By Rayanne Damiano
Difference between news and endorsement
Today, for the first time in our almost nine-year history, a subscriber cancelled his subscription solely on the basis of a front page photo.
The photo in question was last week’s cover feature of our newly-reelected president, George W. Bush, which had as its headline: ‘Moral Victory’.
The caption itself pointed out that the president’s victorious run for a second term was largely attributed to “morality issues,” adding that Catholic leaders are calling for a greater emphasis on the issues that did not take the spotlight in the recent campaign. It led readers to a two page spread inside which pointed to analyses of the way that Americans, particularly Catholic Americans, voted, as well as the groundswell of concern from around the world that President Bush must address the major foreign policy issues that have largely gone untended.
The decision by the now-terminated subscriber was based on the same misconception reflected in several of the letters we have printed this week from our readers – that the appearance of the president on the cover represents The Catholic Spirit’s endorsement of the election outcome.
The subscriber asked, “How The Catholic Spirit and the Catholic Church can stand behind a man like George W. Bush is beyond me.” The reader proceeded to list the statistics that have, for many, become well known – 131 prisoners were executed in Texas during then Governor Bush’s tenure; that over 1,000 U.S., service people and 16,000 Iraqi civilians have been lost in a war that President Bush led us into based on “false charges.” The reader concluded his admonition by asking, “How can the election of a man who is personally responsible for the deaths of this many people be considered a Moral Victory?”
Similar sentiments have been coming in over the phone and e-mail as well. One usually supportive reader suggested that the headline should have read: War Criminal. One of our priests, in promoting the diocesan newspaper to his parish this past weekend, goodnaturedly told his people, “Don’t judge The Catholic Spirit by its cover.”
The uproar is extremely reminiscent of the front page photo published in 2001 that drew a similar, though not as extreme, response from a very different group of people. The issue was Nov. 15, 2001 and featured a photo of newly-elected N.J. Gov. James E. McGreevey with his arms outstretched in a victorious pose. On the opposite side of the page (this hails back to the days of our broadsheet format), was the statement of the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey stating their policy on pro-abortion politicians in respect of making church appearances and other areas of concern.
What was true then is true now. This is a newspaper . . . not a propaganda publication for any political party. Just as the Church must guard against endorsing any political candidate or party, so too must this diocesan newspaper. What we are commissioned to do by virtue of our mission is to address the issues – all of them – that impact on the sanctity, dignity and quality of all human life.
Just as I was perplexed when readers didn’t accept the news value of the McGreevey photo and disregarded our inclusion of an image and text that clearly communicated the Church’s opposition to many of the positions that the governor had supported, I am equally bewildered that any reader would take offense to our reporting on the newly-identified paradigm in American politics . . . voters caring about morality issues. I find it hard to understand how anyone could fail to read the extensive coverage of the response to and concerns about the man who will lead this country for the next four years. Attempts at telling all sides of the story seem to have gone unheeded.
Regardless of where any of us aligns ourselves on the political spectrum, the truth is that a new electorate seems to have emerged from this most recent election. So seriously is this morality vote being taken, that a good many representatives of the Democratic party felt it necessary to dedicate considerable time since Nov. 2 on political talk shows and in the press doing damage control by underscoring the point that Democrats, too, care about the morals of this country.
So devastating was this blow that the pleas are coming up from within the very ranks of the Democratic party for a need to shed its “elitist” image of being hung up on too many “politically correct” issues, and get back to its roots as the party of the people.
The obvious and ongoing problem resides with the fact all Americans are not united on what moral standards should be. Indeed, some feel that morality should not be legislated at all. But the fact that morality is a major concern in a political election, rather than just a second thought given only lip service, is both noteworthy and newsworthy.
These developments are both an affirmation of the impact that faithful citizenship has had, as well as a rallying cry for its future. President Bush proclaimed that he had earned“political capital” in the recent election and that he intended to spend it. In reality, faithful citizenship earned that capital, and we must double our efforts now that we’ve had a role in making moral concerns a hot ticket item for politicians.
There is light at the end of the political tunnel. There is hope that the dialog following Nov. 2 has the power to shape agendas that reflect a greater respect and protection for human life in all its stages; a commitment to ensure the dignity and safety of all people around the world, and a healthy appreciation for God’s gift of sexuality and the sanctity of marriage.
And that means the day may someday arrive when Catholics will actually be able to vote for a candidate who embodies all of their most basic beliefs, rather than agonizing over which holds the greatest promise of doing the least harm.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law