href=”http://www.patheos.com/community/deaconsbench/2011/02/23/florida-pro-life-candidate-jokes-about-abortion-bombing/”>Deacon Greg pointed me to this piece today on a Republican candidate running for mayor of Jacksonville, Florida joked about bombing an abortion clinic.
Mike Hogan, a Republican and member of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, made the statement Monday after attending a candidates forum at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Mandarin.
He was asked by the audience how his views on the sanctity of life would affect his leadership of Jacksonville. Hogan said he looks forward to the day when Roe v. Wade is overturned, and that the only thing he wouldn’t do is bomb an abortion clinic.
He then added with a laugh: “but it may cross my mind.”
Hogan told a reporter afterward the joke was appropriate because “this is a Catholic church. I guarantee you they are 110 percent pro-life.”
Which is exactly why the joke was inappropriate! Being pro-life means that the violence that someone would perform that would take the lives of another are just as important as the child in its mother’s womb.
But people who want to score a political point don’t really care about consistency–they just want a cheap laugh.
Once again, it’s Catholics that end up looking bad alongside this guy. Why? Because most people outside the church would believe that this IS the position of the church. Many believe that Catholics would encourage this type of behavior.
And yet, the majority of people I know in the Pro-life movement have said nothing.
So here’s a newsflash, Mr. Wanna Be Mayor: You’re not a pro-lifer. You’re a republican politician who’s trying to score Catholic votes and you couldn’t care less about the consistency of the pro-life movement.
Nice try, but I’m not buying.