Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has read in newspapers and seen various pundits on TV make much hay out of the revelation that President Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge John Roberts, is a “good Catholic.”

The fact that Judge Roberts appears to be a member of the Roman Catholic faith (in good standing) seems to upset many on the political left. They say that Judge Robert’s personal faith may sway his judgement on issues that come before the court. Most notably left-wing pundits say that Roberts the Catholic would definately vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Now leaving aside the fact that “Catholics” like Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass) or former Governor Mario Cuomo (D-NY) (for example) never seemed to be questioned about how their faith might have affected their thoughts on the abortion issue; it seems as though being a Catholic is now a litmus test for pproval from the left.

This is very curious. Because as your Maximum Leader sees it, other than the abortion issue Roman Catholic theology is often aligned with political programs favoured by those on the left. Concepts of “social justice” and faith-based principles that lead to socialism and wealth distribution in practice have long been in alignment with Roman Catholic theology.

Which would you rather have? Abortion or Welfare? That seems to be an unasked question in the on-going punditry over the Roberts nomination. Those on the left, it seems, would rather object to Judge Roberts on the basis that a good Catholic wouldn’t support abortion; than possibly win the panoply of other issues that Judge Robert’s faith should hold sway over.

Frankly, those on the right appear to want to overturn Roe v. Wade more than limit some of the New Deal/War on Poverty programs to which they (purported) object.

This whole discussion of Robert’s religion seems oddly out of place. First off, groups that should be supporting him (if they knew anything about his faith) are objecting to him. Secondly, if he was a Protestant would this discussion be ongoing? Doubtful. Is Roman Catholicism still the boogey-man religion of the 19th Century? It seems as though if someone is Catholic it is assumed that their faith is somehow more important to them than if they were Presbyterian or Episcopalian.

Perhaps we should hope that our Senators will elevate their discussion above the level of religiously motivated sniping.

Carry on.