was talking about and explained that it was only the Pope's "opinion" to ban the use of contraception.

The Obama caller then went back to her script, asking these clever questions:

1. How can you support a "Mormon" who does not believe in Jesus Christ?

2. What to you think about the "Nuns on the Bus" who support Obama?

The mother replied, "How can you support a man who supports the killing of innocent pre-born children for all nine months?"

Then, she added, "How can you support a president who denigrates the Sacrament of Marriage by supporting same sex marriage which is against the teaching of the Church?"

The Catholic mother then concluded with, "How can you as a Catholic support a president who supports partial birth abortion and did not support the Born Alive Protection Act when he was a state senator in Illinois?"

Now, get this! The Obama supporter, again reading from her call script, countered, "President Obama did not support abortion."

As the chair of a pro-life committee, this Catholic woman was more than up to the task of correcting the caller. She asked her "to do some homework." For example, did she notice that as recently as the Democratic Convention "pro-abortion speakers and supporters of Planned Parenthood were the featured speakers?"

Then came the biggest whopper of all. The Obama supporter said, "Planned Parenthood helps children get health care and prenatal care and does not promote abortion."

Stunning, isn't it? The lies people are willing to tell…

The pro-life Catholic then asked the caller her name, but she would only reveal her first name, Cheryl, to a "crack pot." Rather than "losing her cool" at being addressed in such a manner, the mother continued to educate the Obama supporter about the things she was misrepresenting about Planned Parenthood and its abortion business; about abortion itself.

"Have you ever watched an abortion?" she asked the caller. The mother had been an RN and volunteered at a crisis pregnancy clinic. She suggested to the Catholic Obama supporter to "enlighten herself on the abortion procedure; that it was the slaughter of innocent children and not a penny of my tax money should support the killing of an innocent child."

As far as the "nuns on the bus" were concerned, she told the caller, "The Vatican is in the process of investigating their activities." As far as Mitt being a Mormon she said, "I support him."

Catholics across the nation should be prepared to receive these deceitful and dissembling phone calls. They should learn from this Catholic mother, this pro-life warrior and RN, to speak the truth, with charity, to those who are willing to tell lies in support of their favored political candidate.

These Catholics for Obama calls are coming your way – the scripts are written, their call centers are ready, and they are well-funded.

Deal W. Hudson is the director of the Morley Institute, and is the former publisher of CRISIS Magazine, a Catholic monthly published in Washington, DC. His articles and comments have been published in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, National Review, Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Village Voice, Roll Call, National Journal, The Economist, and by the Associated Press. He appears regularly on television shows such as NBC Nightly News, One-on One with John McLaughlin, C-Span's Washington Journal, News Talk, NET's Capitol Watch, The Beltway Boys, The Religion and Ethics Newsweekly on PBS, and radio programs such as "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio. He was associate professor of Philosophy at Fordham University from 1989 to 1995 and was a visiting professor at New York University for five years. He taught for nine years at Mercer University in Atlanta, where he was chair of the philosophy department. He has published many reviews and articles as well as four books: Understanding Maritain: Philosopher and Friend (Mercer, 1988); The Future of Thomism (Notre Dame, 1992); Sigrid Undset On Saints and Sinners (Ignatius, 1994); and Happiness and the Limits of Satisfaction (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996). His autobiography, An American Conversion (Crossroad, 2003), is available from Amazon.com.