Voting records indicate that a majority of Catholics vote for Democrats in national elections. It is indisputable that the Democratic Party’s platform and its politicians openly support and promote abortion. The Catholic Church teaches that abortion is the killing of an innocent child. Politicians who say they are personally opposed to abortion, but believe it is unfair to deny abortions to those who want one, are not true believers of the Church’s teaching.
Jesuit Father Francis Canavan, who wrote “Pins in the Liberal Balloon,” wrote, “Rightly understood, personally opposed is a code word that means … I’m with you; I don’t see anything really wrong in abortion, either.”
No other issue in our country is more important than the killing of a baby in a mother’s womb. Many evils in society today are a direct result of the acceptance of abortion during the past 43 years, especially the lack of respect for human dignity. Also, the breakdown of the family, rampant immodesty, pornography, euthanasia, homosexuality, and the wanton murder in the streets of our cities can all be traced back to this lack of respect for human life.
How you vote Nov. 8 will greatly affect the future of abortion and its effects on our country.
Joseph Margio is a member of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Jefferson.
With all due respect, I believe the bishops’ efforts to teach about voting as a faithful Catholic are largely incomprehensible for most members of the flock. So much time and effort are required to go through and interpret (or attempt to interpret) the “Faithful Citizenship” materials offered that the vast majority of people will not even try to review them.
Even worse, I believe these materials are easily used by those not friendly to core Church teachings to mislead voters into thinking that all issues are equal, and a faithful Catholic can always find that all parties and all candidates have some positions in accord with Church teaching (so a vote for any candidate is justifiable).
If one digs deeply enough, and is adequately equipped intellectually, one can perhaps find the core teaching that there is a hierarchy of issues, some of which are non-negotiable. One may be able to understand the difference between issues where a faithful Catholic must hold only one position and issues which are legitimately subject to a person’s prudential judgment. But I think few people are able or willing to discern this before casting a vote.
I understand our good bishops have a tough job in approaching this topic, and I sympathize with them. My suggestion is that they strive to focus on the core principle: Church teaching on issues such as abortion, the institution of marriage and religious liberty are non-negotiable, and no faithful Catholic may vote for a candidate who opposes Church teaching on these issues unless the other candidate is clearly more opposed to the teachings on these non-negotiable issues. It should also be noted up front that immigration reform measures, ways to provide environmental protection, gun control, ways of addressing poverty, etc., are all matters of prudential judgment about which faithful Catholics may legitimately disagree.
Without clear teaching and proper emphasis on the essential core of these citizenship lessons, the entire project is a waste of time and resources at best, and an aid to anti-Catholic politicians at worst.
Joe Burns is a member of St. Leo the Great Parish in Winston-Salem.