"You Can't Be Catholic and Be Pro..." A Bumper Sticker Enlightens Me on Religion

Last Sunday as my girlfriend and I were walking from the parking lot into church, I noticed something which stood right out at me. One of the cars parked on the street had a bumper stick which read "You can't be Catholic and Pro-Abortion." Normally, things of this nature wouldn't cause me to blink. After all, how many people still have their "Kerry/Edwards" bumper stickers on their vehicles?

Quick side note to those of you that still rock the John Kerry for president bumper stickers: The 2004 election is over, and to be honest I don't like Kerry's chances.

As I said, normally a bumper sticker of any kind would not cause me to have much reaction at all. Yet for some reason I have found myself thinking about this particular one for about a week now. This incessant chant over and over in my head.

"You can't be Catholic and Pro-Abortion."

I remember coming out of the church that same Sunday and noticing a middle-aged couple enter the vehicle being adorned by the sticker. I didn't recognize the individuals, but I did get a good enough look to know that neither one of them was the priest at the church. Nor did either look like the pope. However, there they were; telling the world who may or may not be Catholic.

This caused me to ponder just who is allowed to be Catholic these days. Throughout the short period I have been attending this particular church, the priest has occasionally discussed his feelings on political topics in his homily. Upon hearing what he has said, I have come up with two definitive rules that must be adhered in order to be Catholic. I'm sure there are more, but these are the two that I have heard the most in the past six months or so.

Ironically, the first is summed upped perfectly by the bumper sticker. A person cannot call themselves a Catholic if they are pro-abortion. To be honest, I don't have a problem with this rule. I would even go so far as to say a person cannot even be a Christian if he or she is pro-abortion. In fact, I'd even go out on a limb and say if somebody is pro-abortion, he or she probably isn't a very good person at heart.