- BARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY reporting
In 1960, John F. Kennedy set out to break a historic barrier by becoming the first Catholic in the White House. He won the backing of eight out of 10 Catholics, but he also had a problem, Protestants. Scott Appleby, a historian at Notre Dame, says Kennedy knew he could not win the presidency if Americans thought he was a tool of the Vatican.
Professor SCOTT APPLEBY (Notre Dame): So he made it very clear in this famous speech in Houston that he would not be taking orders from the pope.
(Soundbite of speech)
Mr. JOHN F. KENNEDY (Presidential Candidate): I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me. Whatever issue may come before me as president, if I should be elected, on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject, I will make my decision in accordance with these views.
Prof. APPLEBY: So he was the first Catholic president prominent, attractive, intellectually very sharp, who made a clear distinction between his faith as a private matter and his role in public office.
HAGERTY: Scott Appleby.
Prof. APPLEBY: And that was very important in setting a precedent for Catholic politicians in the United States from Kennedy to John Kerry.
HAGERTY: Kennedy's challenge was to persuade voters that a Catholic could be a good presidential candidate. John Kerry's challenge is to persuade voters that this presidential candidate is a good Catholic.
Why? Where is there any evidence that Kerry needs to convince voters (and, not just Catholic voters), that he is a "good Catholic?" as defined by Hagerty. As for abortion, most Americans are pro-Choice, so presumably Kerry should demonstrate that he's a "bad Catholic" in order to get their votes.
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Kerry is reported to go to Mass regularly. He has been married twice, but his first marriage was annulled by the church in 1997 at the insistence of his then fiancee, Teresa Heinz, herself a devout Catholic whose first husband, Republican Senator John Heinz, died in a plane crash. Kerry rarely speaks about his faith, an exception being a recent candidate debate sponsored by CBS.
(Soundbite of debate)
Senator JOHN KERRY (Democratic Presidential Candidate): I believe in God, and I believe in the power of redemption and the capacity of individual human beings to be able to make a difference because, as President Kennedy said, here on Earth, God's work must truly be our own.
HAGERTY: Kerry's work is cut out for him with Catholic voters. John Kenneth White, a political scientist at Catholic University, says in the 1960s as more Catholics moved into the middle class, many became more conservative. By the Reagan years, only 46 percent of Catholics identified themselves as Democrats, down from 82 percent in 1960. Since then, White has seen a new type of divide, a values divide.
Mr. JOHN KENNETH WHITE (Catholic University): The basic division in American politics today is between those that, on the one side, believe in absolute truth, that there is a universal sense of right and wrong. On the other side of the divide, these folks like their morality roots small, meaning that my morality is for me but not necessarily for you.
HAGERTY: Those Catholics who hold to absolute truth follow the conservative moral teachings of the Vatican, and they overwhelmingly vote Republican, much as evangelical white Protestants do. But less orthodox Catholics, sometimes called cafeteria Catholics, gravitate toward the liberal side of church teachings, just as many mainline Protestants do, on the death penalty, on social welfare and justice issues, on war and peace. For these Catholics, White says, John Kerry is a very comfortable fit.
So, wait, do the "orthodox Catholics," who follow the "conservative moral teachings of the Vatican," ignore the church's teachings on the death penalty, social welfare and justice issues, on war and peace? Why does that make them "orthodox?" Why do these Catholics who hold to "absolute truth" apparently ignore their Church on all issues other than sex and abortion? Why are they not "cafeteria Catholics?"
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Group of Protesters: (In unison) Two, four, six eight, the Catholic Church is not a state.
HAGERTY: Last week some 300 people protested church doctrine on birth control in front of the Vatican embassy in Washington. Frances Kissling was there. She's the president of Catholics for a Free Choice.
Ms. FRANCES KISSLING (President, Catholic for a Free Choice): Catholics are no different than the rest of Americans. They vote on their pocketbook, they vote on the economic issues, Social Security, Medicare, crime, education and health. They don't vote on the abortion issue.
HAGERTY: Surveys from Georgetown University show that the number one issue for Catholics in 2000 was the economy. Taxing, spending and government programs came in second. Moral issues were a distant third.
