Common cause, uncommon coalition

[mrgorth]

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/11872743.htm

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Much attention is being paid to the teaming up of conservative Roman Catholics and conservative Protestant evangelicals to press for causes such as ending abortion and fighting homosexuality. Although the two groups have a history of shared morality, they have only recently begun to march together, as when they joined forces to try to keep Terri Schiavo alive.

What has divided them in the past, often at sword points, are basic beliefs, none more fiercely than their conflicting views of the pope.

To Catholics, he is the stand-in for Jesus Christ, with authority to rule the church. To evangelicals and other Protestants, those claims are false; the pope is a human invention.

But traditional obstacles have been set aside in the interests of building a political coalition. How long can such a truce last, given the underlying convictions on both sides? Pope Benedict XVI's imperious view of other Christians provides a clue that could strike a blow at the heart of that alliance.
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