Still insisting this “god” person created the universe, Pope Benedict XVI attempted Thursday to bridge the religion-science gap by pointing out all the wonderful things physicists and astronomers do. And now he and his minions are going to tell American voters all the wonderful things they can do: New guidance from the Vatican is schooling the populace that it is a sin to vote for any political candidate who endorses “grave evils” like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, or homosexual (airquotes) marriage. The holy suggestions come from Archbishop Raymond Burke, who’s soon to become a cardinal. Fox News set up a tip line to submit instances of voter fraud; please send along a link to this post.

Almost exactly six years ago, Burke clarified comments about Catholics and voting he’d made earlier in the summer. In the 8,600-word letter, called “On Our Civic Responsibility For the Common Good,” Burke said same-sex marriage, because it is “intrinsically evil, ” should be a greater moral priority to Catholic voters — on the same level as abortion — than issues such as war and the death penalty, which “are not intrinsically evil.”

Earlier in the summer, Burke had said it was a grave sin for Catholics to vote for a politician who supports abortion rights. He then seemed to soften that stance by saying that only if a Catholic were to vote for a politician who supports abortion rights because of that politician’s position on the issue, would the voter be committing a grave sin.