The Vetting - Obama's War on Catholic Church Began at His First Job

Let's just keep this train rolling shall we. I'll put it all together in a compilation thread in the end.

We are all aware of the very recent and deliberate toss up Obama has had with the Catholic church and many other Christians over the past couple of months and he's still at it. Why would a man poised for reelection take such a battle to the streets knowing he will lose support? Obviously, he hopes to gain support from another voter base. That's how he was trained to operate.

Here we go.

One of the least explored periods of Barack Obama’s life is the period between his graduation from Columbia University in 1983 and his arrival at Harvard Law School in 1988.

This was a crucial, formative time for the young Obama. It was during these years that Barack Obama, “community organizer,” forged his identity and the relationships that would bring him to the White House. And he did so hand-in-hand with the radical Catholic left in Chicago.

Obama’s first job in Chicago began in 1985 with Jerry Kellman, a Saul Alinksy-trained community organizer who continues to work with the radical Catholic left in the Windy City.

While working for Kellman, Obama's job was to expand Kellman's work, related to "social justice teachings" of the radical Catholic Left, into the Black Community.

Here is where my jaw just dropped

He was paid by these radical Catholic leftists, who in turn had received their money from their parishioners or the larger Catholic church. Obama’s travel documents and expenses were signed and approved by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin,a controversial figure in the Catholic church who supported nearly every left-wing movement within it. Though Bernardin was well liked in Chicago, especially by a fawning media anxious to have a Catholic imprimatur on nearly every social issue of the day, Bernardin's work undermined many Catholic teachings.

More on the Cardinal later

Once again another Alinsky connection this time via the Cardinal

Bernardin’s most enduring left-wing project was the Campaign for Human Development (CHD)—which, according to Obama biographer Stanley Kurtz, is “probably the largest funding source for community organizing in the United States.” According to George Weigel, writing in First Things, “the Campaign for Human Development began to support programs of community organizing modeled on or promoted by Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation.

One of the programs attached to the Cardinal's project was the Developing Communities Project run by Obama and Kellman.

So what did Obama actually do with the DCP? He explained in his first autobiography, Dreams from My Father:

The day after the rally, Marty [Jerry Kellman in Dreams] decided it was time for me to do some real work, and he handed me a long list of people to interview. Find out their self-interest, he said. That’s why people become involved in organizing—because they think they’ll get something out of it. Once I found an issue enough people cared about, I could take them into action. With enough actions, I could start to build power. Issues, action, power, self-interest. I liked these concepts. They bespoke a certain hardheadedness, a worldly lack of sentiment; politics, not religion. (Dreams from My Father, p. 155, 2007 edition)

You catch that? Obama learned how to exploit religion for pure Political gain. In his own words.

It's all about power and manipulation to gain more power. Forever, organizing.. like pieces on a chess board. Obama continues his Chicago work in the White House.

www.breitbart.com...

More later

Cardinal Bernadine is a notoriously anti-Catholic Catholic. Back in the 1990s there was a lot of chatter about him verses EWTN - the authentic Catholic cable television network. EWTN (which has Vatican oversight) won. Bernadine was said to have died while watching EWTN .. at his request.

I've got to admit that I am rather disappointed to see a lack of response from the professional Obama defenders regarding every single vetting thread. Makes you wonder??

I guess it is too difficult to refute the facts.

reply to post by jibeho


They are busy right now....

There's too much damage control with current events today

Good thread

What is the "radical Catholic left?"

Are those the Catholics that pushed to allow meat to be eaten on Fridays, that the Pope apologize for Galileo and do something about Catholic child abuse? Are those the Catholics that use birth control?

reply to post by windword


Cardinal Bernadin preached from the left. He fostered the liberal Catholic movement which has since been disbanded. He was a very powerful man and most likely a key figure in the cover up surrounding the now famous sexual abuse scandal that crippled the church.

Rest assured the man is most likely living out his afterlife in purgatory.

reply to post by jibeho

Cardinal Bernadin preached from the left. He fostered the liberal Catholic movement which has since been disbanded.

What does that mean? What kind of issues did he foster? What are Catholic leftist issues, birth control, the Pope isn't inerrant?

reply to post by windword


It's all in the article referenced in the OP. And plenty more if you read a little deeper into his past. Especially in regards to the cover up of the widespread sexual abuse in the Church. He is thought to be one of the leading powers behind the cover up which would have stayed covered until a newspaper broke the story opening the lawsuit floodgates in the aftermath.

We need to remember that Bernardin (100% Italian) was the Archbishop of Chicago.

That place is a City-State.

The Italian/Irish/Jewish Mafia runs the show.

They have for 150 years or so.

Here's a story (true) about one guy in particular.

