Apologetics for the Masses #492 - Catholic Voting Principles

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Topic

Catholic Voting Principles

General Comments

I'm almost moved into my new office - cheaper than the old office and a lot smaller, but everything we need is able to fit. What we're not able to fit, however, is all of the materials related to the production of my talks in CD format - CD duplicator, blank CDs, CD labels, etc. for 28 different talks. Which is fine, because we're only getting a few orders here and there for CDs anyway.

So, I want to give those of you who still occasionally order CDs a heads up - once we run out of the talks on CD that we have already dubbed, we'll be done with the CD format. I'm making a list of how many of each talk we have left and will post that in this newsletter in a week or two.

That does not mean, however, that you will no longer be able to get copies of my talks. We are in the process of putting all the talks on a single flash drive that will be available through our website. The plan is to make the flash drive compatible with various devices so that you can plug it in and listen to the talks pretty much anywhere. I'll also post more information on that process in this newsletter in the very near future.

Introduction

This is the quadrennial voting edition of the newsletter. Using sources ranging from the USCCB to papal encyclicals and published comments of various bishops, I pull together some Catholic voting principles that we all need to keep in mind when we go to the voting booth in just a few weeks. And, I have added a few comments at the end that pertain to this particular presidential election.

One thing, whether it be in regard to the Senate, the House of Representatives, or state and local offices, if you come across a Catholic who is thinking of voting for a pro-abortion candidate who is running against a pro-life candidate, then ask them the questions that I ask just below the last of the voting principles. They will get royally hacked off at you for daring to ask them such things. However, if they are truly Catholic, then it could actually change their mind. I have personally seen it happen with even the most hardened of liberal Catholics.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Voting Principles for Catholics

1) “There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. These are called ‘intrinsically evil' actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned,” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, USCCB, #22).

Principle: You cannot support something that is intrinsically evil.

2) “A vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy,” (Catholic Times, September 23, 2012, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Diocese of Springfield).

"It is important to be clear that the political choices faced by citizens not only have an impact on general peace and prosperity but also may affect the individual's salvation,” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, USCCB, #38).

Principle: By voting for someone who supports and advocates an intrinsic evil, you may be morally complicit in that intrinsic evil, and could possibly be committing a mortal sin that jeopardizes your eternal salvation.

3) “Some issues involve ‘intrinsic evils’; that is, they can never under any circumstance or condition be morally justified. Preeminent among these intrinsic evils are legalized abortion, the promotion of same sex unions and ‘marriages’, repression of religious liberty, as well as public policies permitting euthanasia, racial discrimination, or destructive human embryonic stem cell research,” (Clarification of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, 2008, Bishops of Dallas/Ft. Worth ).

Principle: Abortion, same-sex “marriage,” and the repression of religious liberty - which are three of the pre-eminent issues in our current culture - are indeed all intrinsically evil. Therefore, by voting for someone who advocates and supports abortion, same-sex “marriage,” and/or the repression of religious liberty, you may be morally complicit in an intrinsic evil and could be jeopardizing your eternal salvation.

4) "The fact that only the negative commandments oblige always and under all circumstances does not mean, that in the moral life, prohibitions are more important than the obligation to do good indicated by the positive commandment," (Veritatis Splendor, Pope John Paul II, #52).

“The right to life implies and is linked to other human rights—to the basic goods that every human person needs to live and thrive. All the life issues are connected, for erosion of respect for the life of any individual or group in society necessarily diminishes respect for all life. The moral imperative to respond to the needs of our neighbors—basic needs such as food, shelter, health care, education, and meaningful work—is universally binding on our consciences and may be legitimately fulfilled by a variety of means. Catholics must seek the best ways to respond to these needs.” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, USCCB, #25).

Principle: Both opposing evil and doing good - feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, etc. - are essential obligations. Issues that pertain to basic needs such as food, shelter, health care, education, and meaningful work are all linked to the right to life.

5) "Disregard for the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good...It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop..." (The Gospel of Life, Pope St. John Paul II, #72; #101)

"The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed," (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, USCCB, #28).

