Bishops' Presidential Questionnaire Object of Criticism

Dear Colleague,

Today we report on the presidential questionnaire just released to the
major party presidential candidates by the government relations staff of
the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The document is not without
controversy.

Spread the word.

Yours sincerely,

Austin Ruse
President

Action item: For what might be a less confusing voter guide for Catholics,
go here: http://www.catholic.com/library/voters_guide.asp

CULTURE & COSMOS
August 10, 2004 Volume 2, Number 1

Bishops' Presidential Questionnaire Object of Criticism
A political questionnaire issued by the government relations staff of
the US Conference of Catholics Bishops and distributed to both major-party
presidential candidates has received criticism from prominent Catholics
who say most of the questions take the Democratic side of non-binding
policy issues such as immigration and gun control. Bill Ryan, spokesman
for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops acknowledged that Catholics are
not bound by many of the policies promoted in the questionnaire. "No. On
issues like that people can take different stances," he told Culture and
Cosmos.

The questionnaire contains 41 questions asking the candidates to answer
"support" or "oppose" to statements on issues as divergent as child-safety
gun locks and the redistribution of farm subsidies. A copy of the
questionnaire obtained by Culture & Cosmos reveals that the topic
receiving the most attention is immigration and refugees, which garnered
seven queries. Abortion and school choice were each given three questions.
Receiving two questions each are capital punishment, gun control,
agriculture and rural development, economic help for low income families,
housing, federal education programs, and marriage. Fourteen other topics
received one question each including health care, decreasing nuclear
weapons, cloning, physician assisted suicide, and embryonic stem cell
research.

Patrick F. Fagan, a research fellow on cultural and family issues at
the Heritage Foundation, says that many of the questions involve policies
over which Catholics may properly disagree, but that this official
questionnaire gives the impression that these are the only acceptable
Catholic positions. "On immigration, on housing, on welfare, there are
many ways to skin these cats. These are all very valid areas of real
differences on what is the prudent way to achieve the good." Fagan says
Catholic social teaching provides the principles, but that laymen are
permitted a wide berth in choosing between "practical applications."

What's more, many of the questions take what are traditionally
associated with policy positions of the Democratic Party. Robert Royal,
president of the Faith and Reason Institute, said that many of the
questions, such as those calling for more gun control and public funding
of health care, are written in such a way as to endorse the Democratic
Party approach. He says this gives the appearance of bias and therefore
undermines the usefulness of the questionnaire. Royal said, "Even if it is
not intended to be biased, it gives the impression of bias. Some Catholics
may just reject the whole thing out of hand."

Frank Monahan, director of the Office of Government Liaison at the
USCCB, told Culture and Cosmos that the questionnaire "reflects the
Bishops' public policy agenda."

What may be a less confusing and more useful voter guide has been
issued by the group Catholic Answers. Their guide leaves out prudential
issues, like gun control and the minimum wage, focusing instead on what
they call the "five non-negotiable issues" of abortion, euthanasia, fetal
stem cell research, human cloning, and homosexual marriage.

Copyright, 2004 --- Culture of Life Foundation.
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

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