Catholics - prepare for the worst

[Neecy]

I just received an angry phone call from one of my sisters - she received a letter today with no return address, and when she opened it, the letter inside (which began with "Dear Fellow Catholic") was an ugly, vicious diatribe, equating John Kerry with an 'indefensible evil' and at the end, urging the recipient to vote for George Bush, Sam Brownback, and Kris Kobach for the 3rd Congressional District. It was signed by 40 members of her parish, and they obviously got her name and address from their church directory (which CLEARLY states the directory is not to be used for mailing list purposes).

She read me this letter - I'm going over to her house tomorrow to pick it up - and I can't even describe how vicious it was. She and her husband are both Democrats, and they're FURIOUS.

I told her that the Bush campaign has actually urged Catholics to misuse their directories in this manner, and this really pissed her off. She's calling her priest tomorrow to complain, but she's hestitating to call any of the 40 asshats who signed it to tell them to keep their trash out of her mailbox. I would have picked up the phone and not stopped until I'd called every damn one of them and raised hell.

It's sick - just sick - that Bush is attempting to divide Catholics like this. I'm sure we'll see this activity ramping up in the next week - prepare for it. The 'great uniter' is busy at work.

[kixot]

1. I hope the priest takes matters into his hands.

Give him the list and he should be able to contact each of the abusers to explain how this is not a function of the church.

[Gaffey Duck]

34. If he's a Bush-supporting priest...

He's probably using his hands to perform far more unsavoury acts on altar boys.

[IrishDemocrat]

2. "Voting guides"

They are another tool as well. Philadelphia had one where there were 5 non-compromisable positions. They of course all favored Bush. Nothing on the death penalty, the war in Iraq, or economic justice. I think Catholics true to their fatih should be questioning this rather than throwing their superficial garbage down our throats.

[phish420]

3. Sounds like your church is giving up its tax-exempt status

Time to find out where to report these activities. If they wanna play ball, let em. But the price is the loss of tax-exemption.

[Neecy]

4. well...

It isn't my church (thank god, excuse the pun). I'm sure they'll say it was a private activity on the part of the membership, but if the priest does nothing after she complains - and she suspects that he won't - then it's a different story.

[DURHAM D]

5. I gather she lives in Kansas. She should show it to her protestant

friends.

[Neecy]

7. heh...

In Kansas, protestants aren't exactly a liberal bunch. She is sending it to the political editor of the KC Star tomorrow, with a comment about the tactics of the Bush campaign interjecting themselves in an entirely inappropriate way in what used to be a close parish. She's very, very offended.

My other sister lives in Missouri, and she said that if that crap had been sent to her directory, people would show up at their houses with torches.

[Pirate Smile]

6. My Mom just had this happen tonight in the Kansas' 3rd District.

She got a telephone call (she is in Holy Spirit's parish in Overland Park, KS)that had a recording that said "I'm calling as a fellow Catholic and Catholics should not vote for" and she hung up. She wanted it to be a real person she could yell at them but it was a recording.

Do you think we should send this information to the Kerry campaign and let them know just in case they haven't already heard?

What Parish is your sister in?

[Neecy]

9. ask her -

To please listen next time, and see what the call says.

That's a fairly sophisticated operation, if they're using remote calling from Catholic directories. Ask her if her directory specifically prohibits using it in this fashion - most of them do.
Then ask her to complain to her priest - this is NOT right.

This letter came from the friendly freepers at St. Ann in Prairie Village.

I think we should definitely let the DNC and the Kerry campaign know what's happening. I'm also going to call Dennis Moore's office in the morning, and fax them a copy. They need to know what's happening on the ground, and respond.

[Chuck DiFimp]

18. we got the same letter

former parishioners at St. Ann's but no longer belong or live in the parish area, so they didn't get our address from official parish rolls. My guess is that someone involved with this letter used a recent parish directory to put together the mailing list. The last directory was published with our new address before we formally left the parish.

We also received the recorded phone message tonight. My wife answered but hung up a few seconds into the message.

[Neecy]

20. are you sure?

She started looking up the signatories in her current directory, and the first group on the list were all in there. They sound like current members.

It's odd that this is happening in the 3rd district. I think this has Kobach's fingerprints all over it - Bush is going to win Kansas anyway, so what would be the point? Still, it's the Bush campaign that encouraged this, and I hold them completely responsible.

[Chuck DiFimp]

33. let me clarify

What I'm saying is that my wife and I are former parishioners, no longer on the parish roll, but are still shown in the last parish directory at our new address. So I'm speculating that whoever put this mailer together got our name and address from the directory rather than from an official parish roll. If they had used current parishioner information provided by St. Ann's we would not have received the mailer.

[newyawker99]

32. Hi Chuck DiFimp!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[NAO]

8. Get a copy of that letter to the DNC and the Kerry Campaign ASAP

I'd take a copy to the local Democratic Party HQ and ask them to forward it up - but I'd still try to get it directly to Kerry's people and to the DNC.

