I have written various pieces (q.v.) about the few bishops of the Catholic Church who stood up to Pelosi and Biden last month about abortion, which brought back the debate about excommunicating leftist Catholics (oxymoron alert!) who support all sorts of issues inimical to Catholic/Christian teachings, or at least denying them Communion at Mass, a sort of half-way step toward excommunication.

One archbishop, Raymond Burke of Saint Louis, on October 3rd, said the Democrat Party was becoming the “party of Death”: the story normally would cause screaming MSM headlines. Did you hear about it? Normally the MSM would be demanding apologies, along with Reid and Pelosi and Biden demanding freedom of conscience, etc.

http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=29806

With a heavy heart, Archbishop Raymond Burke acknowledges that the U.S. Democratic Party is quickly moving to become the “party of death.” The new head of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature said this in an interview published Saturday by the Italian episcopal conference’s daily newspaper Avvenire.In this interview conducted by Gianni Cardinale, the archbishop, who was formerly the archbishop of St. Louis, comments on his move to Rome and his views of election-year politics in the United States.

We know why the MSM refused to fuss about this: no analysis is necessary. But such a comment has been the exception: and even with the IRS rules about losing tax-exempt status if churches become politicized, we know that there are ways for the churches to express their pleasure and displeasure at certain political trends.

I can say that the American Catholic Church has been timid in recent decades about commenting on the political scene as an institution: part of this is an historical reluctance from the desire to be absorbed into the melting pot and not be too apart from the Protestant majority, part of it comes from the lack of consensus among the hierarchy, and another part comes from theological conflicts, e.g. the Vatican refusing to accept the self-defensive nature of the Iraq War, opposing capital punishment, and other stances which are part of a left-wing agenda.

But what has happened to the voices of Conservative Christians in this election?

We know that James Dobson said in February he would sit out the election, if McCain won the nomination. This is probably one reason for the silence. Recently however, Dobson has changed his mind.

http://www.citizenlink.org/focusaction/updates/A000008358.cfm

Did the MSM report this? Did you hear about it? Again we know why not.

To be sure, a few brave pastors are going head-to-head with the IRS rules which have silenced many churchmen:

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/465541.aspx

Mormons were no doubt dismayed by the intolerance shown to Romney, and rightly so, and other conservative Christians have no doubt been suffering Huckabee disappointment.

And in a report from Virginia last May, Robert Novak wrote:

“Nevertheless, the word is that some evangelicals dispute Huckabee’s support. One experienced, credible activist in Christian politics who would not let his name be used told me that Huckabee, in personal conversation with him, had embraced the concept that an Obama presidency might be what the American people deserve. That fits what has largely been a fringe position among evangelicals: that the pain of an Obama presidency is in keeping with the Bible’s prophecy.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/11/AR2008051101786.html

So there are some Conservative Christians who think Big Brobama is the punishing hand of God, ready to whip America for its sins in tolerating promiscuity, homosexuality, etc. The logic of this belief for such people is beyond debate.

They will sit out the election and turn their backs on the destruction of the American Sodom and Gomorrah.

So it seems that Conservative Christians have become fragmented in this election, and are perhaps therefore not the strong force one would have expected to see in an election where ideas hostile to their beliefs are threatening to become the law of the land.