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THE THINKING CATHOLIC: An Alternative Voters Guide for Catholics
Editor's Note: Last week a "Catholic Voter's Guide" was distributed in my church. It advised Catholics to vote "pro-life" and listed a number of other issues on which Catholics should vote, including opposition to gay marriage. I couldn't sit still and not write some kind of response or alternative statement. I did write that statement and emailed my priest asking to distribute it in church this weekend in the interest of equal time.
As Catholics and Christians it is
incumbent upon us to be active in the democratic process. When Jesus told us to
be “the salt of the earth” he meant for us to infiltrate and integrate ourselves
into the world and have a leavening, seasoning effect on it. In a democracy or
republic this is accomplished in no small sense by participating in the
electoral process. The question is, how do we vote? What causes, candidates and
parties do we support? Is there a one size fits all political position that
works for all Christians or at least all Catholics? Is it fair or even true to
the Gospel to declare what the individual voter or candidate’s position must be
on a given single issue?
It is more complex than one might
think. For instance, what does it mean to vote pro-life? Of course it means to
vote for those who will work for an end to abortion. But is that it? If we vote
for the opponents of abortion have we satisfied our obligation to be salt? It
isn’t that simple. Life is complex, multi-layered, all inclusive. If one
candidate opposes abortion but is an adamant proponent of capital punishment,
pre-emptive war, restricting human rights and civil liberties, is that candidate
pro life? If one candidate wants to keep abortion safe, legal, and rare, but
opposes capital punishment, advocates a return to the original intent of the
Constitution as regards protecting individual rights and civil liberties
including privacy and freedom of speech, favors a more proactive approach to
helping the poor and feeding the hungry, is concerned about assuring that the
disadvantaged have equal access to education and opportunity in our nation, is
concerned about our mandate to be stewards of the earth and favors specific
strategies to reverse the harm we have done to our environment, is this
candidate not
pro-life?
Obviously, the perfect candidate
might be a combination of the first example and the second. But the reality is
that the perfect candidate seldom exists, and certainly does not exist in this
election. As Catholics and Christians we are challenged to resist the temptation
to make assumptions as to how we should vote based on one aspect of one issue.
We are challenged to be open minded and prayerful, in order to allow the Holy
Spirit to lead us to make the best choices in the voting booth and thus have the
effect of salt in our world. The first assumption you are asked to make is that
this statement is an attempt to sanction voting for abortion rights. It is not!
It is an attempt to help us realize that the abortion issue is one of many
aspects of the issue of life that must be considered and weighed against all
other aspects. Those who choose to follow the process that is recommended here
may prayerfully conclude that abortion is so much more important than any of the
other aspects of the “life” issue that they must still limit their decision to
where the candidates stand on that sub-issue alone. Others may conclude that a
true vote for life must be made for the candidate that is on the side of life on
a majority of the sub-issues listed here rather than looking at only one. It is
not the outcome, we advocate. It is the process by which one arrives at the
decision of how to vote that counts. -jwh-