Readers Respond to Newt Gingrich's Family Values Conversion

Newt and forgivness

Newt is a very knowledgeable,experienced and politically savey man. He has broken his trust with his wife, his political constituents,his party, his contrac with Americca and his God.He does"t want forgivnes, I can give him that,He wants restitution. He wants to be put back where he was.There are more dependable men who deserve the position he craves.The next president will have an enormus job to undo the shift from free interprise to socialism that is incuring now.

I like Newt and I pray for him,but he has burned too many bridges.

If Newt is sincere he will help find the right man and get out of his way! That is the most important thing he can do for his country.

To Steven Barrett

Mr. Barrett - go back and read your response!

"matrimony is both a Sacrament and Vocation . . . marriage is for LIFE because it is the making of an estate . . ."

REALLY?!?

So if it is SO sacred, why did Newt and his present wife (a Catholic) treat it with the vocation of a couple of heathens on a weekend fling???

Oh, that's right, he was converted - or at least he was once he took her to bed (while his last wife was likely attending Baptist services).

And when did his present wife's conversion take place? Oh, that's right, she was already a practicing Catholic . . Boink Newt Saturday night, then eat some bread, drink some wine, and all is forgiven Sunday morning.

Now that is the epitome of HIPOCRACY!!!

Mr. Barrett - you can have your religion. My fiancee and I have both left the Catholic Church . . . and left it to the hipocrites we saw in Mass on Sundays doing the same thing Newt and Wifey (II or III??) did.

I have always joked that I want to be buried with a fan and a bottle of Scotch. One of my sister's asked, "How do you know I knew there is electricity in Hell?" I said, "How do you know there's not . . . and if I'm right, me and my buddies will be sitting with the Devil drinking in front of my fan."

I am comfortable with my choices in life - as imperfect as I am. If there is a God, and I have serious doubts as to that issue, he knows what's in my heart.

Sinning and asking for forgiveness is one thing . . . repeating the same sin over and over again is hipocracy. Practicing religion under the guise of "having seen the light"only makes a hipocracy of the whole concept of God.

Redemption

We are not talking about a young man who erred, we are talking about someone who at the same time was lamblasting Clinton was having his own fun at a very ripe old age of someone who should know better.

I am sure we can look at other politicians to lead the Republican party who do not have quite the track record of Newt. The hypocrisy of the man is astounding. The only redemable quality of the man is his stance on climate change.

Always love a redemption story. Its sickening, especially when someone is looking for a further political future.

Google 'mamaditto' for more...

Politicians who commit adultery while in office have no future in public life.

BTW, Calista is just phony as Newt is. Devout Catholics don't have affairs with married men.

Why couldn't this loser find someone single and her own age instead of inserting herself into the life of a man with a troubled marriage who is old enough to be her father?

This "conversion" is just a way to ingratiate himself with Catholic voters in 2012.

Land's views are the kind that brought me back to Rome!

Newt Gingrich is a conservative. Rudy Guiliani is a libertarian. Both are now Catholics. But the gap between their world and private views, even as Catholics is far apart.

I would've thought that Land, who is by and large a friend of the Catholic Church on key issues, family stability being a key one, would've avoided making comparisons between the Obamas and both Guiliani and Gingrich.

President Obama is closer by far to Guiliani when it comes to the hot-button social issues. Speaker Gingrich has considerably changed his way of life, and I believe his conversion is genuine, is so far apart from both Guiliani and Obama as to make this kind of comparison ridiculous as comparing fruits to vegetables to meats. It makes no sense.

Land knows, or should by now, that matrimony is both a Sacrament and Vocation. It's not a case of boy meets girl, they fall in love with each other and their (preconceived) notions of what the romantic side of marriage is all about.

Catholicism teaches that marriage is for LIFE because it is the making of an estate in much the same way two people undertake the moral responsibility of setting up a "mini-state" so-to-speak, their own nation, as it were, at a place of their choosing here in a free society. There's no "renting the chapel" for a Saturday morning recitation of non-sacramental vows.

Perhaps what stuck a craw in Land's throat is the fact that the former Speaker is now a Catholic, no longer a Baptist. So, rather than say so, he coyly uses the Obamas example, posits it up against the Speaker's past life of well over a decade ago, compares it to Guiliani and voila, here we have a model working template for later use, which by coincidence, could mean the year 2012.

If Land wants to throw out a backhanded anti-Catholic slight, he's welcome to do so. But in using the Obamas as his model up against the libertarian former NYC Mayor and the more orthodox and reliably predictable conservative former House Speaker up against the ever-so hunky-dory Rockwellesque Obamas in the White House, Land risks making an unfortunately innacurate comparison between a long-changed Gingrich who's solidly Pro-Life and the very Pro-Abortion Obama.

Even if I were still a Protestant, I wouldn't side with the President in a million years on this. Nor would I ever side with Land, who's clearly making a major miscalculation here.

Majoring on the minors: Hypocrisy, irRelevancy, and Stupidity

Many branded Gingrich a conman and a hypocrite? That's because many are cynical, stupid, or both. The former have every right to question Gingrich's orientation given his track record. The latter don't know the difference between a straw man and a tin man. They mistakenly assume that just because someone has erred, they always will er. Just because someone has screwed up in their life, doesn't mean they can't change. To wit: it's not hypocrisy if you no longer use the hypo-brand. That begs the question doesn't it? Is Gingrich still "using"? But ultimately, it's an irrelevant exercise, unless he becomes politically relevant, which I highly doubt will happen.

newt

I'd love to believe that Newt Gingrich has changed, but, unfortunately, I don't see it. I'd welcome a new Newt, because the old one was a pretty lousy human being and a blight on the national political landscape.

There is an opportunity for a positive political voice within the Republican Party, and that's the sort of thing you would think a religious conversion would lead to, but he's chosen his old path.

Self-serving dishonesty brought him to prominence, and then led to his downfall.

Self-serving dishonesty is what has brought him back into the national spotlight.

He's the same as he ever was.

He's changed his wife and his religious affiliation, but, based on his actions, it seems he's just the same old Newt. It's too bad.

newt's conversion

we should all be supporting him in prayer. he obviously has a lot of personal failings, yet his conversion indicates a repentance from his sins of the past. i can understand people's hesitance that his current marriage will last, but that is no reason to be hateful toward him as so many of the comments demonstrate.

he has also demonstrated great moral strength, such as consistent opposition to murder of unborn children and policy support for traditional families, freedom of speech and religion, and just standing in opposition to the liberal/secular/progressive hatred of all these, taking their unwarranted blows.

ultimately, the conversion would seem to have nothing to do with garnering political support. i can tell you from personal experience of the venom such a conversion garners from should-be supporters. anti-catholicism is alive and unfortunately very strong among both sides of the political aisle.

documentary, more

1) We look forward to your upcoming documentary. Please hurry it along. 2) Congrats on your marriage to lovely Calista; indeed, she is a blessing in your life. 3) Congrats on your conversion. Welcome into the CC. We pray that you will become a strong and faithful convert.

Not to change the subject but...

OUR favorite Jr Senator DUMPED his church AND Pastor of 20 years when it became "politically expendient" and still hasn't aligned himself with any church.

Does anyone remember?

What President has "values"?

Hypocrisy.

I'd rather have a President that "claims" to believe in something other than his own rise to power.