Republican denied communion for supporting Obama

If there is ever a reason why religion should stay out of politics, this example clearly defines it. From The Washington Post:

Word spread like wildfire in Catholic circles: Douglas Kmiec, a staunch Republican, firm foe of abortion and veteran of the Reagan Justice Department, had been denied Communion.

His sin? Kmiec, a Catholic who can cite papal pronouncements with the facility of a theological scholar, shocked old friends and adversaries alike earlier this year by endorsing Barack Obama for president. For at least one priest, Kmiec's support for a pro-choice politician made him a willing participant in a grave moral evil.

Kmiec was denied Communion in April at a Mass for a group of Catholic business people he later addressed at dinner. The episode has not received wide attention outside the Catholic world, but it is the opening shot in an argument that could have a large impact on this year's presidential campaign: Is it legitimate for bishops and priests to deny Communion to those supporting candidates who favor abortion rights?

This is a disturbing question to enter into because the Church is using its power to deny religious services to individuals simply on the matter of political views. This issue was already brought out in 2004, when the Catholic Church was questioning whether to deny Communion to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry because of Kerry's pro-choice positions. If you thought 2004 was bad, the issue with Kmiec is even worst:

The Kmiec incident poses the question in an extreme form: He is not a public official but a voter expressing a preference. Moreover, Kmiec -- a law professor at Pepperdine University and once dean of Catholic University's law school -- is a long-standing critic of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision.

Kmiec, who was head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in the late 1980s, is supporting Obama despite the candidate's position on abortion, not because of it, partly in the hope that Obama's emphasis on personal responsibility in sexual matters might change the nature of the nation's argument on life issues.

This is just outrageous! The Catholic Church denied Kmiec Communion because Kmiec expressed a preference of one political candidate that the Catholic Church opposes! This is not a public official running for office, but a voter expressing a preference! And the Catholic Church has denied Kmiec religious services on the basis of Kmiec's voting preference. Is this the new prerequisites for applying to a church--not only must you vote for the church's political ideology, but the church can now punish you if your voter preferences are out of line with the church?

I can accept churches providing spiritual guidance, moral advice, or even giving the Word of God to their followers--regardless of whatever denomination they are. But when a religious organization--a church--demands that its members must vote according to a particular political platform, or threatens punishment upon its members for considering views that the church opposes, then I don't consider such a church as a religious organization--it has become a political organization expressing a political ideology, or particular political candidates. It should be treated as a political organization--especially with the removal of their religious tax-exempt status.

I'm starting to wonder if this is another test case to see just how far the Catholic Church can force their members to vote according to the Church's political positions. Because the Catholic Church has made this threat before:

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City has played an indirect role in the 2008 campaign by calling on Kathleen Sebelius, the popular Democratic governor of Kansas who has been mentioned as a possible Obama running mate, to stop taking Communion because of her "actions in support of legalized abortion."

But because Kmiec is a private citizen and has such a long history of embracing Catholic teaching on abortion, denying him Communion for political reasons may spark an even greater outcry inside the church.

Kmiec says he is grateful because the episode reminded him of the importance of the Eucharist in his spiritual life, and because he hopes it will alert others to the dangers of "using Communion as a weapon."

The Catholic Church needs to be stopped from engaging in this atrocious behavior.