Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her Catholic faith and the urgency of a criminal justice reform

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

Christ came to me emblazoned on the upper arm of my beloved cousin Marc. The blue-black ink danced between the bullet scars and stretch marks that graced my cousin’s upper body. Atop this crown-of-thorns depiction was a tattooed banner with the phrase “Only God Can Judge Me.”....

Discussions of reforming our criminal justice system demand us to ask philosophical and moral questions. What should be the ultimate goal of sentencing and incarceration? Is it punishment? Rehabilitation? Forgiveness? For Catholics, these questions tie directly to the heart of our faith.

To read more:

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2018/06/27/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-her-catholic-faith-and-urgency-criminal

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the Democratic nominee in New York's 14th congressional district. Her opponent in November will be Republican Anthony Pappas. She is also a socialist, and a Catholic.

[lapfog_1]

1. let's not read too much into her victory

yes, she is very telegenic... and very well spoken. I like her.

But in reality she only got something like 16,000 voters to vote for her.

The real story should have been... why was turnout so LOW in this blue congressional district.

Not saying I wanted her to lose... I think the establishment took this district for granted AND there has been, over time, a distinct shift in the demographics...

But this isn't a signal ( yet ) to a seismic shift in the Democratic party.

But this is the year of the woman candidate and the next generation candidate. I think that played as important a role in her victory as her campaign platform.

Add the very low turnout...

[guillaumeb]

5. Turnout IS key.

As to a seismic shift, get back to me after November.

[edhopper]

21. She won because

the incumbent didn't take her seriously. He is part of the NY Dem Machine and didn't think he needed to work for it. Most New Yorkers don't pay attention to the primary and just assume the incumbent will be there in Nov. She was able to energize enough people to vote for her in the primary in a very low turn out.
The district is pretty diverse, parts of Queens and the Bronx.

[Bretton Garcia]

22. Also lots of left-leaning Bernie Sanders followers

Were looking for a similar candidate.

Might be good to have some leftists out there though. In spite of her religious side.

[edhopper]

24. I don't have a problem with her victory

I was never a big fan of Crowley.

[Mariana]

2. I'm not certain, but I believe her Republican opponent is Catholic, too.

Almost all politicians in the US are Christians of one flavor or another.

[trotsky]

4. Yes but you need to remember...

gil believes in a strawman atheist who thinks ALL Christians are right-wing fundies. So in his mind, he is defeating that imaginary atheist every time he posts about a liberal believer.

[Voltaire2]

9. And if need be the really awful christians

become Islamic, in a totally not Islamophobic way.

[trotsky]

12. I'm used to bad believers being called atheists.

So I guess that's an improvement?

[guillaumeb]

6. With such different views.

But November will tell the story.

[Mariana]

8. It's almost as if they come to their own conclusions

about their positions on various issues, independently of their religion. Only then do they go about finding some way to make their faith support their views.

[guillaumeb]

15. That is one way to see it.

In politics, we have 2 parties, both claiming allegiance to certain ideals, and arriving at very different conclusions as to what best supports those ideals.

[Mariana]

16. That's not a great analogy.

Few people are indoctrinated into a political party very early in life the same way people are usually indoctrinated into their family's religion. Most people choose their political affiliation, if any, as adolescents or adults.

It seems that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez simply ignores the more disgusting teachings of her particular faith. I wish more religious politicians would do the same.

[Voltaire2]

17. Actually political parties claim allegiance to

distinctly different ideals, ideals summarized in the ideology of the party. You might have done better with factions within political parties. As it stands your analogy is a failure.

[MineralMan]

3. I think her opponent, a Republican, is also a Catholic.

I'll bet he has a completely opposite position on criminal justice to hers. So, apparently, religious affiliation has nothing to do with that at all. Based only on religious affiliation, it's impossible to say what someone believes in secular areas. Wouldn't you agree?

[guillaumeb]

7. Of course. eom

[Voltaire2]

10. Oh I disagree.

Based on polling data you can make an informed guess that a random Christian person is likely to be a reliably Republican voter.

[MineralMan]

13. Depends on what brand of Christian, really.

Even which flavor of some brands. There are too many exceptions for me to make that assumption, actually. Tell me the denomination of Christianity a person adheres to, though, and the assumption can be more accurate.

[Voltaire2]

14. That's why I said "random Christian".

[Act_of_Reparation]

11. That's not entirely true.

Maybe not economics or foreign policy, but I think your religion can be very predictive of your positions on social issues. The most reliable predictor of whether or not someone holds homophobic political views is their religion. If you see someone gay-hating on the televisions or the YouTubes or a local street corner, odds are very strong they're religious. Even stronger that they're Christian.

[Cartoonist]

18. What is her stand on pro-choice?

The church will condemn her if she is not anti-abortion.

[Bretton Garcia]

23. Hopefully she is an insincere Catholic ... and a good leftist?

Last edited Mon Jul 2, 2018, 06:25 PM - Edit history (2)

[Lordquinton]

19. Why do theists seem so surprised when a liberal is a theist as well?

And then parading it around as if Jesus didn't say specifically not to do that?

You do know that the vast majority of people are religious of some sort, and that basically 100% of politicians are.

The need to shove someone's religion in the face of atheists shows not only a lack of compassion, but also an ignorance of political reality. Worst case they bought into the whole Godless Left meme pushed on the right.

[Mariana]

20. I think Jesus expected his followers to be noticed

for their behavior. It didn't work out that way, though, and Christians can and do behave any old way. If they didn't brag about their faith/wear crosses/pray ostentatiously/quote Bible verses/etc. how would anyone know they're Christians?