John Kerry's Spirituality (Jesus Christ, priest, moral, attend, America)

[Green Gaia]

I read this on Beliefnet.com, I'll post a bit of the article here then provide the link where you can read the rest, it's quite lengthy.

Not a Prodigal Son
Kerry has a different language, a different connection to ritual, and a different relationship to Jesus than that of Bush.

By Deborah Caldwell

John Kerry was never a Prodigal Son. His faith journey contains no leave-taking and triumphant return, no revival, no conversion on the road to Damascus. Unlike President Bush--a Protestant who experienced a profound conversion at age 40 under the Rev. Billy Graham's tutelage--Kerry has been a steady, churchgoing Catholic literally since the day he was born.

For Americans who have grown accustomed in the last four years to a certain kind of spiritual biography, Kerry's will seem starkly different. He uses different language, has a different connection to ritual, and most likely a different relationship with Jesus Christ. His faith life illustrates not only the stylistic and theological differences between Catholicism and evangelical Protestantism, but also the differences between American Catholicism of an earlier generation and that which has grown in the last few decades.

According to those who know him, Kerry is a religious man. On the campaign trail, he is said to carry a rosary, a prayer book, and a St. Christopher medal (the patron saint of travelers). He attends Mass regularly--complaining when his campaign staff doesn't leave time in his schedule for it.

His father, Richard, was a Catholic, and his mother, Rosemary, was an Episcopalian who raised the four children as Catholics. Kerry was baptized and reared in the pre-Second Vatican Council Catholic Church, with its strict rules and Latin Mass. When he was 10 and the family was living in Berlin, his parents sent John to a boarding school in Switzerland. The young boy would sit alone in the chapel's back pew, staring at the altar or lighting a candle, according to his biographer, Douglas Brinkley, author of Tour of Duty.

Although Kerry is descended from John Winthrop, the first Massachusetts governor, and the prominent Massachusetts Forbes family, his father was in the foreign service and was, essentially, a government worker--not a member of the upper class. John Kerry's wealthy and childless Aunt Clara paid for his private schooling. So although Kerry rubbed shoulders with rich people throughout his childhood, he was a lonely, not-quite-as-wealthy outsider--a little too serious, eager, and dorky to fit in to the casual, sarcastic culture of upper-class New England.

"I thought of being a priest," Kerry recalled. "I was very religious while at school in Switzerland. I was an altar boy and prayed all the time. I was very centered around the Mass and the church." What Bible passages moved him most? "The letters of Paul," he said, "taught me not to feel sorry for myself."

Read the rest of the article here.

[trishtrish10]

i am poor financially and disabled. my cousin tommy list the third schooled with one of Ted kennedy's boys and dined at the Kennedy compound often rubbing shoulder's with Jackie Onasis. this impressed my mom's sister his mother. cardinal law is a friend of mine which also impressed tommy's mom. my father's side of the family is related to the british crown (Hyde). i also have many famous ancestors. i am rich in friends and family and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit. i am catholic and believe in my church and fellow man. just because Kerry is catholic doesn't mean he is perfect, on the contrary. his anti-life stand has alienated many a catholic, protestant, jew, muslim, etc. instead of being brave and opting for life, he is a coward seeking power, which can be deadly to his soul. everyone in there right mind knows that abortion is murder. in my church one can''t choose what he wants to believe, that's why we have a catechism. he should mature in his faith and publicly denounce the sin of abortion or silent murder.

[Fra.Morelia]

everyone in their right mind knows that abortion is murder? convenient way to ignore arguments:label your critics as insane. that way your side to the argument is the only viable one. What about a woman who the doctors say will die during childbirth? Or the mother and child will both die?
Kerry:His faith means nothing to me. It is irrelevant. I believe the man is a borderline traitor, and bush frightens me more than a little. I still don't know who I am voting for. Frankly, I am more than a little tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I may go whole hog and vote for Satan.

