Francis Cardinal George, a Great Shepherd, Gets Wolf-packed by Tribune Editors and Public Ombudsman

Just in time for Sunday's Extended Gay Pride Parade, The Chicago Tribune treated Catholic Chicago with a shower of invective from harsh and less than "we agree-to-disagree" shouters in the Letters Section  ( June 20th).  The Tribune's Ombudsman for Public Opinion did his job for the ghost of Joe Medill, it is clear, because the lettters reflect only Medill's point view - Catholics and Cardinal George are bad, real bad people.

Quiet the contrary, Cardinal George maintains the Magisterium ( Google it, there Head-scratchers).

The same logic presented within the ugly and misleading comments below, including a chap whom I suspect just might be the brother and partner of notorious Homosexual Monologician Dan Savage.*  Dan and Bill demanded that Catholic high schools force their students to attend a Gay Happy play about the miseries of living according to one's faith.

Piling on and nipping at Cardinal George's heels are the Obama Care Mandate acolytes.

The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board and its Public Ombudsman continue a daffy control over thought and presentation of the news.  They have also set the table for this week-end's al fresco Anti Catholic hate-mongering during the long Gay promenade.

Money, mables, or chalk - there will be a caravan of ugly and vicious attacks on Cardinal George and the Catholic Church featured by signage and floats this Sunday.

Cardinal's words

When Cardinal Francis George urged parishioners to speak out against the federalcontraceptive mandate, he is setting both himself and other Catholics up for a charge of blatant hypocrisy ("Birth control edict stirs Catholics," News, June 17). What the cardinal is basically saying is that no one, including the government, should be able to tell the church what it can and cannot do. I would agree with this assertion.
However, the history of the Catholic Church and other religious institutions is to consistently dictate to others what they can and cannot do in their private lives. This includes women's reproductive choices, various gay issues and, of course, what we all do in our bedrooms. The list of personal activities that the church has tried to outlaw is quite long. I would urge the cardinal and other religious people to practice what they preach. If you want to be left alone to do as you see fit, then you must afford others that same right.eff Clauser, Chicago

Cardinal's hypocrisy Cardinal Francis George is correct when he says that "in a democracy, government should not play God."
I, and many other Catholics, would respond with the flip side of that coin: The church should not play government. The seemingly ceaseless attempts by the Roman Catholic Church to make its particular doctrines (against birth control, same-sex marriage, abortion) the law of the land show the cardinal's hypocrisy.
His eminence is perfectly happy if the United States government plays God according to the tune chosen by the Vatican. Bill Savage, Chicago (emphasis my own)

Cardinal's views Cardinal Francis George is quoted in the June 17 Tribune: "In a democracy, government should not play God."

Really? The cardinal and other religious leaders have no trouble inflicting their views regarding who can marry and reproductive rights on citizens of the democracy. Perhaps he should confine his views to his flock and refrain from imposing his religious views on the democracy.
In a democracy, God should not be allowed to play with governance — Aviva Tauman, Evanston

According to the Tribune, a speaker at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said, "We protect the freedom of religion because we think it is wrong to coerce belief" (News, June 14). They do? Cardinal Francis George lobbied against the state civil union law by attempting to force his religious beliefs on state legislators and Gov. Pat Quinn. George's vehement opposition to same-sex marriage is religious coercion. No one can marry in Illinois without first obtaining a state-issued marriage license. That makes marriage a civil right before it can become a religious rite.

Yet George would codify his religious beliefs into Illinois law by denying the civil right of marriage to same-sex couples.
In the name of his religious beliefs, George threatens the civil liberties of members of the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender community. He supports discrimination against gay couples when it comes to adopting children, civil unions and marriage equality.
All these things are forms of religious coercion.
— Bob Barth, Chicago

*Dan and Bill Savage share an interest in sex education. And they want to share it with you, too. Dan’s enormously popular weekly column, “Savage Love,” and podcast, the Savage Lovecast, address questions pertaining to love and sex from all walks of life. In this live edition of the Savage Lovecast, Dan invites questions from the audience, and Bill, a senior lecturer in English at Northwestern University, moderates. This program is not recommended for children under 13.

Media sponsorship of this program is provided by theChicago Reader.

 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-vp-0620voicelettersbriefs-20120620,0,4754334.story
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/chura4.htm
 http://www.chicagohumanities.org/Genres/Philosophy/2010-Savage-Love-Bill-and-Dan-Savage.aspx