(Soundbite from a Mass)
HAGERTY: But tell that to the worshipers at the 8:00 Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington. All but one interviewed there on a recent morning said they won't vote for Kerry. They said they knew he personally thought abortion was wrong but that his stand on abortion rights had a larger meaning. Here's Philip Monos(ph), Carrie Gress(ph) and Ted Flynn.
As a helpful reader (sorry, forgot who right now) has pointed out, St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington has no Sunday 8:00 Mass. They have 8:00 masses every other day of the week. Catholics are supposed to attend mass on Sundays and specific Holy Days - those who attend mass on other days are particularly hardcore conservative Catholics. So, this is in no way a random sample of the Catholic-on-the-street. Just the opposite.
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Mr. PHILIP MONOS (Worshiper): It's really character and personal integrity, and a man who does not seem committed to his faith, I don't see why he would be committed to his ideas or necessarily even his country.
Ms. CARRIE GRESS (Worshiper): It seems that he doesn't take his faith seriously, and it's something that it seems like he's using as a political card instead of something that he deeply believes in and is committed to.
Mr. TED FLYNN (Worshiper): I would work very hard against Senator Kerry because I think he is actually, from start to finish, a four-star phoney.
HAGERTY: Another early worshiper, Charles Loveless, a union official, downplayed the abortion issue.
Only one person had their occupation pointed out - a union official (Read: commie partisan Democrat).
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Mr. CHARLES LOVELESS (Worshipper): There is a vast array of other social issues for children, for poor people, for things that we Catholics stand for, and in practically every one of these other issues, he is the man.
Group: (In unison) Kerry! Kerry! Kerry! Kerry! Kerry!
HAGERTY: Recently John Kerry went to a Washington rally to receive the endorsement of Planned Parenthood and to call for a new America.
Sen. KERRY: Where women's rights are just that, rights, not political weapons to be used by politicians in this nation.
(Soundbite of cheers)
HAGERTY: Father Richard John Neuhaus says with Planned Parenthood endorsement, Kerry entered dangerous territory. Neuhaus, who is editor of First Things magazine, says some politicians have tried to make a principled argument that Catholic doctrine can be reconciled with political governance. He says Kerry isn't even trying.
Father RICHARD JOHN NEUHAUS (First Things Magazine): It's a very different thing when, as in the case of many of these politicians, they openly, publicly, persistently and defiantly say, in effect, 'I don't give a damn what the church teaches. Here's the position I'm going to take.'
HAGERTY: In Kennedy's time, the bishops bit their tongue when they disagreed with him, but Kennedy did not have to deal with the deeply divisive issue of abortion. Today the Vatican and some American bishops are cracking down on Catholic politicians on this issue, threatening to bar them from Communion.
How many Bishops? Is this the official Vatican position, or is it also just a few within the Vatican?
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Father RICHARD McBRIEN (Notre Dame): It would backfire into the most spectacular fashion imaginable.
HAGERTY: Father Richard McBrien teaches theology at Notre Dame. He says American Catholics do not want religious leaders telling politicians what to do.
Fr. McBRIEN: They can make statements all they want. They can express views on public policy issues. But as soon as they try to use their spiritual muscle, so to speak, to punish or to threaten political candidates and legislators or executives in their flock, then people would resent that, and I think it would indeed backfire.
HAGERTY: Catholics have, in fact, become a key swing vote in national elections, one that Republican strategists think they can win and one that John Kerry can scarcely afford to lose. Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR News.
Here we get the punchline - those who are moral vote Republican. Those who are not vote Democrat. Kerry is immoral, simply because he doesn't believe all of his personal religious beliefs should be legislated.
Hagerty doesn't bother to consider all of the pro-choice Catholic Republicans. She doesn't bother to find out why all Catholic Politicians aren't clamoring to outlaw birth control, and why the figures within the Church are silent on that. Ditto the death penalty.