[trishtrish10]

if ure immoral ure sinning and insane or abnormal. everything else is sane and normal by the way we have technologically improved to where the mother nor the child will die froom childbitht, all u have to do is find the right doctor or hospital. second and even third opinions are sometimes necessary to do so. i prefer theology to philosophy as Divine spirituality is more inspiring than human spitituality. kerry isn't God and Bush is close to him, Jesus that is.

[Christy]

If Kerry truly did believe so much in Jesus, he would not be in the party that not only condones but celebrates the killing of unborn children.

[Green Gaia]

Originally Posted by Christy

If Kerry truly did believe so much in Jesus, he would not be in the party that not only condones but celebrates the killing of unborn children.

Celebrates? Could you explain that please.

[Phoenix]

there right mind knows that abortion is murder.

Murder isn't always bad, especially when the women is raped, impregnated, and incapable of supporting a child. Adoption isn't always the right answer. You just believe that because of your religion. Step outside of it and view things objectively for a change.

in my church one can''t choose what he wants to believe

That sucks.

if ure immoral ure sinning and insane or abnormal.

What?! If I'm immoral, I'm insane?! I actually know quite a few sane people, myself included, who don't always follow religious ethics. Go get a degree in psychology before you start generalizing people insane. I think you're abnormal and insane because you're religious. How does that sound?

by the way we have technologically improved to where the mother nor the child will die froom childbitht, all u have to do is find the right doctor or hospital. second and even third opinions are sometimes necessary to do so.

Sometimes a mother doesn't have the time to fly to a hospital across the country. I'd rather my mother, wife, or dear friend have an abortion than die trying to conform to a bunch of religious ethics.

i prefer theology to philosophy as Divine spirituality is more inspiring than human spitituality.

I'd much rather choose someone who can make good decisions rather than turn to God just because it's more inspiring to the people. That sounds a little fake to me.

kerry isn't God and Bush is close to him, Jesus that is.

Kerry never claimed to be God. And yeah, Bush is close, if you consider close using him as a political tool, IE "God Bless America", using God to justify the war (God told me to go to war), yeah.

If Kerry truly did believe so much in Jesus, he would not be in the party that not only condones but celebrates the killing of unborn children.

Celebrates it?! Uh, try again. "the party that gives the decision to abort to the mother" is more like it. And it should be her decision, seeing as she carried it for nine months and all... Property is 9/10ths of the law is it not?

[Mr Spinkles]

Murder isn't always bad, especially when the women is raped, impregnated, and incapable of supporting a child. Adoption isn't always the right answer. You just believe that because of your religion. Step outside of it and view things objectively for a change.

I think adoption is the right answer, especially after a couple of months into the pregnancy...that's not a religious belief, it's a moral stance.

Kerry never claimed to be God. And yeah, Bush is close, if you consider close using him as a political tool, IE "God Bless America", using God to justify the war (God told me to go to war), yeah.

That's just political rhetoric. Bush didn't use God to "justify the war"...he used resolutions passed by the U.N. security council and the terms of peace from the first Gulf War to justify it.

[Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Mr_Spinkles

I think adoption is the right answer, especially after a couple of months into the pregnancy...that's not a religious belief, it's a moral stance.

You mean, people adopt fetuses and embryoes? Strange.

That's just political rhetoric. Bush didn't use God to "justify the war"...he used resolutions passed by the U.N. security council and the terms of peace from the first Gulf War to justify it.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00138.htm

Ahem.

And didn't the UN tell Bush not to go to war, but to continue searching with weapons inspectors instead? Hrm.

[trishtrish10]

i'm roman catholic and so says kerry, but he chooses which truths to believe in and which not. that's not practical and is rebellious. many catholic politicians who publicly support abortion are seperated from us by denial of commmunion with the church, depending on the bishop. bush is protestant and acts more like a catholic than kerry. i'm completely supportive of bush and believe he will go down in history as one of our greater presidents. i don't know where kerry will end up but i hope he publicly denounces his stance on abortion for his own sake.