“Therefore, we cannot make more clear the seriousness of the overriding issue of abortion – while not the ‘only issue’ – it is the defining moral issue, not only today, but of the last [51 years]. Since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, more than [60 million] innocent lives have been lost. Each year in our nation more than one million lives are lost through legalized abortion,” (Clarification of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, 2008, Bishops of Dallas/Ft. Worth ).

Principle: Abortion is the overriding issue, the defining moral issue, of our day because it is from the right to life that all the other rights - the right to food, shelter, health care, religious liberty, etc. - flow and are made meaningful.

6) “As Catholics we are faced with a number of issues that are of concern and should be addressed, such as immigration reform, healthcare, the economy and its solvency, care and concern for the poor, and the war on terror. As Catholics we must be concerned about these issues and work to see that just solutions are brought about. There are many possible solutions to these issues and there can be reasonable debate among Catholics on how to best approach and solve them. These are matters of 'prudential judgment.' But let us be clear: issues of prudential judgment are not morally equivalent to issues involving intrinsic evils. No matter how right a given candidate is on any of these issues, it does not outweigh a candidate's unacceptable position in favor of an intrinsic evil such as abortion or the protection of ‘abortion rights,’” (Clarification of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, 2008, Bishops of Dallas/Ft. Worth ).

“Jesus tells us very clearly that if we don’t help the poor, we’re going to go to Hell...But, Jesus didn’t say the government has to take care of them, or that we have to pay taxes to take care of them. Those are prudential judgments...You can’t say that somebody is not Christian because they want to limit taxation. To say that it’s somehow intrinsically evil like abortion doesn’t make any sense at all,” (National Catholic Reporter, Interview with Archbishop Chaput, September 14, 2012).

Principle: Not to have concern for, and not to care for, the poor, and the provision of basic human needs - food, shelter, healthcare, and so on - is intrinsically evil. However, the best way to address issues pertaining to the care and concern for the poor, and the provision of basic human needs, is a matter that can and should be discussed and debated. Disagreements as to the best way to address the concerns of the poor - more/less government; more/less taxes; etc. - are matters of prudential judgment. Two people can disagree on matters of prudential judgment and both still be in line with Church teaching.

Principle: A candidate’s position with respect to matters that pertain to prudential judgments about immigration reform, healthcare, the economy, and care and concern for the poor, do not hold the same moral equivalence as a candidate’s positions on intrinsic evils such as abortion and same-sex “marriage.” Two people cannot disagree on matters of intrinsic evil and both still be in line with Church teaching.

Principle: If a candidate gets it "right" in your eyes on matters of prudential judgment vs. their opponent; but is wrong on matters of intrinsic evil vs. their opponent; then the matters of prudential judgment cannot "make up" for being wrong on matters of intrinsic evil.

So, those are a few principles that Catholics need to take into consideration when stepping into the voting booth. I will close with a couple of questions for those who would support someone who is a staunch supporter of abortion and abortion “rights,” not because you agree with their position on abortion, but because you agree with one or more of their other positions regarding government, taxation, welfare, healthcare, immigration, education, the economy, and so on, and you think their positions on these issues outweigh their position on abortion. If you are one such person, please consider these questions carefully:

Let’s say that the candidate you are voting for, instead of being a staunch supporter of abortion, and a supporter of the laws that allow for the killing of one million or so unborn babies each year, let’s say that instead of supporting abortion, that candidate was a staunch supporter of laws that allowed for the lynching of one million black men a year. Could you still vote for that candidate? Would their position on healthcare or education or immigration outweigh their position on lynching?

Or, let’s say, instead of supporting abortion, that candidate was a staunch supporter of laws that allowed for the gassing of one million Jews a year. Could you still vote for that candidate? Would their position on healthcare or education or immigration outweigh their position on gassing Jews?

Let’s be honest...you answered a strong, resounding, “NO!!!” to each of those questions, didn’t you? You could not and would not vote for a candidate who supported the lynching of even one black man, much less one million black men, no matter how “right” he or she was on the other issues. You could not and would not vote for a candidate who supported the gassing of even one Jew, much less one million Jews, no matter how right he or she was on the other issues.

