Morally Coherent Catholic Voters Should Decide the 2012 US Presidential Election

By Keith A Fournier
8/13/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Anyone who thinks the teachers of the Catholic Church are not clear on our duty as Catholics to vote in a manner which is morally coherent has not read Catholic teaching or simply rejects it

One simply cannot be a faithful Catholic and hold what is euphemistically called a "pro-choice" position on abortion or fail to defend true marriage and the family and society founded upon it. The same elite who currently control the Democratic Party - which abandoned its one time support for all the poor, including children in the womb - has now abandoned true marriage and the family and society founded upon it. They will reflect this in their official party platform during their convention in September.

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CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - I write this article as a private citizen. I still have a right to speak out on such matters, thank God. And this website had enough foresight to organize itself as a "for profit" business. It has avoided the growing hostility toward Christians who speak out.

What I am about to say will make some waves; I hope so. Though said almost every four years, this actually IS, in my opinion, the most important presidential election in my lifetime. What is at stake is the very idea of this Nation and the values upon which it was founded.

On Wednesday, August 8, 2012, in Denver, Colorado, the President of the United States sent an unambiguous signal concerning his complete disrespect for Catholic voters who understand their faith and take it with them into the public square. He was introduced by Sandra Fluke at a campaign event.

Fluke, the former 30 year old Georgetown University Law student (she graduated in the spring) and past President of Law Students for "Reproductive Justice" gave testimony before Congress last March. She bemoaned allegedly having to spend $3,000 a year for contraception. She turned it into a contrived argument in support of compelling all Americans to pay for it through the Affordable Care Act.

Her testimony was an embarrassment to Catholics. Georgetown purports to be a Catholic institution. She is now a surrogate for the Obama reelection campaign. The "Affordable Care Act" mandates, through the implementation regulations of HHS, that Catholic Colleges and other Catholic outreaches dispense contraception, abortion inducing drugs and sterilization under the ruse of providing "health care".

This is a flagrant violation of the Free Exercise Clause found in the Bill of Rights to the US Constitution. The one year last minute "safe harbor" offered by the Administration was a convenient way for the administration to table the multitude of lawsuits from Catholic institutions under a legal theory that the constitutional issues are now not "ripe" until 2013.

Fluke gave an interview to the press the day before and spouted the Obama administration's propaganda, "This is a pivotal moment for us. We have a choice between someone who has stood up for women's health and defended our access to affordable healthcare and a candidate that has outright promised to turn back the clock on women's health and women's rights."

Given their numbers, U.S. Catholics can determine the outcome of this election. That is if we act in a manner which is, to use words of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "morally coherent". That phrase was used in an instruction released in 2002 entitled a "Doctrinal Note on some questions regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life".

That teaching document was directed to "the Bishops of the Catholic Church and, in a particular way, to Catholic politicians and all lay members of the faithful called to participate in the political life of democratic societies." The teaching in the instruction also informs the "Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church" sections pertaining to the political participation of Catholics. (See, e.g. #565-574) Anyone who thinks the teachers of the Catholic Church are not clear on our duty as Catholics to vote in a manner which is morally coherent has not read Catholic teaching or simply rejects it. Here is an excerpt:

"The social doctrine of the Church is not an intrusion into the government of individual countries. It is a question of the lay Catholic's duty to be morally coherent, found within one's conscience, which is one and indivisible. "There cannot be two parallel lives in their existence: on the one hand, the so-called 'spiritual life', with its values and demands; and on the other, the so-called 'secular' life, that is, life in a family, at work, in social responsibilities, in the responsibilities of public life and in culture. The branch, engrafted to the vine which is Christ, bears its fruit in every sphere of existence and activity."

"In fact, every area of the lay faithful's lives, as different as they are, enters into the plan of God, who desires that these very areas be the 'places in time' where the love of Christ is revealed and realized for both the glory of the Father and service of others. Living and acting in conformity with one's own conscience on questions of politics is not slavish acceptance of positions alien to politics or some kind of 'confessionalism', but rather the way in which Christians offer their concrete contribution so that, through political life, society will become ...

