Rev. Jay Scott Newman, S.C. Priest Tells Parishioners Who Voted for Barack Obama, Not to Take Communion

Rev. Jay Scott Newman, a South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has reportedly told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because he supports abortion. He said that supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil." Wow, so Barack Obama is the scourge of the Catholic Church. What a bunch of hypocrites. It's okay to sweep the numerous incidents of child molestation under a rug, but it is okay to vilify Obama for his views.

The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.

"Our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president," Newman wrote, referring to Obama by his full name, including his middle name of Hussein.

"Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exits constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ's Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation." Source: Breitbart

This really crazy. During the 2008 presidential campaign, many bishops spoke out on abortion more boldly than four years earlier, telling Catholic politicians and voters that the issue should be the most important consideration in setting policy and deciding which candidate to back. A few church leaders said parishioners risked their immortal soul by voting for candidates who support abortion rights.

According to national exit polls, 54 percent of Catholics chose Obama, who is Protestant. In South Carolina, which McCain carried, voters in Greenville County—traditionally seen as among the state's most conservative areas—went 61 percent for the Republican, and 37 percent for Obama.

"It was not an attempt to make a partisan point," Newman said in a telephone interview Thursday. "In fact, in this election, for the sake of argument, if the Republican candidate had been pro-abortion, and the Democratic candidate had been pro-life, everything that I wrote would have been exactly the same."Source: Breitbart.

This priest is way off base. Let me remind the religious fanatics of the fact that God chooses the people he wants to lead. For example, wasn't Moses a murderer? David, an adulterer? Mary Magdalene, a prostitute? I could go on and on. This priest is way off base and acting beyond his authority. His actions are selfish and will be of great cost to those parishioners who supported Mr. Obama, a right they are afforded under the Constitution. President Bush is a devout Christian, but he went into war in Iraq on a lie. I don't hear any religious people being vocal about that. Father Jay Scott Newman, stick to your job of winning souls for Christ, not turning people away.