On October 4, Senator Alfonse D’Amato gave a highly partisan speech at Rev. Floyd Flake’s Allen AME Church in Queens, New York. Rev. Flake also made highly partisan remarks.
The Catholic League took note of the duplicity surrounding this event and delivered the following message to the media:
“On the front page of the New York Times there is a color photo of Senator D’Amato speaking before Rev. Floyd Flake’s congregation. In addition to the Times, the Daily News, New York Post and Newsday all ran articles on this story. Yet there were no editorials condemning this incident as a violation of church and state.
“Had Senator D’Amato, or any other candidate for political office, made a political speech at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the New York media would have gone ballistic. And just think what the reaction would have been had Cardinal O’Connor done what Rev. Flake did—promise that he would soon announce his endorsement of either Senator D’Amato or Congressman Charles Schumer! The civil libertarians would be marching into federal district court today screaming church and state violations.
“The Catholic League does not regard Senator D’Amato or Rev. Flake’s actions to be of grave constitutional question. What it objects to is the two-faced, hypocritical reaction that colors the media and the double standard practiced by civil libertarians. If Cardinal O’Connor even voices his sentiments on partial birth abortion, the same gang that tolerates what happened yesterday at Allen AME Church immediately finds fault. It is high time we had one rule for all clergymen, independent of religion.”
