New York Cardinal O’Connor’s Warning to Catholic Politicians
Cal Thomas posits that ultimate allegiance to God supersedes allegiance to the state (“O’Connor’s Moral Clarity,” Commentary, June 20). He is, of course, speaking favorably about New York’s Cardinal John O’Connor chastising Catholic politicians who stray from the church’s abortion stance. Curiously, this position also validates the breaking of laws by civil rights activists and Vietnam War resisters during the 1960s. Then many ministers believed that it did.
In this land of religious pluralism, each person has the right to define God in his or her own way, or to recognize no God. If that person finds no organized church that fills his or her need, he can form his own church. Taken to its ultimate, Thomas’ position could lead, on the one extreme, to theocracy to restore order, or, on the other hand, to a complete breakdown and anarchy.
FLOYD A. OLIVER
Los Angeles
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