Watch Out, Pesky Religious Extremists About....

Yes, once more a bunch of religious zealots are threatening the democratic process. Once more these extremists are seeking to gain power. Once more, fanatics are aiming to destabilise a democratically elected government to suit their own ends. However, this time it's not Islam but the Catholic Church who are at it (via Bloomberg):

It isn't just People's Party leader Mariano Rajoy who's running against Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Spain's Catholic bishops, angered by the prime minister's decisions to legalize gay marriage and speed divorce procedures, are targeting his re-election effort with messages urging their flock to use the March 9 election to overturn what they call "seriously unjust" policies.

While the Spanish clergy has released moral-guidance notes in most elections since Spain became a democracy in 1978, it has never before so pointedly targeted a candidate.

With Mass attendance at its lowest level ever, the nation's Catholic leaders "feel they are under attack by secular forces, and are defending themselves like a wounded beast by lashing back," said Sebastian Balfour, professor of Spanish studies at the London School of Economics. "This shows the extent of the politicization of the church."

In December, the first church-organized protest in 30 years drew 1 million supporters in Madrid; Pope Benedict XVI spoke via video link. The capital's archbishop accused the premier of taking a "step backward for human rights."

Of course, the Catholic church are still bitter that Franco's Catholic obsessed tyranny came to an end and the people had a right to determine the direction of their country for the first time in forty years. Oh how they yearn for the days of the sercet police and 100% church attendence. How they wish another Franco would crush those pesky atheists and secularists. The right's favourite religion, still infatuated with dictatorship and tyranny.