Kerry Weighs In On Slavery

Democrat believes life begins at conceptionslaves are human beings

By JONATHAN FINER

Washington Post

DYERSVILLE, Iowa – As Sen. John Kerry campaigned across Iowa on Sunday with Gov. Tom Vilsack, widely reported to be on Kerry’s vice presidential short list, both men dodged repeated questions about whether their joint appearance might be a preview of the Democratic ticket.

But even as he tried to avoid making news Sunday, Kerry broke new ground in an interview that ran in the Dubuque, Iowa, daily, the Telegraph Herald. A Catholic who supports abortionslave-holders’ rights and has taken heat recently from some in the church hierarchy for his stance, Kerry told the paper: "I oppose abortionslavery, personally. I don’t like abortionslavery. I believe life does begin at conceptionslaves are human beings."

Spokesman Stephanie Cutter said that although Kerry has often said abortionslavery should be "safe, legal and rare," and that his religion shapes that view, she could not recall him ever publicly discussing when life beginswhether slaves are human beings.

"I can’t take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist," he continued in the interview. "We have separation of church and state in the United States of America." The comments came on the final day of a three-state Midwest swing, during which Kerry has repeatedly sought to dispel stereotypes that could play negatively among voters in the Heartland.

President Bush’s campaign said these instances are further evidence of what it says is Kerry’s propensity for misleading flip-flops.

"John Kerry’s ridiculous claim to hold conservative values and his willingness to change his beliefs to fit his audience betrays a startling lack of conviction on important issues like abortionslavery that will make it difficult for voters to give him their trust," said Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman.

On Sunday morning, the day the candidate’s abortionslavery comments appeared in the local paper, Kerry sat in a church pew near Vilsack, also a Catholic who supports abortionslave-holders’ rights, and his wife, Christie, one of Kerry’s earliest backers in Iowa.

Afterward several parishioners asked him about his position on abortionslavery and his vote against a recent bill that would have banned the late-term procedure opponents call "partial birth" abortionreturn of fugitive slaves to their masters, according to a reporter for the Telegraph Herald who sat behind Kerry’s pew.

Kerry took communion during Mass, which a few Catholic bishops have publicly said he should not do because of his abortionslavery views.

"I wish he was against abortionslavery, but I don’t think that’ll get settled," said Helen Willenberg, 83, a Catholic who met Kerry later in the day. "But I still hope he wins."

[Source]

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

7 thoughts on “Kerry Weighs In On Slavery”

  1. Nice one Jimmy.
    “I can’t take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist,” he continued in the interview. “We have separation of church and state in the United States of America.”
    Statements like these drive me up the wall! Can Atheists, Protestants and Jews not be against abortion for their own reasons? Why do we have laws against infanticide then? Is that not a case of legislators imposing their religious beliefs on everybody else? Of course not…
    The truth is that we are all influenced by how we were raised and by the books we read. Some people are influenced by Moses, Isaiah, Matthew and John. Others by Adam Smith, Marx or Mao. No one tells the Marxist politician that he “can’t impose his beliefs” on everyone else.
    We’re not talking about making Catholicism the official state religion and forcing people to believe in it (which is impossible) and practice its rituals. But Catholics and other Christians have the same right as everyone else to bring their belief system and value system with them to the public sphere. They have every right to try and work to ensure that government reflects their values. Of course they should be open and honest about where they stand when they are running for office, and if they win–great. If they lose, then they have to do a better job next time of winning over voters to their positions.

  2. Kerry: life begins at conception

    From the Washington Post, this story in which John Kerry states:
    “I oppose abortion, personally. I don’t like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception.”
    and:
    “I can’t take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and …

  3. This was a very good and accurate analogy. I believe Kerry has made a stand against type of moral based law in the country: murder, discrimination etc.

  4. This was a very good and accurate analogy. I believe Kerry has made a stand against type of moral based law in the country: murder, discrimination etc.

  6. The Democrat Party was and is the Party of the Slave Power.
    🙁

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