You seem to have lost sight of the official Republican party platform. Knee-jerk opposition to everything President Obama does or says is not the definition of being a Republican. Your party stands for limiting government, promoting fiscal responsibility and encouraging economic growth through capitalism. Why have you lost sight of these important issues instead to focus on inserting your Christian beliefs into national politics?
Ours is a country founded on the separation of church and state; a stance you should be thankful for rather than repulsed by. Because of our wall of separation, the government, currently run by your arch nemesis, cannot decide what faith you practice, how you pray, or define what is holy.
You are Catholic and your faith is probably the single most important thing in your life. You have been given the great freedom to practice Catholicism: to believe that the communion wafer is actually transformed into the body of Christ and that the Pope is the earthly spiritual authority of God. Of course you recognize not all Christian's hold these belief and I hope you plan to allow them to continue recognizing communion as symbolic of the body and blood of Christ and rejecting the authority of the Pope.
By all means you should let your conscience be your guide at the polls and if your faith has given you the conviction that homosexuality is sinful then by all means hold tight to that belief and don't commit the act of homosexuality.
Your faith is yours, and yours alone. Practice it in your church, in your home and in your heart. Do not, however, presume to rule based on your understanding of the Christian faith. I implore you to consider the consequences of this ruling based on faith that you advocate.
What if Mitt Romney is elected President? Would you support outlawing coffee because God has instructed us to avoid "hot drinks?" What if a Jehovah's Witness were elected President? Would we replace all images of Christ on a cross with one of him on a tree, or outlaw blood transfusions?
You can be both a Catholic and a President without sacrificing your duties as either. God has called you to worship him through Catholic mass and the country calls on you to neither hinder nor encourage any religion. You can hold public office and oppose gay marriage for plenty of secular reason. You can observe the Sabbath and deploy the troops. You are not required to check your faith at the door when you assume the mantle of public leadership. But you are forbidden from legislating your particular beliefs on the entire nation.
Thanks to our forefather's instance on keeping faith and government separate, you are free to be a Catholic, Quaker, Buddhist, Atheist or any other faith you choose. All members of society are free to discuss their beliefs in the public square and to vote according to what they believe.
The government simply can't promote or hinder - that's all. So the next time you feel like "throwing up" at the mention of the separation of Church and State, I implore you to remember the freedom you have to practice your Catholic faith in country largely dominated by Protestants.
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