Progressives Attempt to Divide Conservatives With Laudato Si.

There is no lack of "news" headlines on the Internet attempting to spin the Pope's "climate change" encyclical into a political groove.

From USA Today - Pope's climate change statement a challenge for Republicans.

Desmogblog writes - Republican Presidential Candidates Attack Pope’s Climate Change Encyclical

And from Huffington Post - Right Wing Steamed Over Pope's Climate Change Encyclical

Hoping to divide Republicans, Democrats are overjoyed that GOP Catholics more convinced about climate change than other Republicans.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has even gone so far as to say, "We really must listen to his Holiness as we go forward.".

Are the Democrats ready to embrace Pope Francis and his encyclical, Laudato si completely?

Is Pelosi, fellow CINO John Kerry, and Democrat Presidential favorite, Hillary Clinton ready to accept what is written concerning abortion in Laudato si ?

nationaljournal.com quotes the papal encyclical:

"Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?"

Another bothersome quote for Democrats:

Instead of resolving the problems of the poor and thinking of how the world can be different, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate. At times, developing countries face forms of international pressure which make economic assistance contingent on certain policies of "reproductive health". Yet "while it is true that an unequal distribution of the population and of available resources creates obstacles to development and a sustainable use of the environment, it must nonetheless be recognized that demographic growth is fully compatible with an integral and shared development." To blame population growth instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues.

I've read Pope Francis' latest encyclical and I've found nothing in it that I can object to. I'm not a scientist by any stretch of the imagination, so my thoughts on whether the planet is experiencing anthropogenic climate change involves a certain amount of trust in "authorities". I trust Al Gore, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama and their ilk about as far as I can hurl the planet Earth, but I don't put much faith in the scientific views of Rush Limbaugh or Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe either.

Is the Earth warming? If so, is that warming due, in large part to human activity? I have absolutely no proof one way or the other, but I trust Pope Francis more than anyone else speaking on the issue.

Santorum Takes Time Off.

On a local radio station, a Romney supporter speculated that after his four day break from campaigning, Rick Santorum would throw in the towel. This guy couldn't think of any other reason why Santorum would come off the campaign trail for four days.

I guess the guy has never heard of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter.

Photo of Santorum receiving Holy Communion from Badger Catholic.

Romney Supporters Take down Santorum Signs.

Here's an interesting video...........

Early Voting - February, 2012.

It shouldn't come to a surprise to anyone who knows me, but I decided quite some time ago that, come this November, I'll vote for which ever Republican candidate is on the ballot to run against Barack Obama.

The difficulty for me has been the decision on who I should vote for in the Ga. Republican primary. Is it best to vote for who I think is the better candidate - policy wise - or should I vote for the candidate I feel has the best chance of beating Obama. They're not necessarily one and the same.

The date for the primary is March 6, but we have early voting in Georgia. I'll be voting today.

I've been giving the matter a lot of thought; after the recent attack on the Catholic Church by the Obama administration, I've decided to vote for Rick Santorum.

Ann Coulter Angers Some Catholic Bloggers.

There are times when a complete and thorough understanding of certain political labels seems to elude me. What is it, exactly, that some folks mean by the terms "liberal" or "conservative"? Who sets the criteria?

In my own case, I would generally consider myself a Conservative, but surprisingly, there has been times when even yours truly has been accused of being a Liberal. One incident sticks out in my memory; a few years ago, when the Supreme Court held that prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps had a right to habeas corpus under the United States Constitution, someone commenting on my blog called me a Liberal for agreeing with the Court's decision. Nothing I could say about my pro-life position or my views on the role of the Federal government's involvement in our lives made any difference with this person. The fact that I wanted to see the size of the Federal government drastically reduced - or the fact that I am in total agreement with the Catholic church's view on abortion - meant nothing to this person.

I bring up this confusion on my part because of a recent article written by Ann Coulter where, when writing on Rick Santorum, she stated that Santorum was "more of a Catholic than a conservative, which means he's good on 60 percent of the issues, but bad on others......". One Catholic blogger took offense to Coulter's comment, calling her a "BIGOT" and "something else that begin with a 'B' and an 'I' ". I don't agree with that assessment of Coulter.....I know exactly what she means. Catholic teaching doesn't fall in line with either political label. Liberals decry the Church's teachings on abortion, marriage and women's ordination, for example, while many Conservatives fall out with the Church over capital punishment and immigration. Many, so called "rock solid Conservatives" like Sean Hannity can't go along with Catholic teaching against artificial contraception.

Let's face it; if one is a true, devout Catholic, one will not conveniently fit in with either secular Conservatism or secular Liberalism.

Like Santorum, I would consider myself more Catholic than Conservative. Ann Coulter and I are not in 100% agreement on every political issue, but I certainly don't believe she is an anti-Catholic bigot, nor do I view her recent column as "a nasty piece of work" the way this Catholic blogger does.

As an aside, not everyone thinks Santorum follows Church teaching to the letter.

Books.

Sadly, I've fallen behind on my reading. My work is partly to blame. Unfortunately, I am one of those individuals who must spend eight (and sometimes 16) hours a day -excepting weekends- working at a job I am not crazy about. Some of you might be saying that I should be thankful I have a job during the Obama recession, but that is a subject for another day.

Another reason I haven't spent as much of my free time reading as I think I should can be placed upon my love of the Internet...... too much time going over the news......too much time reading my favorite (and not so favorite) blogs.

For what it's worth, I'm posting a list of what I'm currently reading along with a list of what I'll be reading next.

1) The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux [Kindle Edition]
This particular Kindle edition is free. If you don't have a Kindle, you can get Kindle for PC - also free.

2) Rick Santorum's It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good. I blogged on that earlier.

3) If Protestantism is True by Devon Rose. (also on Kindle).
I discovered this book via a book review at The Impractical Catholic.

I had originally thought of posting a list of the books I have on Kindle. I'm not going to do that now. There are beaucoup books that can be downloaded for no charge available for Kindle. I've downloaded nearly eighty already.....impossible to say when I'll dive into that library.

Santorum Two.

In Saturday's post, I named 3 Catholic bloggers who support Rick Santorum as a Presidential candidate. Today, I'll link to one who who doesn't care for him.
I'm not sure if this blogger is Catholic,but she's unhappy with Santorum as well.

Santorum.

Catholic bloggers Lisa Graas,Stacy Trasancos and Thomas Peters have persuaded me to take a closer look at Rick Santorum as someone I could support for POTUS in 2012.

Previously, I was one of those that Thomas refers to when he says -
"Most people who have heard of Rick Santorum’s political history and reputation have already made up their minds about him."

But, as Thomas also points out, most of what I thought I knew about Santorum came from misinformation from the mainstream media.

According to his website, Santorum is a Champion of Faith & Families - a Defender of the Taxpayer and a Believer in American Exceptionalism.

A New Hampshire TV station has a 30 minute conversation with the candidate that is certainly worth watching.

Those of you who are, like me, fiscally responsible and want to learn more how Santorum thinks can purchase a hardcover copy of his book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, from amazon.com for $1.96 plus $3.99 shipping. I ordered one today.