Cardinal Roger M. Mahony this week denounced proposed legislation that would allow mentally competent individuals who have six months or less to live to obtain drugs that can end their lives. Mahony singled out Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez who has said he was "ready to buck my church" on the issue. A Nunez spokesman framed it as an issue of "individual choice where the overwhelming majority of Catholics have a different perspective than the official position of the church." With surveys showing many evanglical Christians setting aside their opposition to abortion to support pro-abortion rights GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, are you concerned about this apparent trend of voters and elected leaders prioritizing politics over religious beliefs?

I have long been concerned that Americans vote their pocket books and "winning" over moral convictions.  We see on a regular basis the satisfaction with our leaders changing as often as the economic or opportunist winds change.  Politics is founded on the "poli" the people.  When we are most concerned about politics, we are most concerned about the will of the people.  As a republic, meaning we have a representative form of government we are intended to elect people who will represent us, but not based on our day to day whims, but on our convictions.  We are meant to elect people with moral fiber who will lead with conviction.  Unfortunately, we often elect people who are influenced more by power and money than by conviction.   So they end up being like a thin weed blowing in the winds of change, dependent on the kindness of the wind for survival.  When we do get a political leader with any moral conviction, who doesn't bend to the winds of convenience, they are chided as stubborn, imperialistic, ignorant and out of touch.  Unfortunately, even people in the pews are not immune to this trend, especially if they are not people of conviction themselves.  ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

It is ironic that the same people who demanded Bill Clinton be impeached for his moral behavior are pushing for the election of someone whose behavior makes Bill Clinton look like a Boy Scout.