HOW IS AN HONEST CATHOLIC TO VOTE?

It seems almost ever conversation these days ends with, “Father I want to ask you about the election.”  People are genuinely concerned more than I ever remember before.  It is the dirge constantly playing behind every conversation waiting to come to full volume.

Among many Catholics, there is a profound sadness.  Nobody is, and nobody has for quite some time fully represent us.  Like King David angering God by numbering his people and having to face one of three punishments, we always seems to be asking, not who will best lead us, but who will do the least amount of damage.

The Pope was asked about this conundrum and according to a CNS article he simply said that Catholics facing difficult political choices must study the issues, pray about the election and then vote according to their consciences.  He would never comment on a specific electoral campaign.  "The people are sovereign," he said. "Study the proposals well, pray and choose in conscience.”

So what is one to do?  The first is to be well formed.  It is not about what I may feel, what seems fair, or what I like.  We are a people of the Creed and that is something that we receive through faith in God in the Church.  We are formed by it, we do not form it. It informs and forms us and makes us one in faith.

The Catholic who has studied his faith at all knows that there are some things that far outweigh the other.  Issues about the economy are extremely important but it is dust on the scales when compared to the taking of the lives of the most vulnerable and innocent among us.  If the economy tanks, we may lose every penny we have a suffer terribly for it.  If we blindly allow the taking of innocent life as a right paid for by our taxes in order to have a better economy, then we have lost our very souls.  That has eternal consequences.  (See yesterday's post for resources.)

After being formed, we must be INformed.  “Study the proposals well,” says Pope Francis.  That does not mean turning up the volume when a political add is on T.V.  

Then pray whether you have made up your mind or not.  Someone else may need the prayer.  Do it seriously.  Make a holy hour.  Consider doing a fast of some kind.  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has a novena for the election.  Pray first and then vote.

If you have done all of these things, then rest assured that you have done all that you can do at this point.  Stay informed and look for the next opportunity to be involved.

WHAT IF MARTIANS ARE REALLY COOL GUYS?

How often do you see a movie about Martians coming to earth and we assume the best from them and we immediately become good and mutually beneficial friends?  It’s about one step away from never. They are almost always soulless beings of evil intent bent on destroying the American way.  And because they are hostile and soulless, we have a peaceful conscience in wiping them out from the space in the universe that is wasted on them.

 

The sad part is that this is not just a vision of the future, it is a reality from our past.  Inconvenient people are branded as soulless beasts, less than human, often hostile, and therefore we are right to take their land and goods, enslave them, kill them, until we learn otherwise.  (Should it not be the other way around?  Assume people are human worthy of respect until you learn otherwise?)

 

It is the exact same argument that continues to divide our nation today.  Can human beings in the womb be labeled soulless globs of cells?  Can they be branded as hostile to their host when in every case the baby is completely innocent in the process of showing up in the womb?  It may be a horrific set of circumstances how he ended up there, but isn’t he innocent of it?

 

Today we face the question: How are we going to label these lives that, left on their own, will become an acceptable, ensoulled part our community?  Every time we vote we are deciding what kind of people we want to be in this regard. 

SPECIAL ELECTION DAY POST

DON'T VOTE!

Be informed and vote!

Here is a repost of the Unites States Catholic Conference of Bishop's message to us about our role in faithful citizenship!

And here is an inspirational video to remind you how important it is to get out and vote! (I think you'll enjoy it.)

SO WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU SAYING?

You do not join the Catholic Church. People who do so do not know what they are doing. You do not join. Joining is for health clubs. You become part of the Catholic Church. It is part of who you are. It is a lens from which we view the world like being male or female. Being Catholic cannot help but inform what you do because it is part of who you are.

Tomorrow is voting day here in the great state of Ohio and some people have mentioned being part of conversations in which someone says, “The Catholic Church is not going to tell me how to vote.” This is an utterly ridiculous statement for someone who wants to be called Catholic. We cannot put ourselves outside of the Church because we are the Church. We might as well say, “My body is not going to inform me how to live in this world!”

Being Catholic brings with it certain standards in morals. It is a high bar and even if we do not always measure up to it, it is there for us to aspire to. There is not office or group of “Church officials” that are sitting around trying to decide how they want to make you vote. However we all are to remind each other (and it is the duty of those charged with the care of souls to do so in a special way) that we have these standards: that there are good ways of living and there are evil ways of living. There are things that will bring life and dignity and worth to the human cause and that which will degrade and harm us. It is an act of forming a conscience in the fashion that Jesus Christ taught us which we do in the community of the Church that He established.

Once again, to say that the “Church is not going to tell me how to vote,” is not saying that I am not aligning my vote with something some ecclesial overlord is telling me I must do, it is saying that I am making a firm break with the faith and morals with which I have been entrusted.

True, on issues from time to time we may vote differently than a recommendation from, say, a council of bishops. But for a Catholic it is not because we are making a break with Church (The Church won’t tell ME how to vote) but rather it is (or should be) that we are using the same information concerning faith and morals as someone who makes a recommendation and have made an educated, informed, and well thought out decision that is at odds with said recommendation. But one only acts on it because of the belief that it is closer in keeping with the will of Christ and what He wants of us as Church.

Obviously then this person is not putting himself outside of the “power” of the Church but acting fully as a member therein. To simply say, “The Church is not going to tell me how to vote” then is either pure laziness, ignroance, or an indirect denial of the faith the way we believe Christ established it and this should leave others scratching their heads as to why such a person would even bother calling themselves Catholic.

CAST YOUR VOTE AND MAKE SURE IT IS YOUR VOTE

The newspaper screams today, “Twelve Days Until the Ohio Primary!” So the presidential candidates have been tromping around Ohio. As a matter of fact Hillary Clinton gave a campaign speech just about three city blocks west of good ole’ Saint Clare effectively cutting off the whole western part of the United States from us. (You can’t get there from here.)

When deciding whom it is you want to be your leader it is imperative first to remember who you are. The person that you are asked to choose is the person you want to be YOUR representative. Vote that way. There is not a part of you that you must needs lay aside when considering a candidate. Doing that does not make you a better citizen; it makes you fall into the political practice of another’s worldview THAT HAS NO LESS THEOLOGICAL PRESUPOSITIONS THAN YOUR WORLD VIEW DOES. There is NOT a neutral and value free position from which one might vote. That is a fallacy and one for which more and more Americans are falling.

By sticking to who you are you are not shoving religion down anyone’s throat. You are exercising the role of a legitimate citizen of the United States. This is the country, the laws, and the government under which you must live. And yes, some of us citizens are Catholics. Catholic is who we are and not what we do. And it is as legitimate way of being as being an agnostic, or humanist or atheist or what have you. DEMAND that that effects the way you vote and informs and forms your opinion. It is your right though perhaps not politically correct. It is not that we are citizens except for our Catholicism. We believe that our Catholic faith shows us how to best live this life for the greatest benefit of all – therefore it forms our political philosophy and it is disingenuous to expect Catholics to lay that aside when they go to the polls. That tells us, “You are second class citizens.” Do not allow yourself to volunteer to be a second-class citizen.