I'm a baaad boy.
Yesterday we got a nice little pamphlet at Church. It was titles "Voting Guide for Serious Catholics". Being a serious individual (at times) at being Catholic, I figured I had to give it a read. Both Ellen and I skimmed through it as we're commited to the democratic process and voting. Can't effect change if you don't vote, right?
So the basic summary of this pamphlet was that it didn't endorse any specific candidate, but in order to be a "serious" Catholic you needed to vote for the candidates that had the Churches position on 5 "non-negotiable issues". Meaning there was no discussion possible and you needed to agree with what the Pope says on these issues. Any other issues you could in good conscience disagree with the Pope, but not these. They are:
Abortion
Euthenasia
Cloning
Stem Cell Research
Homosexual "Marriage"
Basically the Churches position is that all of those things are intrinsically evil and must be opposed. Serious Catholics should vote for candidates that either oppose all five of those issues or as many as possible if neither candidate opposes them all. So even though the pamphlet didn't support any specific candidate and stated you shouldn't vote along party lines, it's basically saying "serious" Catholics need to vote Republican. Because, let's face it, opposition to these issues are major planks in the Republican platform.
And therein lies my problem. I cannot in good conscience vote for Republicans. While they may match my values on those particular issues, I'm vehemently opposed to all of their other issues. I firmly beleive the Republican platform is antithetical to Catholic social justice teaching. I aslo belive Republican economic policies have significantly contributed to the financial woes our nation has experienced in the last few years. How can I support candidates that may pay lip service to supporting life but at the same time promote policies designed to simply make rich people richer? Additionally, I really beleive that Republicans these days are more concerned with winning elections and gaining/retaining power than truly governing. A refusal to compromise on even the most basic issues is their standard opertaing procedure. I essentially do not trust that party as far as I can throw it. To be fair, the Democratic party dissappoints me as well, but far less than Republicans.
My wife agrees with me on these postions and felt the same way as I did on these issues. So it appears we're either not terribly "serious" Catholics or just bad Catholics in general. But, truthfully, I can live with that. Having Mitt Romney as President and Republicans controlling Congress scares me far more than 4 more years of President Obama.
So the basic summary of this pamphlet was that it didn't endorse any specific candidate, but in order to be a "serious" Catholic you needed to vote for the candidates that had the Churches position on 5 "non-negotiable issues". Meaning there was no discussion possible and you needed to agree with what the Pope says on these issues. Any other issues you could in good conscience disagree with the Pope, but not these. They are:
Abortion
Euthenasia
Cloning
Stem Cell Research
Homosexual "Marriage"
Basically the Churches position is that all of those things are intrinsically evil and must be opposed. Serious Catholics should vote for candidates that either oppose all five of those issues or as many as possible if neither candidate opposes them all. So even though the pamphlet didn't support any specific candidate and stated you shouldn't vote along party lines, it's basically saying "serious" Catholics need to vote Republican. Because, let's face it, opposition to these issues are major planks in the Republican platform.
And therein lies my problem. I cannot in good conscience vote for Republicans. While they may match my values on those particular issues, I'm vehemently opposed to all of their other issues. I firmly beleive the Republican platform is antithetical to Catholic social justice teaching. I aslo belive Republican economic policies have significantly contributed to the financial woes our nation has experienced in the last few years. How can I support candidates that may pay lip service to supporting life but at the same time promote policies designed to simply make rich people richer? Additionally, I really beleive that Republicans these days are more concerned with winning elections and gaining/retaining power than truly governing. A refusal to compromise on even the most basic issues is their standard opertaing procedure. I essentially do not trust that party as far as I can throw it. To be fair, the Democratic party dissappoints me as well, but far less than Republicans.
My wife agrees with me on these postions and felt the same way as I did on these issues. So it appears we're either not terribly "serious" Catholics or just bad Catholics in general. But, truthfully, I can live with that. Having Mitt Romney as President and Republicans controlling Congress scares me far more than 4 more years of President Obama.
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