www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Sean Hannity called a 'bad Catholic'

Dr. Eric,

I believe I might change my location to just that, having lost my user title in the upgrades. Thank you!

Michael,

I believe Mr. Hannity is not in the business of supporting the innocent slaughter of millions of babies. I think hell has a special place for those who do.

Ray, it is quite true that there is a great difference in the gravity of abortion vs. contraception. But, according to the teaching of your Church, Mr. Hannity is still publicly supporting a practice deemed "intrinsically grave and evil" and that is considered the equivalent of sodomy by many Catholic moral theologians. Also, Mr. Hannity's treatment of father left something to be desired I think. Besides, all I ever heard from NFP advocates and counselors was that there was an intrinsic connection between the "contraceptive mentality" of contraception and abortion. But, the biggest problem is that Mr. Hannity was publicly chiding Mr. Kerry for being pro-abortion and Catholic; whereas Mr. Hannity himself publicly supports a viewpoint almost as gravely evil (according to the teaching of the Church of Rome). Remember, that current Roman Catholic teaching specifies that one who knowingly and freely uses contraception, or promotes it, is damned to hell just as much as the one who supports abortion. I am not saying that I agree with that viewpoint, but it is the view of the Roman Catholic Church and Mr. Hannity does consider himself to be a conservative and a good, faithful Catholic.

Joe

I think we all could take a lesson from Jesus here while the Pharisees were about to publically stone the woman and publically rebuke her for her sins as to make a public example out of her, Jesus privately rebuked her.

Sorry I still see Fr. Euteneuer approach here problematic and much closer to the Pharisees than Jesus Christ.

Also Cardinal Ratzinger did say you could vote for the lesser of two evils if one were not completly pro-life. And you have completly deluded yourself if you think the Republican Party has given you a completly pro-life candidate. Many catholic pro-lifers voted for George Bush and proclaimed him the pro-life candidate. This is far from the truth he is for abortion in case of rape and incest and is not againt artifical birth control and is for the death penalty and went against just war theology according to the ruling of the magesterium as preemptive means is not within the scope of th just war theology of Aquinas of Augustine. All these things means he is not pro-life but the lesser of two evils. And that is the case with most politicians. Someone like Specter might be aginst partial birth abortion and for parental consent but pro Roe V Wade but his oppenent is for partial birth abortion and against parental consent, again under these conditions you choose the lesser of two evils. I think many have overestiamted the degree of being pro-life many in the GOP appear to be. George Bush nor Ronald Reagaon or HW Bush ever used Roe V Wade as a litmus test and that is evidenced by pro-aborts O COnner, Kennedy, Sutter, Gonzales etc in places of the highest power.

Here is one quote from Mr. Hannity,

"I have no problem with birth control. It's a good thing."

Sounds like he thinks it's great.

Joe

Hello Zenovia,

Well...the root of abortion is contraception. The plant (abortion) and the roots (contraception) are one thing...you could cut out the plant, but the root remains then the plant re-grows. So the roots need to be uprooted out.

That's probably why the CC equates abortion with contraception, especially that contraceptive pills can be abortifacients (sp?).

I recall Norma McCorvey made that comment about that. For those who don't know who Norma is...she's the "Roe" of Roe vs Wade...she's now pro-life.

Not only the abortion is the fruit of contraception...but (as someone told me before) also homosexuality, sodomy, masturbation, "free sex", orgies, etc.

People who use contraception seem to look at it as a "ticket" to do "whatever they want" with no concequences. They call it "responsible sex." OH PUL-AYZE!!!

So, it's a real serious problem. If you notice that since contraception becomes not only soooo widely available but accepted by many Churches (mainly Protestants) starting back in the '30s...you notice that sexual morality has gone down and down and deeper down since then...look at the pattern.

And to have an Apostolic Church accept it gravely concerns me in a great deal.

Thanks.

