capper: ‘God is a Union Man’
In his continued quixotic quest to tell us all there is nothing remotely wrong with the Orwellian-named "Employee Free Choice Act," Chris "capper" Liebenthal - best-known as the pro bono author of most of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's attacks on GOP Gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker - goes to the one place the Left usually claims the Right goes when they've run out of logical options to defend their stances: Religion.
It's an amazing post actually. In it, a man with clearly no actual knowledge of the Roman Catholic faith quotes a group not associated with the Church twice, and then end it with an attack on a conservative blogger who is pretty involved in his church for opposing EFCA.
Catholics are supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.
This includes the bishops:
- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have specifically condemned the sort of employer-sponsored anti-union campaigns that current U.S. labor law fails to prevent. “No one,” they wrote in 1986, “may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself. Therefore, we firmly oppose organized efforts, such as those regrettably now seen in this country, to break existing unions and prevent workers from organizing.”
Even the Pope is an union man:
- The Catholic News Service reported on February 2nd 2009 that Pope Benedict XVI reiterated the Church's strong endorsement of labor unions when he declared that unions "can make a significant contribution" to realizing the common good during this economic crisis.
- Speaking to the Confederation on Italian Labor Unions on January 31, the pope insisted that a just economy must protect the inalienable dignity of the worker. Pope Benedict XVI also made clear that the economic downturn demands solutions that bring society together "in a united way" to meet today's problems. Supporting worker dignity by endorsing the right of workers to choose union representation is one way to work on behalf of the common good.
Too bad there are those that have strayed from the teachings of the Church.
Not exactly Mr. AFSCME/SEIU Tool.
One of the key tenants of the Catholic Church is that God gave us all free will to decide what to do with our lives. It is then up to us to live with the consequences of said actions, and if we need guidance, to pray for it as we search for an answer. EFCA - but just the Card Check provision alone - takes away ones free will by taking away their secret ballot and replacing it with the option of the card signing provision instead.
It isn't 'uncatholic' to be in a union. I myself am Catholic and was in the International Association of Machinists (IAM) during my summers and winter while going to college when I worked at various plants around the Kiel and New Holstein area. I thoroughly enjoyed knowing that the union took my dues ever year when I would have rather have liked that money to pay for college.
Behold the joys of a union-shop in a non-Right to Work state like Wisconsin, ah?
No, the reason why you're now seeing EFCA-supporters haul out "the faith community card" is because they're losing the war of public opinion on the bill (not to mention the vote count in the Senate) and are trying as many avenues at they can. Michelle Malkin pointed this out earlier this week when the SEIU held a prayer breakfast to get pray for the bill''s passage.
Yesterday, over 50 religious leaders from a diverse range of faiths and denominations came to Washington, DC to lobby members of Congress on support of the Employee Free Choice Act. The newly-formed coalition of religious leaders and people of faith–Faith Leaders for Workplace Fairness–publicly announced their support for the labor reform bill on a conference call with press last week, calling the legislation a “moral imperative” and a civil and human right.
The lobbying day begin with an early a.m. prayer breakfast at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, where clergy, union members and political figures gathered to hear uplifting music sung by a multicultural choir, and pray for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. “Unions are indispensable for a just social order,” said Dr. Joseph Fahey, a Manhattan College religious studies professor and founder of Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice. “They are not something that just gains better wages and working conditions for workers—on a far wider level, we won’t have a just social order unless we have unions to bring justice to workers and their families.” The event featured speakers that included SEIU’s Anna Burger, Rev. Sue Gaeta of the Gamaliel National Clergy Caucus and SEIU Virginia home care worker Athena Jones. Longtime labor supporter Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-Md.), also appeared at the breakfast to give a speech, telling the crowd that “the faith community has always been on the side of workers.”
At the press conference afterwards held with Sen. Tom Harkin (the original sponsor of the legislation in the Senate), the senator called the Employee Free Choice Act “one of the real social justice issues of our time,” expressing his determination to get legislation passed in 2009 that will restore balance and fairness to the organizing process.
For years the Left has said "God has no place in politics" when it came to certain issues. Who knew it was only those issues they were losing on?
