As I have pointed out in Part Thirteen, Part Twenty-three,  Part Twenty-nine and Part Thirty of this series, Mr. Cella is closely linked to Catholic Right sugar-daddy Tom Monaghan. Monaghan, in turn, is a member of Senator Brownback's presidential exploratory committee. All these folks share the common agenda of establishing Chrristian unity based upon neo-orthodox Catholic principles.

There is cause for concern. As Fred Clarkson recently pointed out, Thompson is on record demonizing federal judges as well as misinterpretting church/state separation as being a one-way street that only protects churches from state interference. Brownback, as I reported not only has ties to the authoritarian Opus Dei but is also a member of The Fellowship, two socially-minded conservative groups that share a penchant for secrecy. Paraphrasing Fred Clarkson's recent observation, we can not only see lots of red flags fluttering in the breezes of Thompson's rhetoric but by his actions.

But there well may be opportunity here for the mainstream religious. If my hunch is right, then the Religious Right is telling us they think they need the neo-orthodox Catholic Right to win elections. But as I pointed out recently they don't have the numbers.

The influence of the neo-orthodox Catholic Right is based largely upon the illusion that they speak for most American Catholics. Poll-after-poll on issues such as birth control, stem cell research and married clergy show however -- that nothing could be further from the truth. But when mainstream Catholics stand-up and collectively say "enough," we will no longer have to worry about the possibility of a Thompson-Brownback administration -- or even an influential Religious Right.

The Catholic Right: A Series, by Frank L. Cocozzelli :




Part One  Part Two  Part Three   Part Four  Part Five  Part Six   Intermezzo   Part Eight   Part Nine  Part Ten   Part Eleven   Part Twelve   Part Thirteen   Part Fourteen   Second Intermezzo   Part Sixteen   Part Seventeen   Part Eighteen   Part Eighteen   Part Nineteen   Part Twenty   Part Twenty-one   Part Twenty-two   Part Twenty-three   Part Twenty-four   Part Twenty-five   Part Twenty-six   Part Twenty-seven   Part Twenty-eight   Part Twenty-nine   Part Thirty   Part Thirty-one   Part Thirty-two   Part Thirty-three
  Part Thirty-four