Letter: Catholicism and Democratic Party are compatible

Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004 | 8:54 a.m.

I would like to respond to the letter from Gary Bauman (Pro-lifer at odds with Democrats, Feb. 2). Mr. Bauman is a Catholic who agrees with Democrats on most everything but social issues like abortion and gay marriage. He feels that many people have left the Democratic party for the Republican party because of these issues.

Might I suggest that the Democratic Party is exactly the right place for people who feel as Mr. Bauman does, precisely because the party acknowledges and embraces the fact that we are a diverse nation of people with different religions, philosophies and cultures? Democrats are for freedom of religion. A pro-choice position is not a pro-abortion position. Pro-choice means you can be either for or against abortion according to your own conscience. Republicans, on the other hand, feel decisions of conscience should be made for you by the government.

The gay marriage issue is about equality under the law and does not infringe on any religious institution's teachings on the matter. You can support civil marriage for homosexuals as full, tax-paying citizens while supporting your church's position that, for Catholics, these marriages are immoral.

You can quite comfortably be a Democrat and a Catholic if you understand that equality under the law and religious freedom are completely compatible. In fact, you cannot truly have one without the other.

LIZ CRONKHITE