Posted by Scoops: Religion - The Roman Catholic church has some nerve. In a land where a separation of church and state is not only encouraged, but required, men on earth who see themselves as gods are forging new requirements for their congregations.



Yesterday, Michael J. Sheridan, the Bishop of Colorado Springs, Colo., wrote a pastoral letter saying that Catholics in the United States should not receive communion if they vote for pro-choice political candidates. When The New York Times reached Mr. Sheridan for comment, he said, "I'm not making a political statement. I'm making a statement about church teaching."



What the bishop is really making a statement about is the derailment of the Roman Catholic church’s ideology and the attempted marriage between it and a religiously free country, the United States. Religion is, by nature, divisive. This is not to say that there are not beautiful aspects of all religions, from Catholicism to Islam to Judaism. But drawing parallels between the secret ballots of U.S. voters and their public worship is exactly what this country’s forefathers saw as unnecessary.



The saga is not over, either, and it does not just spill into the issues of this country. The Vatican yesterday released an official document discouraging Catholics from marrying Muslims, especially Catholic women who wish to marry Muslim men. “We hope there will be, on the part of our Muslim brothers and sisters, a growing awareness that fundamental liberties, the inviolable rights of the person, the equal dignity of man and woman, the democratic principle of government and the healthy lay character of the state are principles that cannot be surrendered,” the document says.



People are free to do as they want, marry who they want, and eat the body of Christ if they have been so blessed. They should keep doing it.