How, then, can one vote for a candidate who supports abortion “rights” and who supports laws that allow for the killing of approximately one million unborn children a year?! The only way you can do that is if you do not believe the unborn child is a human being deserving of full protection under the law. The only way you can do that is by devaluing the life of the unborn child. The only way you can do that is by worshipping at the altar of the god of choice, rather than the altar of the God of Life.

I am not here to tell anyone who they should vote for, but I am here to tell everyone what it is they need to consider when they vote. Now, there are some who will say that the questions I posed above are a bit harsh. Well, I agree. But, before anyone emails me or calls me to complain, please look at a picture of an aborted baby (you can find such pictures by doing a quick search on the internet) and consider if anything I’ve written is harsher than what happened to that baby.

Special Addendum on the 2024 Presidential Election
Unfortunately, I cannot call President Trump a "pro-life" candidate. Much to my disappointment, and the disappointment of many, if not all, in the pro-life movement, President Trump has backtracked somewhat on the position he took on abortion in the 2020 election. He has done so, in my opinion, for purely political reasons. Not to say that he was purely "pro-life" in 2020, but his position was more "anti-abortion" then, than it is now. I think he has some folks giving him some really bad advice. In this campaign, he has spoken against "heartbeat" bills that disallow abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, he has spoken against a federal ban on abortion - saying he would veto such a bill - and he has championed IVF, which always involves manufacturing babies in a test tube and usually results in the destruction of a great many of the unborn babies that have been produced in those test tubes. So, no...he is not pro-life.

However, neither is he rabidly pro-abortion. Kamala Harris is. While President Trump believes each state should have the ability to allow/limit/ban abortion as it sees fit, Kamala Harris has called for the passage of a federal bill that would eliminate any and all restrictions on abortions at the state and federal levels. She wants to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law. In fact, she has stated that if it is necessary to do away with the filibuster in the Senate to get such a bill passed, then so be it! Essentially, there is no abortion that Kamala Harris would not be in favor of, and there is no restriction on abortion that she would be in favor of.

Not only that, but Kamala Harris is in favor of the persecution of those who protest against abortion. She supports the jailing of peaceful pro-life protesters. She supports the silencing of pro-life views on social media. Essentially, the Democrat Party is willing to destroy anyone among the born, in order to protect the "right" to destroy anyone among the unborn.

Also, in regard to a topic not yet mentioned - transgenderism. Donald Trump does not support the "transitioning" and genital mutilation of minors. Kamala Harris does. This is pure evil. Donald Trump does not support using our tax dollars to pay for the surgeries of adults who are "transitioning". Kamala Harris does.

All of that is to say, that if you are opposed to abortion and would like for states to have the ability to limit or ban abortions within their borders, and would not like to see Roe v. Wade codified into federal law; then a vote for Donald Trump is in order. If, however, you want no restrictions on abortion and want to see a "right" to abortion codified into federal law; then a vote for Kamala Harris is in order.

If you are opposed to the genital mutilation of minors, and opposed to your tax dollars paying for such surgeries on minors and/or adults, then a vote for Donald Trump is in order. If, however, you want no restrictions on the genital mutilation of children and you want your tax dollars to be used for such surgeries on children and/or adults; then a vote for Kamala Harris is in order.

We are at a pivotal moment in the history of our country. And while I do not believe that our country will be saved through political processes, or economic processes, or any such thing; I do believe that the war between good and evil - the culture of life vs. the culture of death - is taking place on many fronts - political, economic, social, cultural, academic, and more - not just on the religious and moral fronts, and that we have to engage the enemy on all fronts, simultaneously. Total war. We cannot yield an inch to evil on any front. And the one weapon we need to rely upon in this war, more than any other, is prayer. Pray, act, and then pray some more.

In the end, we know who wins the war. What we don't know, though, is the number of casualties.

Closing Comments

Please keep our country in your prayers, and pray for God's will to be done through this upcoming election. And pray that whoever gets elected - from the President down to the local city council - that they will protect life.

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