---

Catholic League Successfully Foils Democratic Religious Advisor Appointment - Again

Exposes her as anti-religion campaigner

HOUSTON, August 6, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The appointment of a second Senior Religion Advisor by the Democratic National Committee was foiled -- again -- by the work of the Catholic Civil Rights League. The appointment of Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson as religious advisor was likened by Catholic League president William Donohue to hiring a "gay basher to reach out to homosexuals," as reported in Tuesday's LifeSiteNews.com. She resigned Thursday.

"I am resigning my position as the director of religious outreach because it is no longer possible for me to do my job effectively," Rev. Peterson said, as reported by Talon News. The Washington Post added Thursday that her decision was made "after the New York-based Catholic League issued three blistering news releases attacking her positions."

"The only question now is whether John Kerry and the DNC have finally got the message," Donohue said in a press release.

The Democrats first appointed Mara Vanderslice as the director of Religious Outreach, whom the Catholic League helped to expose as anti-Catholic and a radical. Instead of learning from their mistake, they did it again by selecting Rev. Peterson, says the League.

"When we exposed Rev. Peterson as a Left-wing activist who went into the U.S. Supreme Court on the side of atheist Michael Newdow to censor the words 'under God' in the Pledge, she was forced to quit her role with the DNC," Donohue said. "The first hire may have been a mistake, but it is not credible to maintain that the DNC erred in hiring Rev. Peterson: they knew what they were getting and they knew what happened to Vanderslice, and yet they persisted anyway."

"Why are Kerry and the DNC imploding on religion? Because too many of the elites running the show are devout secularists who put a premium on freedom from religion," Donohue maintains. "Their idea of religious liberty is banning nativity scenes on public property. Their idea of diversity is censoring 'under God' from the Pledge. Their idea of tolerance is forbidding a moment of silence in the schools. Their idea of a good Catholic is Frances Kissling of Catholics for a Free Choice. Their idea of compassion is hiking taxes. Their idea of helping the poor is giving them directions to a soup kitchen. And their idea of choice is abortion, not school vouchers," he said.

"Kerry and the DNC now have two strikes against them in their religious outreach efforts," Donohue said. "Whether they strike out is up to them. We're certainly not dropping out of the game, and we're certainly monitoring Bush and the RNC on this subject just as closely."

See Tuesday's LifeSiteNews.com report:
New Democrat Advisor on Religion Likened to Gay Basher Advising on Homosexuals
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/aug/04080407.html

tv

 Back to Top

---

MORE NEWS: LifeSiteNews.com Home Page  Last 10 Days   Archives   Special Reports

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.