Letter: Affirming life, not a party, is Catholic teaching

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 4:01 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

July 3 - 4, 2004

This is in regard to the column you printed on the June 28 Opinion Page by Dan K. Thomasson, headlined, "Churches should stay out of politics."

The Roman Catholic Church per se is not into politics. The church works only for the salvation of souls, not for political parties or politicians' agendas. For years the Catholic Church was identified by the public as being primarily Democrat but it wasn't; it supported many of the social programs of the Democrats because they conformed to its teachings. These specific teachings date back to the time of Moses and have not changed since God first revealed His will for mankind. Man is free to accept or reject God's will.

In our society some people think they are smarter than God and can improve on His will, an example being the convoluted thinking that concludes that abortion, embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia are "rights" and not murder. The C atholic Church adheres to all of God's laws and expects its members to do so if they want to call themselves Catholic. If people err in their ways, it is the obligation of the Church to try to bring them back to truth. If the church "went along" with secular humanistic thinking, then it would deny the truth and thereby deny God.

MARIE JONES