Catholic polarization reached new peak in 2004 election, speaker says
On the 2004 Presidential Election-"A "more ominous" element of the election-year divisions, said William A. Dinges, a professor of religious studies at The Catholic University of America and a member of the university's Life Cycle Institute, was the "vitriolic and escalating" rhetoric and "uncivil behavior, characterized by confrontation, harassment and attempts at intimidation."

What does this say!? Did you see this where you live? Did I miss something? Or now Pres. Bush supporters-Right Wing-Christians are considered terrorists again? Hmmm? My own pastor after 9-11 said that "we should be careful of fundamentalist Catholics that hide behind the magisterium "-he inferred that "they" could be considered terrorists too. This statement was made the Sunday after--after 9-11. I don't know what he said after the actual election.

The above statement was just recently made "addressing a national gathering of about 100 diocesan social action leaders." What doesn't sit right here is the fact that this guy and others like him are still holding on to their anger. And I have to say that this is not good for their bodies. Too much anger will take over you and then all those social programs that "they"control and administer will become hampered or stifled. People don't work well under that kind of stress. No that's not good at all.

"He said much of this was fueled by a relatively small number of groups and individual Catholics who sought to get the entire Catholic community to make the election hinge on the issues of abortion and embryonic stem-cell research, but the polarization itself runs deep across the Catholic community."

Small groups and individual Catholics? Really? "Google" these terms: "Catholic", "Kerry", & "Reception". Looks like there are 76,600 possible sites that one can review to decide the number of groups and individuals that were "harassing" and "intimidating" fellow Catholics nationwide.

By the way...if this article bothers you since it is on a "Catholic" website...why don't you contact them at this address: cns@catholicnews.com. They won't know that this bothers you if you just ignore it! You can tell them your opinions too!