Earlier this week, NewsBuster Tim Graham criticized the Washington Post for referring to MSNBC's Chris Matthews as “devoutly Catholic,” arguing that Matthews is instead a “devout liberal, including on contentious social issues like abortion and homosexuality.” Graham was essentially rehashing an argument he made last year about Matthews: “You can't accept the teachings of the Church and then turn around and promote legalized abortion.”

It irked me at the time -- what business is it of a media critic to pass judgment on the religiosity of a media figure, or any person? But if we're going to accept Graham's framework that one's religious bona fides are contingent upon one's stances on hot-button political issues, then what would he have to say about this?

Pope Benedict XVI and other church leaders said it was the moral responsibility of nations to guarantee access to health care for all of their citizens, regardless of social and economic status or their ability to pay.

Access to adequate medical attention, the pope said in a written message Nov. 18, was one of the “inalienable rights” of man.

Are we now to doubt the devotion of Catholic conservatives who argue against government-guaranteed access to affordable health care? Is the pope a socialist usurper who is corrupting the teachings of the Catholic Church?

I don't know the answer, but I do know that right-wing bloggers shouldn't moonlight adjudicating men's souls.