St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke just plain pisses me off.


I consider myself a religious man, one that tries his hardest to be a good man and to always do the right thing, one that is proud of his Catholic faith, but Burke really gets on my bad side for having a tendency to focus more on his politics than his own damn flock.
Last week, Burke resigned as head of a children’s medical charity that had booked Crow for a benefit concert. The former chairman of the Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation announced in a press release that he was quitting after its board of governors refused to pull the plug on Crow’s Saturday concert in St. Louis. But the Archbishop didn’t stop there. Referring to Crow as “a high profile proponent of the destruction of innocent lives,” and a ”well-known as an abortion activist” in his Wednesday statement, Burke announced to the St. Louis community that one of Missouri’s favorite daughters was an affront to the identity and mission of the medical center, dedicated as it is to the service of life and Christ’s healing mission.
Would you like to hear what makes Madame Sheryl a baby killer in Burke’s book? Crow came out in support of embrionic stem-cell research when last fall she taped an ad supporting Missouri’s Amendment 2.
Sheryl Crow was ready to roots-rock the Fox Theatre this past weekend for CHILDREN WITH CANCER. That’s right, Crow was performing in support of the Bob Costas Cancer Center at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center. I think Allen Allred, chairman of the planning committee for the fundraiser and a board member of the Cardinal Glennon’s Children’s Foundation — the fundraising arm of the hospital - said it best:
“This event is about helping sick kids. I’m disappointed and saddened there are people in our community who are attempting to use this event to further a political agenda. If we go down that road, do we start asking doctors for their positions on abortion? Do we quiz every single donor what they think of embryonic stem cell research before accepting their money?”
And then Burke made it even better, describing the decision as his cross to bear: “I have to answer to God for the responsibilities which I have as archbishop. For me to remain silent in this situation would be the gravest scandal, because people would get the impression that their spiritual leader also thinks this is just fine.”
One: Burke, you are a hypocrite and a disgrace to the true Roman Catholic faith.
This is the same church leader that in 2004 said to not grant presidential candidate John Kerry communion (Kerry is Pro-Choice). Didn’t our Savior say something about casting stones, old man? You are a man, not the judge of man, and as a leader of faith, you pray for what you percieve to be “evil” not excommunicate potential leaders of the Nation. This is also the same church leader that a few years back stripped a priest of his collar for refusing to redirect his parish’s fundraising collection plate for their church to the diocese.
Two: Burke, you are an opportunist. This is not an event for speeches but to try to generate funding to find a cure.



You even pissed off Bob Costas: “I never applied a litmus test, Catholic or otherwise, concerning the political or religious beliefs of any of the generous performers who have come to St. Louis to help this worthy cause; nor do I intend to, now or ever.” A.K.A.: this is NOT a political event. It’s a humanitarian event.
Third: I like Sheryl Crow not because of her varied liberal opinions but because I like her music. So back off.
I am comfortable enough in my manhood to crank her music up and sing along. I also like the fact that she is against the death penalty, like the Catholic Church, and the Iraq War, which the late Pope John Paul II flat out told President Bush in a news conference that he was WRONG and didn’t support his decision even though Bush was there to present his Holiness an award. Burke’s response? “That’s his personal view.” When Pope JP II did everything in his power to stop Bush from a war based on lies, including speaking to the UN, Burke ran a series of articles on “The Just War Theory.” Glad to know you’re smarter than the Pope, pompous ass.
Burke, there is something that you need to be aware of: Good is Good and Bad is Bad, and it’s you who should know which one you are before the Church cries, “There Goes the Neighborhood,” over your Favorite Mistake-your arrogance. If it Makes You Happy, fine. Be the Difficult Kind, it doesn’t prove that you are Strong Enough to lead MY church. And All I Wanna Do is take a Picture of Steve McQueen kicking your personal agenda driven self till I can’t see that smug Light in Your Eyes. I Shall Believe that your hypocrisy will be exposed before you go Home. P.S. I’m listening to Sheryl Crow’s Letter to God off her Wildflower album as I write this.
Don’t insult your flock by playing our spirituality like pawns. Run for mayor if you want to, but don’t pull that crap. Let Sheryl sing her songs to help save the lives of children dying…what are doing to help children dying of cancer, Mr. Archbishop?
Would Christ bitch about a hippie singer or would He say, “Let the children come to me?” Oh, wait HE did say that. (Mark 10:14)
http://slatts.blogspot.com/2007/04/comment-needing-rebuke-and-correction.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070426/music_nm/religion_crow_dc
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/9343BF529E9E6A17862572C9000FB5A1?OpenDocument