The Vatican – Mafia – CIA
(post by me 3rd from the top)

reply to post by jibeho

The day after the rally, Marty [Jerry Kellman in Dreams] decided it was time for me to do some real work, and he handed me a long list of people to interview. Find out their self-interest, he said. That’s why people become involved in organizing—because they think they’ll get something out of it. Once I found an issue enough people cared about, I could take them into action. With enough actions, I could start to build power. Issues, action, power, self-interest. I liked these concepts. They bespoke a certain hardheadedness, a worldly lack of sentiment; politics, not religion. (Dreams from My Father, p. 155, 2007 edition)

You catch that? Obama learned how to exploit religion for pure Political gain. In his own words. It's all about power and manipulation to gain more power. Forever, organizing.. like pieces on a chess board. Obama continues his Chicago work in the White House.

That conclusion you draw is so unsound. Your title is dead wrong. Obama isn't waging a war on religion. I don't care how many times Fox News told you this. You can't find a single example of this. It's just fearmongering by them.

You realize that EVERY politician has the personality where they WANT POWER, right?
People enter politics to gain power...it's basically in the job description.

Obama worked for a catholic church and did nothing to sabotage it. How is that war?

reply to post by Ghost375


If you force a church itself, or an Institution it owns to defy it's own beliefs, you are attempting to control them.

Turn it around and do a comparison the other way. If he were to say force the Sierra Club to pay for spraying DDT on the lawn around their offices, he would be doing the same thing more or less.

The issue here is that the Catholic Church does not want to pay for something it believes to be wrong. Does not matter if they are wrong or not, it only matters they being forced to do something contrary to their beliefs in Institutions they own and fund.

That's where the problem comes in to play. If that can be done to them, then it can be done to any Church or Church owned Institution. It changes the whole country and chips away at our freedoms.

My reason for the example is to show that it can also happen to non-religious groups. For instance forcing folks who choose to drink unpasteurized milk, not to drink or buy it. Of course to do so it not very wise, but still it should be up to the individual what they drink. Same thing.

At some point you have to draw the line. Of course those who wish to force their will on others and agree with Obama put in a valiant effort to falsely change the issue to Birth Control to cover up for what they really want, which is more power over you and me.

Totalitarian States always start by negating religion to get it out of the way. That is just simple historical fact. Those who think like Obama won't care as they know they will be in the privileged class if and when they succeed in stripping our Rights.

Using the Alinsky model which is basically lie, cheat, manipulate, pretend to be somebody your not to get power is very damning.

Obama is not "at war" with the Catholic Church. This is just political rhetoric.

If a church-run hospital takes public money for it's operation, then it should be required to meet all levels of public care, and NOT pick and choose what type of care they will provide. If they want to do that - then they can get off the public dole and be a strictly private hospital.

Claiming he is "at war with the church" is a load of nonsense.

Originally posted by jibeho
Let's just keep this train rolling shall we. I'll put it all together in a compilation thread in the end.

We are all aware of the very recent and deliberate toss up Obama has had with the Catholic church and many other Christians over the past couple of months and he's still at it. Why would a man poised for reelection take such a battle to the streets knowing he will lose support? Obviously, he hopes to gain support from another voter base. That's how he was trained to operate.

Here we go.

One of the least explored periods of Barack Obama’s life is the period between his graduation from Columbia University in 1983 and his arrival at Harvard Law School in 1988.

This was a crucial, formative time for the young Obama. It was during these years that Barack Obama, “community organizer,” forged his identity and the relationships that would bring him to the White House. And he did so hand-in-hand with the radical Catholic left in Chicago.

Obama’s first job in Chicago began in 1985 with Jerry Kellman, a Saul Alinksy-trained community organizer who continues to work with the radical Catholic left in the Windy City.

While working for Kellman, Obama's job was to expand Kellman's work, related to "social justice teachings" of the radical Catholic Left, into the Black Community.

Here is where my jaw just dropped

He was paid by these radical Catholic leftists, who in turn had received their money from their parishioners or the larger Catholic church. Obama’s travel documents and expenses were signed and approved by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin,a controversial figure in the Catholic church who supported nearly every left-wing movement within it. Though Bernardin was well liked in Chicago, especially by a fawning media anxious to have a Catholic imprimatur on nearly every social issue of the day, Bernardin's work undermined many Catholic teachings.

My Jaw dropped as well. One of the problems with the raving looney right wing, is getting terminology mixed up, throwing words about as if insinuation means facts.

'Catholic leftists', is looney phraseology. WIthout explaining what you mean, reader's are left with inference. In other words, are left to decide what you mean by it, only knowing that you mean it to sound ominous without being specific. Common fear mongering tactics from the site you took it from and ATS deserves better than this thread.

