Posted by
Mike on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 10:11:29 PM
Today I received a call from the Giuliani campaign office in New
York. The way I see it, Rudy will have to overcome a couple of
major obstacles in order to win the Republican nomination.
The first has been discussed elsewhere below as over-zealousness.
Lawyers are supposed to be zealous, but not to go after people who are
not bad guys. Today, there are questions being raised about
some of the Wall Street indictments which I remember well as I was also
a practicing lawyer at that time.
The second has to do with marriage and relationships. Regarding
this, I do not claim to be an expert having never been married
myself. However, I can make several observations with regard to
Christian ethics and morality, and what bearing this may have on
politics. From the perspective of Church doctrine which applies
to Mr. Giuliani, his first marriage does not count because of the
degree of consanguinity in that the spouses were first cousins was a
basis for an annulment of the marriage, meaning that, from the point of
view of the Church, there never was a marriage. The second
marraige and divorce however pose the real obstacle because of the
children and that it was probably a valid marriage as most marriages
are presumed to be. To remarry after a divorce is not the same
for a Protestant like President Reagan as it is for a Catholic like
Giuliani, or for an Orthodox Christian, because in the latter cases the
valid marriage is done sacramentally which means that it does exist as
long as both spouses are alive. The subsequent marriage would be
a reason for Catholics and Orthodox Christians to not vote for
Giuliani, always being careful not to judge the person or persons
involved.
Another point has to do with the excommunication for supporting laws
that allow abortion. The Church does uphold the primacy of
conscience with regard to moral decisions. Something could be
objectively scandalous and therefore sinful while being subjectively
not a sin for a particular person. Again, care must be taken in
order to not judge the person. The excommunication here would be
automatic which means that the politician could not receive communion,
something which would already be prohibitive on account of the
marriage irreguliarities irrespective of the stand on abortion.