What do a former legal counsel for Ronald Reagan and a Democratic governor have in common? As you might expect, it’s not the same politics. Douglas Kmiec, an esteemed constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University, is a staunchly conservative pro-life Republican. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is a moderate known for consensus building. They both happen to support Sen. Barack Obama. But these prominent Catholics are both the most recent targets of clergy who use Communion as a political weapon and effectively blacklist respected Catholic leaders. It’s time for Catholics and all Americans to speak out against this spiritual McCarthyism.

(Lisa Sowle Cahill is a professor of theology at Boston College and a former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. David O’Brien is the Loyola Professor of Catholic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.)