Interesting story about McCorvey was that she converted from the agnosticism to evangelical christianity because the evangelicals in the pro-life community even though they opposed her position never judged her publically they dialogued in a private manner and that left her with a different impression of the judgemental christians that were stereotyped by the radical left she was working with, she would be the first to defend them when such attacks were being made and that was the first sign she was breaking down due to the non-judgemental love of the christians involved in her community. If she was called out personally and publically by these same Christians it is likely she would never have been converted at all. She now has the fullness of the faith as a catholic but if you ever heard her conversion story from the angosticism to christianity the evangelicals invovlved in her conversion were masterful on how to approach someone who was in the wrong but ignorant of why.

Fr. Euteneuer would never have converted Norma McCorvey with the tactics of judging a person in public forum without even knowing them or dialoging with them personally. Much like Jesus who asked the adulteress for merly a cup of water we must dialogue before condemnation in a public manner and picking up the stones for their heresies and sins like the Pharisees who showed public legalism and condemnation before mercy and personal dialogue.

tobit,

You make a good point. Fr. could have refused to come on the show. He could have used other methods. They may have been more effective. Perhaps he had been using other methods. We do not know. What we do know is that for all of Mr. Hannity's good work he still is wrong on this very central issue. He was also wrong to curl up into his defensive posture with a priest he had invited to the show.

CDL

I don't know. I watched the interview. I thought that father was very respectful and willing to engage Mr. Hannity in honest discussion. He didn't berate Mr. Hannity, he just pointed out how his statements were inconsistent and were misleading to both Catholics and non-Catholics. If Mr. Hannity is presenting himself as a good, conservative Catholic, then his public statements will likely mislead many people as to what is acceptable thinking and behavior for a catholic. I think that the clergy do have a responsibility to publicly respond so that people here the truth of the matter. Remember, it is Sean Hannity who was making the jokes about lenten fasting on the radio and it is Sean Hannity who has made public statements in support of birth control and also used his talk show on occasion to take cheap shots at the Church. Look at his behavior toward father and you see someone with a defiant and disrespectful attitude toward clergy. I thought that Sean Hannity's behavior lacked class and was disgraceful. It isn't even a matter of Christian morality at this point. It is just a matter of acting like a civilized human being and not a bully.

Joe

Tobit,

I agree that the non-judgmentalism of the evangelicals that Norma met was absolutely helpful - in her case. Hannity is another story altogether, he is already claiming to be a 'devote, faithful Catholic' - this is much different that someone who is non-religious and doesn't really know right from wrong. A self-proclaimed 'devote, faithful Catholic' surely can be judged by the standards that he imposes on himself, as Sean Hannity has.

Zenovia,

Hannity has never been one to stand down from a fight against "the liberals", so why does he let them have this one?

In any case, Father never said that Hannity can't have his opinion - the ONLY beef is that Hannity is stating that AS IF that is the 'devote Catholic' position - which it is NOT.

I still don't understand why anyone would try to appease those radical elements of the left who are opposed to all Christianity, they will never be appeased no matter how many cookies are given to shut them up. What exactly is a 'conservative judge'? I haven't seen many, even when appointed by so-called 'conservative' presidents. After being confirmed, the direction that these judges take is not predictable. If Sean does really feel that contraception is not a sin, as long as non-Catholics are using it, perhaps he's more 'liberal' than even he cares to admit.

Even those Churches that do allow specific contraceptions for individual married couples with the direction of their spiritual elder would NEVER agree to the blanket support of contraception that Sean Hannity made.

You are right: Father might not have converted Ms. McCorvey with this same approach. He wasn't trying to reach Ms. McCorvey, though. It might be the Holy Spirit's prompting for just what is needed to convert Mr. Hannity, or someone who was watching him. Different situations call for different approaches. All require holy men and women to be in-tune with the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Father might have been doing just what the Lord called him to, even if the Lord has called other people to other things at other times.

Well, now more than one priest is involved in this on air war of words and ideas:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258291,00.html