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1 - 10 of 54 Comments

Judy Claar
9 months ago
Vance, Good Question to Charles Osborne. Cherish Today....
vance
9 months ago
charles osborne, I guess you must not have voted in any election. Certainly, you could not have voted for any Democrat. Or did you?
charles osborne
9 months ago
As a Catholic I cannot vote in this Election, Why because each canidate violates the catholic churchs teachings. I am Total pro life, not just partial pro life. Which means that I am against Abortion but I am also against the Death Penalty also. I am against any form of Birth control. Second I am for helping the poor, and we must not make laws that hurt them and let them fall through the cracks, Goverment Intervention should be the last resort, to help them. As a Catholic it is every catholics individual moral duty to care for the poor. But many americans have turned their back on Jesus teachings stating it is the Individual that has riches to take care of the poor.
I cannot vote for either candidate. The republican canidate is just as bad as the Democratic President, why because the mormans believe that they are the earthly God, by their teachings, and as a Catholic there is only one God, named Jesus. Second the Republican canaidate says he is Pro life, the Mormons backed Abortions in their Churches teachings until 2011 then they changed their position . They are Pro Death penalty, and are destroying every poor person in america by turning their backs on the issues that keep the poor from falling through the cracks. I will not vote for anyone who destroys Gods Children the unborn babies, the poor, the disabled, the unwanted, the prostitute, the homeless. You as a individual catholic that turns your back on the poor has turned your back on our Lord and savior.
Judy Claar
10 months ago
Just A Note: We went to visit my Mom yesterday. I did not bring up politics. When there was a space in between topics of conversation, Mom, who has no computer, nor ever wanted one, said, "I'm just hoping and praying that the Catholics turn this election around. They can you know." I agreed, and said, "Yes, that's true, but there are still a lot of Catholics out there who are still for Obama." She sadly replied, "I know',
I write this to ALL Catholics, to let them know, that a lot of people are counting on us to do the "right" thing. Blessings..
Judy Claar
10 months ago
Deacon Keith: A Very Informing article on voting the Catholic conscience. My individual Faith and reasoning entertains the words "morally coherent" with a vote for the Romney/Ryan ticket. How can a Good Catholic Conscience come up with anything else? (No Answer needed here).
And YES! We Catholics CAN VOTE CORRECTLY AND CHANGE THE OUTCOME OF THIS ELECTION! Blessings...
JoAnn
10 months ago
Rob: That's wonderful. I hope you reach many, many souls. May the Holy Spirit guide you and bless you. God bless.
Rob
10 months ago
JoAnn, no change at the parish....still great. I think the issue is really more about what'd I'd like to hear versus what is preached. To some degree I think it's an ego thing partially, but also a call to evangelize. I am operating at two levels, first in men's ministry at the parish level and then as conference coordinator for our annual men's conference. We are up to 700 men attending so I'm hopeful that the seeds we plant create a lot more workers in the vineyard.

I think we need to speak more clearly about what we mean when we say a church isn't doing their job. What is the job of a priest?
Judy Claar
10 months ago
RichStine: Thank you so much. This is indeed a Wonderful Journey we are on! Blessings...
JoAnn
10 months ago
Rob: We've talked about this before. I thought you told me your parish was great. What changed? God bless.
JoAnn
10 months ago
Rob: That's why I suggested "taking" action by talking to your Pastor and if that didn't work, "talk" to the head of your diocese. Your parish may be the only one that is like that. I think it's wonderful that you are taking the initiative to help your neighbors. But you can not reach the whole parish. Meanwhile, they are still sitting in pews of a church that is not doing their job. The Eucharsit, of course, IS the most important part of the Mass, but if we are not being fed intellectually, we are getting 1/2 a meal. I too have hosted many Bible studies. I believe the largest group I had was about 50 people. That's just a fraction of a parish. What about the rest of them. God bless.

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