Law Professors
Law Prof Denied Communion for Supporting Obama
Posted Jun 6, 2008, 06:49 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Pepperdine law professor Douglas Kmiec says he was denied communion because he supports Barack Obama, a candidate who backs abortion rights.
Kmiec, the former dean at Catholic University law school, told National Public Radio that he was asked to speak at a church about why he supported the candidate. Before the speech, the priest denounced Kmiec, saying those who support pro-choice candidates were “participating in a grave moral evil,” Kmiec said.
The priest held a mass and when Kmiec presented himself for communion, the priest shook his head from left to right. "I said to him, 'I think you're making a serious mistake, Father,' and he said, 'I don't think I've made any mistake,' ” Kmiec told NPR. Kmiec said his wife left the church in tears.
Kmiec said communion means community, but in this case it was used as a form of anti-community. “Faith isn’t a weapon,” he said in the radio interview.
Hat tip to the National Law Journal’s Legal Pad LA blog.
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