More on the Cardinal later

Once again another Alinsky connection this time via the Cardinal

Bernardin’s most enduring left-wing project was the Campaign for Human Development (CHD)—which, according to Obama biographer Stanley Kurtz, is “probably the largest funding source for community organizing in the United States.” According to George Weigel, writing in First Things, “the Campaign for Human Development began to support programs of community organizing modeled on or promoted by Saul Alinsky’s Industrial Areas Foundation.

One of the programs attached to the Cardinal's project was the Developing Communities Project run by Obama and Kellman.

So what did Obama actually do with the DCP? He explained in his first autobiography, Dreams from My Father:

The day after the rally, Marty [Jerry Kellman in Dreams] decided it was time for me to do some real work, and he handed me a long list of people to interview. Find out their self-interest, he said. That’s why people become involved in organizing—because they think they’ll get something out of it. Once I found an issue enough people cared about, I could take them into action. With enough actions, I could start to build power. Issues, action, power, self-interest. I liked these concepts. They bespoke a certain hardheadedness, a worldly lack of sentiment; politics, not religion. (Dreams from My Father, p. 155, 2007 edition)

You catch that? Obama learned how to exploit religion for pure Political gain. In his own words.

It's all about power and manipulation to gain more power. Forever, organizing.. like pieces on a chess board. Obama continues his Chicago work in the White House.

This is supposed to prove what? Presuming that it has been taken in context (and we know how Breitbart is famous for taking things out of context), it stands to reason that ANY politician, needs to consider power, how they are going to get it, who their base will be etc. There is nothing unique or shocking about any of this. Politics is being hardheaded otherwise its a pointless exercise, you will get no-where. Obviously he likes it, as he is POTUS. And a very successful politician to boot.

If this is the best that the Brietbart site can do, its pretty embarrassing. Inference after inference and no meat to be had at all. Its trying to throw in the dreaded 'Socialism' tag, which has failed. What remains is a sentence. This is getting stupid now. Honestly, first a hug, now this.

This is a lame thread, try another anti-Catholic tactic. Booorrrrriinnngg.

BHO is evil

Bernardin was/is evil

So What? The true faith is Roman Catholicism, everything you know of
Christ came from the RCC.

The Remnant is Roman Catholic. Get with the picture, pray, convert,
desire the Eucharist.

Originally posted by RancorXXX
Obama is not "at war" with the Catholic Church. This is just political rhetoric.

If a church-run hospital takes public money for it's operation, then it should be required to meet all levels of public care, and NOT pick and choose what type of care they will provide. If they want to do that - then they can get off the public dole and be a strictly private hospital.

Claiming he is "at war with the church" is a load of nonsense.

You are right. He is after more governmental control by any means.

The other argument ignores that Birth Control is extremely cheap and readily available anywhere almost. Nobody is being denied anything. Problem with politics is both sides lie on every issue.

If a person can't find Birth Control for free, it only means they did not try to find it.

Truth is the Catholic Church can maintain there beliefs and at the same time women can already get Birth Control for cheap or for free anytime they want. So why force it on a religious institution knowing that to be a fact?

I'm not Catholic and I'm fine with Birth Control. I'm opposed to more government control of anything at all. Why do you wish them to control even the most private of aspects of or lives and in this case force this on one church even though it does not in any way limit the availability of the product?

Just curious here OP... What was your first job? Is it fair to say you still hold the ideals promoted by that corporation and/or your superiors?

Also, it's real easy to pin blame for something on a dead man. Maybe Bernadin assisted in a coverup, but he certainly wasn't alone if he did.

Obama can be criticized for a number of things, but this article is just insanity. There is no fact, only inferences and speculation.

Concerning Cardinal Bernadin:

Clerical abuse scandal Main article: Sexual abuse scandal in Chicago archdiocese Bernardin implemented a policy concerning priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors. His hand had been forced in this effort by a lawsuit by John and Jane Doe over the abuse of their child, one of the many clerical sex abuse cases that occurred during his tenure (and documented in the Sun Times by Andrew Greeley). Bernardin's reforms concerning this issue soon served as a model for other dioceses across the nation.[1] Bernardin himself said in a press conference that he had been accused of three cases of sexual misconduct. One of his accusers, former seminarian Stephen Cook, claimed to have been abused by Bernardin and another priest in the 1970s. However, Cook subsequently dropped Bernardin from his lawsuit, being no longer certain that his memories (which had emerged while he was under hypnosis) were accurate.[2] The two later reconciled; Cook told him[citation needed] in this meeting that his motivation for including him in the lawsuit was that it would make the case of a higher profile, and thus more likely to stick to his original abuser.

While this doesn't change the fact that abuse happened in his diocese, it becomes apparent that he himself did not take part in any of the abuse and was quite vocal about addressing the issue.

