Get out and vote.
Tag: voting
Everyone has the right to vote, NOT to vote is a grave sin of omission
I once said to someone –I can’t recall who it was now– that for a US citizen NOT to vote is a grave error in being a good citizen, and a good Catholic. Sinful, in fact. AND at this this time I had no idea what a previous Pope held to be true.
Perhaps the statement is a bit heavy-handed but I had a point. We have a distinct responsibility to assist in the governing process; to abandon this responsibility is reckless. Are you socially responsible? So many seem not to be, and don’t even care to be.
In the West our freedoms are based on a values wrought by civility, the intellect, the common good and common sense. Why isn’t voting more compelling to citizens and Catholics even in the face of pretty bad candidates? Opting out of the voting process seems to be foolish and a not too brilliant when you think of the good of the republic and the wars that got the freedoms we enjoy today to be a reality. We are, by nature I believe, concerned for the destiny and good of others now and at the end of time. Voting is one of those ways in which we are co-operators with grace for the good of humanity, even the very localized humanity in my town, state and nation.
By accident I came across what Pope Pius XII said in 1947 about voting. I realized that a higher authority than me and before me had something intelligent to say. Notice the Pope’s emphasis here. Pius said,
There is a heavy responsibility on everyone, man or woman, who has the right to vote, especially when the interests of religion are at stake; abstention in this case is in itself, it should be thoroughly understood, a grave and fatal sin of omission. On the contrary, to exercise, and exercise well, one’s right to vote is to work effectively for the true good of the people, as loyal defenders of the cause of God and of the Church.
Voices without a vote
As a matter of good citizenship, as a concern for faith and public order, for faith and reason, you and I need to vote according to a fully formed conscience.
A video clip of young men and women expressing their desire to be heard in the voting process next Tuesday, 6 November. The young are voices with a vote. Watch the video!
Don’t let your discouragement in the political campaigns be a good reason for not voting. In a democracy not to vote in a significant election is near sinful.
As a beginning step to forming your conscience you may want to consider reading the 2011 document of the US bishops: Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship- A Call to Political Responsibility.pdf
Vote: it’s necessary for Catholics
Just back from Mass for the Faithful Departed and from voting.
Have you prayed and voted???
Catholics vote because it is “… for the promotion of the common
good” (Benedict XVI)
Voting is a “… serious moral obligation…” and Catholics “…
can never vote for someone who favors absolutely what’s called the ‘right to
choice'” (Abp R. Burke)
Understanding Catholic faith & public life, no split necessary
Come to Jesus. There is no sensible reason why there has to be split in thinking and acting when it comes to saying you believe in Christ and follow His Church and being a serious voter or a politician. Today we hear politicians and sadly some clergymen, are not steadfast to the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. They are often working out of a pretext of religion without the substance of the Faith.
For years we’ve heard the bi-polar reasoning that has produced nothing but bonk, fuzzy thinking and inconsistent acting when comes to making the claim of being a “good Catholic” and yet introducing and sustaining legislation that’s contrary to Catholic belief. You can’t support principles contrary to Christ and say that you are a follower of Christ. It doesn’t make sense because there needs to be a clear conformity to sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. What we do in our private lives must be coherent in our public lives. Belief in Christ is reasonable, that is, true faith doesn’t conflict in any way with reason. It all has to hang together.
Catholic Action for Faith and Family has produced a video conversation with Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, Rome (the high court of the Church). By now you know that the Holy Father announced his intention to create Archbishop Burke a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church on November 20.
Watch the video: it is clear and helpful…no fuzzy thinking.
Catholics have a moral obligation in voting and to vote for candidates who uphold the moral law, the moral good. If you say you believe in Christ, that you want to stick closely to Him in this life, with the hope of being with Him in the next, then close adherence to Him in everything is required. There is no splitting the vote.
If you say you believe in Jesus Christ you can’t betray Jesus Christ for any reason while claiming to be a Christian, even if we think that we may offend another because they don’t believe in Jesus as God’s Son and the Savior of humanity. Hence, we say that following an informed conscience is primary, with the emphasis on the word “informed.” Adhering to Christ equals adhering to the Catholic Church, Christ’s Church. It is the teaching authority of the Church continues in time the teaching of Christ which informs body, mind and spirit. We know in conscience, in our heart, that Abortion is always wrong. Taking a life for any reason is not right, it offends the dignity of the human person who is yet to be born. Euthanasia is always wrong. Embryonic stem cell research is always wrong. Destroying the environment is always wrong. And then there is our relationship with the elderly, the children, the poor, the homeless and the immigrant?
Do you follow, that is, do you truly hold the premises of the Golden and Silver Rules as taught by Christ? And the Church doesn’t teach this or that truth but is the truth-telling thing.
In case you are looking for more of Burke’s thinking on the subject of being a Christian and activity in civic life, then I’d recommend reading his 2004 pastoral letter, “A pastoral letter to Christ’s faithful of the Archdiocese of St. Louis On Our Civic Responsibility for the Common Good.”
So, as we prepare ourselves to vote on November 2, do so as an informed person according to Catholic principles.