By MICHAEL WELLES SHAPIRO
mshapiro@islandpacket.com
843-706-8142
Published Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008 12:00 AM
Several county residents and officials expressed surprise and anger Tuesday after Beaufort County Councilwoman Laura Von Harten criticized the Roman Catholic Church's stance on women and reproductive rights during a rezoning discussion Monday.
Von Harten brought up church positions that don't allow women to be priests and "uterus rights" while the Land Management Committee debated whether to grant a zoning request allowing the expansion of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Bluffton. Von Harten is not a member of that committee.
Though the committee approved the re-zoning, Von Harten promised to fight the expansion when the measure comes before County Council, calling official Catholic church policies "an affront to my dignity and all womankind."
"I just have to vote in favor of love not hate," she said.
On Tuesday, several residents called her remarks inflammatory and questioned whether basing a zoning decision on personal beliefs about Catholicism amounted to religious discrimination.
"While Ms. Von Harten is entitled to profess uninformed and bigoted personal opinion, she is prohibited from interjecting such bigotry into county governance, and enforcing such bigotry over the rights of the parishioners of St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church," wrote Lady's Island's Chris Caudle in a letter to County Council.
"I would be equally concerned if (Von Harten's) comments were addressed to a Jewish or Baptist church," Caudle, a parishioner at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Beaufort, said Tuesday. "It's about freedom of religious practice for everybody, and I'd like to see the council issue a statement in disagreement with her comments."
Von Harten decided Tuesday that she will abstain when the St. Gregory's zoning request comes before the full council Monday.
"I think my personal opinions are obviously going to get in the way of me making a fair decision."
Some fellow council members said they were taken aback by Von Harten's comments.
"I was mildly surprised by the comment, but Laura occasionally says things that are mildly surprising," said councilman Rick Caporale.
"The words 'love' and 'hate' seemed to me an overstatement," he said.
"I was disappointed that she injected her political views into something that wasn't really a political discussion," said councilman-elect Brian Flewelling. "As a Catholic, I'll pray for her," he said.
Several other council members declined to comment on the issue.
While Von Harten said she will recuse herself from voting on the re-zoning, she nevertheless defended her statements Tuesday.
"I don't want us to have exclusive communities in Beaufort County," she said, saying she opposes "race restrictions, age restrictions and sex restrictions."
When asked if a zoning meeting was an inappropriate place to debate Catholic policies she said, "No, I think it's a conversation we need to have more often."
"One of the tenants of my religion is the right of conscience," said Von Harten, who is a Unitarian Universalist.
Beaufort County Republican Chairman James Wedgeworth predicted that Von Harten, a Democrat, will face opposition when her term ends in 2010.
"I would think the people of her district would put someone up against her," he said. "I've never heard of a politician saying anything like that. I'm floored."