Stephen F. Kislock, III – 12/3/08

This page was last updated on December 10, 2008.

Please define voter intimidation; Stephen F. Kislock, III; Beaver County Times; December 3, 2008.

Most of Mr. Kislock’s 30+ letters over the last four years have been Republican-bashing exercises. This is at least the second letter in which Mr. Kislock displayed an apparent opposition to religion. I need to point out in neither of his letters has Mr. Kislock indicated whether or not he believes in a god.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“Is it voter intimidation when the leadership for any religious organization or church threatens its membership with excommunication and entrance into heaven or forbids the sacraments if they support a certain political candidate?”

[RWC] You’ll note that throughout this rant, Mr. Kislock doesn’t provide one example of this happening.

In an attempt to defend his position on the Times website, Mr. Kislock did provide a couple of alleged examples (here and here). One big problem for Mr. Kislock is the “voter intimidation” examples he provided came after the election. If these two Catholic priests were trying to intimidate parishioners, they were a bit late.

“The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights supersedes all religions in our country. Voter intimidation is a violation of the law of the land, be it the Ku Klux Klan, your minister, priest or employer.”

[RWC] “The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights supersedes all religions in our country?” No, it does not. Religions have their rules for membership. Regardless of what activities U.S. law may allow, religions are the last word when it comes to deciding what makes a member in good standing. For example, the law allows abortion, but the Catholic Church prohibits it.

[Note to Mr. Kislock. The Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments) is part of the Constitution. Thus saying the “United States Constitution and Bill of Rights” is redundant.]

Note how Mr. Kislock compares the Catholic Church to the KKK. This guy clearly has some serious issues with religion.

“Any religious organization or church that tells its members they are going to hell or will be denied the sacraments if they vote for so-and-so must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for voter intimidation.”

[RWC] Blah, blah, blah.

“If the churches in the United States want to be political as well as religious, they must not be tax exempt.

“Live as the law is written — or pay taxes.

“Say ‘no’ to voter intimidation from any source.”

[RWC] Why do folks like Mr. Kislock appear to be so afraid of religion? Did a nun crack his knuckles with a ruler when Mr. Kislock was a kid? <g>

By the way, we heard from Democrats that not voting for Mr. Obama meant you were a racist, and that was both before and after the election. I wonder if Mr. Kislock counts that as “voter intimidation.”