# Is Sean Hannity a bad Catholic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 11, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453 "2007-03-11T04:42:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andrew\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@Andrew\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andrew_Bird)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/1 "2007-03-11T04:42:20Z")
Hear is a video on Hannity and Priest that says Hannity is a Heretic: [http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?030907/030907\_hc\_sean&Hannity\_Colmes&Judgment%20Day%20for%20Sean&acc&US&-1&News&372&&&exp](http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?030907/030907_hc_sean&Hannity_Colmes&Judgment%20Day%20for%20Sean&acc&US&-1&News&372&&&exp) And some comments: [http://www.domusdei.org/2007/03/10/sean-hannity-the-heretic/](http://www.domusdei.org/2007/03/10/sean-hannity-the-heretic/) I don’t know that much about this birth control issue, but is Hannity a Heretic? ---
**Author:** ![Andrew\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@Andrew\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andrew_Bird)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/2 "2007-03-11T04:43:22Z")
Here not Hear. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/3 "2007-03-11T05:12:18Z")
If he is in favor of the use of contraceptives by anybody, including married people, then he is counter to the laws of the Church. In his favor, so are most of the Catholics in the US, Canada, and Europe, but the Church is not a democracy. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/4 "2007-03-11T05:29:52Z")
But he’s a great American. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/5 "2007-03-11T15:27:21Z")
[QUOTE=Andrew Bird] Hear is a video on Hannity and Priest that says Hannity is a Heretic: [http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?030907/030907\_hc\_sean&Hannity\_Colmes&Judgment%20Day%20for%20Sean&acc&US&-1&News&372&&&exp](http://www.foxnews.com/video2/player06.html?030907/030907_hc_sean&Hannity_Colmes&Judgment%20Day%20for%20Sean&acc&US&-1&News&372&&&exp) And some comments: [http://www.domusdei.org/2007/03/10/sean-hannity-the-heretic/](http://www.domusdei.org/2007/03/10/sean-hannity-the-heretic/) I don’t know that much about this birth control issue, but is Hannity a Heretic? [/QUOTE] Not to defend Hannity, but I find any discussion about who is a good (insert religion) reflects more on the person asking the question than the subject itself. Imagine if everyone focused on addressing their own spiritual responsibilities and not those of others… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/6 "2007-03-11T15:57:27Z")
[QUOTE=newcrasher] Not to defend Hannity, but I find any discussion about who is a good (insert religion) reflects more on the person asking the question than the subject itself. [/QUOTE] Martin Luther was a _bad_ Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/7 "2007-03-11T17:31:34Z")
If you are a Catholic, then you are expected to submit to the church’s instruction on moral issues. Since he does not so submit, I would expect that the Catholic church would then consider him to be other than a good Catholic. Opinions from outside the church may vary as to whether he’s a bad Catholic or not. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/8 "2007-03-11T17:40:53Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Since he does not so submit, I would expect that the Catholic church would then consider him to be other than a good Catholic. IMHO. [/QUOTE] The Church does pressure recalcitrant Catholic politicians: [Bishops to pressure Catholic politicians](http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031203-113907-6166r.htm), so I’d not expect other public figures to be immune from same. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/9 "2007-03-11T21:35:48Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] The Church does pressure recalcitrant Catholic politicians: [Bishops to pressure Catholic politicians](http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031203-113907-6166r.htm), so I’d not expect other public figures to be immune from same. [/QUOTE] Whether to apply it in Hannity’s case would be a political decision, weighed against his value to religious conservatism in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/10 "2007-03-12T16:52:00Z")
I believe a heretic would be spreading heresy about theological dogma, not disagreeing with church behavioral doctrine that springs from the dogma. Thanks for your intense interest in the Catholic Church, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/11 "2007-03-12T21:35:31Z")
Here’s [Andrew Sullivan](http://dailydish.typepad.com/)’s take on things: > [@](#): > > It’s an absolutely riveting segment on Hannity and Colmes, where Sean Hannity is exposed as someone who preens as an orthodox Catholic in public, and is subsequently called a hypocrite by a theocon priest. Hannity, you see, supports legal, accessible birth control, as I do. By so doing, Hannity has dissented from the Catholic hierarchy’s view of sex: that it must invariably be open to procreation. And that very doctrine is the sole reed on which the entire edifice of the Church’s opposition to gay relationships stands: not that gays are incapable of love, but that we are barred sex, because such sex cannot be procreative. That’s why the Church (until its recent calumnies against “intrinsic disorders”) could always claim it wasn’t homophobic. They were simply saying: hey, it’s the same rule for straights, guys. Pity that means you can’t have any sex - but they have to only have procreative sex with one other person their entire life. That’s not so easy either. > > So Hannity’s position and my position are identical. And I feel his pain as a dissident Catholic. But, of course, I support legal birth control for straight couples, and he opposes even civil unions for gay couples. I’ve got his back but he … well, let’s leave that metaphor right there, shall we? The good news is: Finally, a right-wing Catholic is hoist by his own theocon petard. And notice how Hannity doesn’t really engage the theology, as I have tried to do. He just hurls the sex abuse crisis back in the priest’s face. Class-act, Hannity. Every time. > > Still, the exchange does seem to me to open all sorts of possibilities for the theocons. Why not ask of all allegedly Catholic politicians: do they support legal access to birth control, and do they use it? If Benedict wants to enforce total public orthodoxy on issues important to Catholicism, he should be consistent. He should demand obedience not just on abortion, but gays and contraception as well. I have a feeling a lot of Catholic conservatives are going to find themselves seeing the bright side of secularism all of a sudden. Which leads to a fascinating question: will the Catholic hierarchy treat Giuliani the way they treated Kerry? And will the theocon right react the same way? > > Stupid poetic justice, as Homer would say. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/12 "2007-03-12T22:13:17Z")
Nothing like a good schism, eh? Guess the Church has never looked too kindly on the whole “thinking for yourself” thing. Of course he’s a bad Catholic. Not a whole lot of wiggle room; you’re either with 'em or you’re against 'em. Sorry, Sean. Can’t help but feel a bit of _Schadenfreude_, since I’ve long thought of this latter-day Captain America as a dimwitted tool, and the archetypical square-jawed, blow-dried media figurehead for the all the worst things my own country has to offer the world: the hawkish jingoism, the dumbed-down moralizing, the barefaced anti-intellectualism, brash arrogance, and commoditized patriotism. My mom’s a big fan, though. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sean-hannity-a-bad-catholic/395453/13 "2007-03-13T02:57:49Z")
I guess a pedantic argument could be made that he holds a heretical position on birth control (in the narrow sense that he holds a belief which is contrary to official Church doctrine), but that, all by itself, does not make someone a “bad Catholic” and he’s hardly alone among the laity in that belief. I will say that Sean Hannity is a complete tool, smarmy, hypocritcal, often dishonest and a total shill for the White House and the GOP. I don’t like the guy at all, but his position on birth control is not one of the reasons why.