Seamless garment of Life In 1983 Bernardin developed the "Consistent Ethic of Life" (or CLE) ideology, which expressed his response to living in an age in which he believed modern technologies threatened the sanctity of human life. Bernardin's CLE philosophy is sometimes called the "seamless garment", a reference from John 19:23 to the seamless robe of Jesus. The seamless garment philosophy holds that issues such as abortion, capital punishment, militarism, euthanasia, social injustice and economic injustice all demand a consistent application of moral principles that value the sacredness of human life (as defined by the Catholic Church). In response to critiques from some pro-life activists, Bernardin clarified that the ethic never meant that all threats to life were equal, from a societal or political standpoint (see paragraph 11, section II of his statement) [1]. One of his final works was writing a book about his own dying, an excerpt of which served as a Newsweek Magazine cover story, and which admirers saw as a lesson in dying.[3] While in Chicago, Bernardin also served as head of the NCCB Ad Hoc Committee on War and Peace, which drafted the pastoral letter, "The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response". This book-length document challenged the morality of nuclear deterrence and sparked a decade-long debate both in the United States and abroad. Perhaps the most well known of these discussions on nuclear morality played out in the November 29, 1982 issue of Time Magazine, entitled "God and the Bomb", which featured Bernardin on its cover. [edit] Other social issues In 1996, Bernardin inaugurated the Catholic Common Ground Initiative and was among the authors of its founding document "Called to Be Catholic: Church in a Time of Peril”, released August 12, 1996. Bernardin is also noted for his interest in the concern of young adults, which was in part evidenced by his involvement in the nascent Theology on Tap lecture movement in the early 1980s. In 1985, he told attendees of a special Theology on Tap Mass, “If I had children of my own, they would be your age. You are very special to me and to this Archdiocese.”[2] Additionally, Bernardin was the first to offer a Mass for divorced and separated Catholics at Holy Name Cathedral. In 1985, Bernadin established an AIDS task force to determine how the Archdiocese might best care for those stricken by the AIDS crisis. In 1989, he dedicated Bonaventure House with the help of the Alexian Brothers, a residential facility for people suffering with AIDS. Bernardin was also lauded for his anti-pornography work, his leadership of the U.S. bishops, and the presidency of the Catholic Church Extension Society.[citation needed] In his final years, he relied heavily on the assistance of his adviser Monsignor Kenneth Velo, director of Catholic Extension.

Continued on next post...

Interfaith relations Ardently adhering to his own interpretation of one particular teaching of the Second Vatican Council, Bernardin, first in Cincinnati, then in Chicago, was committed to ecumenical and interfaith dialogues. While Archbishop of Cincinnati, Bernardin maintained dialogues with local congregations of Jews, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Lutherans. In Chicago, this dedication led to the formation of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago in 1985. Bernardin served as the council’s first president. Subsequently, under his leadership, the Archdiocese of Chicago established official covenants with both the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and the Evangelical Lutheran Metropolitan Synod. Bernardin also participated in the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1993. During his interfaith pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1995, he met with Israeli, Palestinian, ecumenical, and interfaith leaders, and urged peace and mutual respect between Israelis and Palestinians. Bernardin consistently spoke out against the increasing violence in Lebanon, Israel, Northern Ireland, and elsewhere.

If that's what makes one a leftist Catholic, then I hope they all become leftist Catholics.

Let's not forget who appointed Bernadin, the late Pope John Paul II.

All information taken directly from Bernadin's wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org...

Again, I don't see how being affiliated with Bernadin could possibly be construed as negative whatsoever, and I am agnostic. Obama would have been praised by Pope John Paul II, so I don't see where this idea of being at war with the Catholic Church is coming from.

I have to ask you this.....

"Is what I am about to post a clever attempt at sounding like I am seeking honest, civil discourse/debate about the topic so I can claim innocence when my thread gets removed and I get banned or, is it truly my attempt at understanding and learning?"

Originally posted by colbe
This is a lame thread, try another anti-Catholic tactic. Booorrrrriinnngg.

BHO is evil

Bernardin was/is evil

So What? The true faith is Roman Catholicism, everything you know of
Christ came from the RCC.

The Remnant is Roman Catholic. Get with the picture, pray, convert,
desire the Eucharist.

I'm an informed Catholic. This is not an anti-catholic thread. If you know anything about the Cardinal you will certainly know that his movement died when he did. I never knew that Obama was attached to it. Just another attempt to divide and conquer the Catholic church. There is a reason they called it the "Bernadin Machine"

For everyone else, this is just another glaring example of obama's past and current relationships within the radical element that have followed him all the way to the oval office. Just more of the Means to and end ideology. He will use any tool that he can get his hands on, All tactics taught to him by mentors in Chicago. Tactics later taught by Obama the Community Organizer throughout his fiefdom in Chicago.