Hagerty is a menace. She is NPR's religion reporter and always writes about the hot-button social issues. She's careful - very careful - to not let her reporting appear to be obviously slanted, but it's hideously slanted in a subtle manipulative fashion. The good guys and bad guys are always clear in her stories, even as she seeks to provide "balance." Here are her views on her job:
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BARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY
Journalism informed by a Christian worldview will glorify Christ and make an eternal impact, said Barbara Bradley Hagerty.
Hagerty, religion correspondent at National Public Radio, told students that Christian journalists, by committing to truth, excellence and selflessness, can set themselves apart from their secular colleagues.
"When you or I as Christ-followers go to work each day, we have to perform our jobs in a fundamentally different way from other people because our employer is Christ and everything we do has to be run through the filter of this question: How does Jesus Christ view my performance? It raises the bar higher than the most demanding editor or supervisor could possibly do," she said.
Hagerty highlighted four decisions that Christian journalists can make in order to honor Christ in their work.
First, Christian journalists must decide not to get "tough," or hardened, in their vocations.
Christian journalists have an obligation to ask hard questions and find compelling stories, she said. However, they must resist the temptation to be ruthless and uncaring in pursuit of stories.
"I decided that if I ever found myself growing callous or tough that I would leave the news business," Hagerty said. "It was a serious pact because I really, really did love journalism. But I realized that the very things that helped me as a journalist -- cynicism and toughness and stepping on people to get the story first, sometimes burning people in the process -- while those things might help me get a story, they would cripple my ability to get everything else that I wanted in life."
In the end, though, deciding to treat people with respect has helped her succeed in journalism, Hagerty said.
"This approach -- with compassion and empathy and coming to every interview subject with an open mind -- it's actually good journalism," Hagerty said. "The reason I think that's true is that every single person has a reason for what he or she believes or what he or she does. You don't know what that reason is ... and understanding what makes that person tick is the key to writing a good story."
Second, Christian journalists must decide to make God their primary audience.
Journalists will experience a conflict between seeking to glorify themselves and seeking to glorify God, she said. Christian journalists may have to perform difficult assignments without receiving commendations, but the desire to please God should drive them to complete those assignments with diligence, Hagerty said.
Third, Christian journalists must decide to gain respect from their colleagues by doing excellent work.
A journalist may not have opportunities to talk about Christ directly, she said. But Christian journalists can point their colleagues to Christ by acting in a way that is unexplainably different from the world.
"What's important is that [one's colleagues] begin to think differently about Christianity. And I actually think that's what we're supposed to do as Christians. We're supposed to draw people, through the power of attraction, to Jesus Christ just as He drew people to Himself," Hagerty said.
Fourth, Christian journalists must decide to follow the truth, not the pack.
A Christian worldview sees every individual as having worth in the eyes of God, she said. Because people have worth, they deserve to have the truth reported about them.
"Here's where my Christian worldview comes in. My Christian worldview tells me that every person has an infinite worth in the eyes of God.... I believe that God became man in the form of Jesus Christ to die for [man]. That's how valuable ... anyone is to God," Hagerty said.
"I have a serious responsibility to really get the facts before I begin shooting off innuendoes."
At times, honoring Christ may have short-term negative effects in the business of journalism, she said. That is why "any journalist that's a follower of Christ has to count the cost."
She concluded, "Early in my career at National Public Radio, I decided that being true to my God had to be the nonnegotiable. If it meant loosing my job, so be it. ... In the long run I had to think, is a story or even is a career ... more valuable than my relationship with God and eternal treasure in heaven? And I think the answer is no, and the decisions we make count for eternity."
It's important to understand what someone like this uses words like "facts" and "truth" - what they mean to a great degree are "Facts" and "Truth." Hagerty was affiliated with the World Journalism Institute until fellow traveller Jack Kelley got his ass canned by USA Today, and their mission statement came to light. WJI's mission statement has now been, uh, modified after the attention, but here's what it was:
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To accompany reporting with practical commentary on current events and issues from a perspective committed to the final authority of the Bible as the inerrant written word of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:14-16).
So, as I said, facts and truth are replaced by Facts and Truth. Mandatory statement -- of course religious people should not be excluded from journalism. But, Hagerty's reporting is so biased and slanted - though done very cleverly - that she should not have her job at the liberal NPR.