A few other groups that should get a copy are the "Americans United for Separation of Church and State"

[NAO]

10. Project Fair Play - Stop Church Electioneering - Report a Violation

Project Fair Play - Stop Church Electioneering

http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_churchelectioneering

has a "report a violation" form.

Project Fair Play is a subproject of Americans United For Seperation of Church and State http://www.au.org/site/PageServer

[pimpbot]

11. please post the names

So we can all reply to them with our outrage.

[Neecy]

15. thank you

I'll forward the links to her.

[alcuno]

12. I hear the sound of engines backfiring.

First of all, according to polls, we're already divided politically. However, I come from a 100% Catholic family; no divorces, no inter-faith marriages, big families (one of my aunts had 9 children). The last thing anyone wants to hear is someone telling us how Catholics should vote; that includes the clergy.

We're Catholic because we are born into it, not because we choose it, and we're not particularily fond of the "holy-rollers." My dad is still reluctant to hold anyone's hand for that 30 second period at mass because it's a little too pushy for him. Having someone tell him how to vote would go over like a big fat lead balloon.

[hlthe2b]

13. She should direct her complaint verbally and in writing to the archdiocese

AND the media, IMO....

[deadparrot]

14. Our archbishop told me I'm going to hell because I'm voting Kerry.

Screw 'em. Bush kicked off his campaign in 2000 at Bob Jones University, an extremely anti-Catholic institution.

Any Catholic who truly believes that Bush is on their side is crazy--the man is a fundie whackjob.

[tigereye]

16. this kind of thinking is incredibly offensive to me

as someone who was raised Catholic back when Catholicism stood for compassion and social justice, not for proscribed medieval thinking.

[deadparrot]

19. Abortion is the end all, be all for many Catholics.

It irritates me, how these people are so blind.

[JohnKleeb]

27. I know

The republicans despite agreeing with the church's pro life views have nothing in common with Catholics and the Catholic identity, yep Bush kicked off the 2000 campaign at Bob Jones which is very bigoted towards Catholics and anyone who's not a WASP.

[missouri dem]

17. From what I've seen of Kris Kobach , I bet he is behind this.

Right wing whacko that would stop at nothing to win.

[AP]

21. this MUST be discussed at church the next two Sundays.

Your sister should demand time to address the congregation and read the passage "render onto Ceasar what is Caesars..." and argue about why this is so wrong, and be sure to refer to Kerry as a "fellow Catholic."

[jean]

22. factcheck.org is asking for us to send them info on this kind of garbage

I think they might want the actual piece of mail - ck it out at

http://www.factcheck.org/miscreports290.html

[Kat45]

23. Catholicsforkerry04.org explains why Catholics should vote for Kerry

Good group/site/information to address Catholics.

[Neecy]

24. thank you

That's an excellent site, I have it bookmarked.

I think that dividing the Catholic vote has been their ace in the hole all along, and you can see them ramping up the hysteria. The nut from the Catholic League has been all over the airwaves this week, and he's a disgrace and an embarrasment, screaming and carrying on. Now it's getting worse, with the intrusive activities carried out directly upon the parishes.

[JPJones]

25. Post a scan of the letter here on DU.

We'll make sure it gets to the right people.

[Neecy]

26. will do

I'm going over to pick it up in about an hour, so I'll post the text as soon as I have it.

[MidwestMomma]

28. Contact Rep. Dennis Moore's office and let them know also

That's who Kobach is running against.

Contact info from Moore's website:

Campaign office:

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
7349 Quivira Rd.
Shawnee KS, 66216

E-mail: [e-mail]
Mailing Address: Post Office Box 14631
Shawnee Mission, KS 66285-4631

You also might want to post a link to this thread in the Kansas forum.

I'm going to check with with other Catholics in Moore's district in different parishes and see if they've gotten anything similar. Sounds like so far this is St Anns parish.

Thanks

[Neecy]

30. yep

I'm calling Moore's campaign office after I get the letter.

A poster above mentions that her mom from Holy Spirit's parish has gotten one of the phone calls, although we're not sure yet who the automated call was canvassing for. I'm guessing it's not a Democrat :)

On edit: I just spoke with Dennis Moore's finance manager, and he's aware of this - they've been getting calls about the politicking that's been stirred up in the parishes. He hasn't seen any of it, though, so he asked me to fax the letter, which I'm about to do.

I'm a little annoyed, though - he said that at this late date, there isn't much they can do...they can't accuse Kobach of breaking the law. I said that what Dennis needs to do is address the issues head-on that these things are raising. My sister is a Democrat and will vote for him anyway, but it could make a difference with undecided voters who got this trash.

[liberal N proud]

29. If the church gave the repukes their directories they are in violation of

Federal Tax laws.

[Neecy]

31. the problem is...

The Bush campaign isn't asking the church for the directories, they're asking their Republican members to send them in.

They've clearly already broken their promise that the directories would only be used for voter registration drives. Here's the story:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-07-22-gop-catholics_x.htm

[IronLionZion]

35. Yep, I get those too

But they always tell me to support pro-choice Republicans and are against pro-life Democrats. As a matter of fact, they support all Republicans and are against all Democrats.