Read here about Catholics voting for Obama, in spite of his extreme views on abortion.
This isn’t difficult. If you are pro-life, don’t vote for Obama. He’s extreme on the issue and there’s Supreme Court judges to appoint. But look, that Catholics might support Obama isn’t exactly news–if every Catholic truly thought abortion was unthinkable–we wouldn’t have abortion in North America.
When the Catholic church speaks out against abortion, this is also not a difficult issue. It’s what they do, or should be doing, whether there’s an election or not (speaking out against taking innocent life–I think there may be something in the ten commandments about that). But enter academics at Catholic universities:
Also in the National Catholic Reporter, Lisa Cahill, a professor of theology at Boston College, wrote that certain bishops have crossed the line from extolling church teaching to becoming political partisans. [W]hen the Catholic Church is perceived to be cheerleaders for one political party a rich faith tradition is badly damaged and loses its prophetic voice.”
Another point that’s not really hard: When any church (and bear in mind, I don’t think abortion is a religious issue) starts to think taking life is AOK–that’s precisely when they lose their “prophetic voice.” But hey, if you want to understand why and how Catholics might not see abortion for the issue it is, look no further than those academics, sitting pretty in their ivory towers at so-called Catholic schools, searching for prophetic voices. Louder than their own, I mean.
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Note the embarrassing comments from the atheists. This article really raised my blood pressure I must admit. Hence all the commentary from me. As a Catholic I simply do not understand why when pro-abort Catholics talk about “forming their conscience” they leave out the part about forming it “in accordance with Church teaching”. It’s like leaving the jam off of the peanut butter and jam sandwich. (Sorry, couldn’t think of a better analogy!). There are many ways to form a conscience, which one are you choosing if you say you’re a Catholic. Typically, I like Charles Lewis’ work on religious issues, I know he tries, but this is elementary stuff and he bails…
Anyway, it seems I, and all Catholics are child molesters. Brilliant insight from Felicity Hangnail.
Yes. You must go to a reliable source for truth. (NOT guaranteed at the Catholic Reporter!)
It surprises me how many people are severely limited in their exposure to real information on important subjects like LIFE. Its available.
From the quote from Thomas Reese who is commenting on the USCCB document – “Because what it says is you can vote for a candidate who is pro-choice if it is not your intent to support that position.” Huh? Seems to me that my little “x” on the ballot indicates an endorsement of that candidate and the positions for which he stands. If he/she is pro-choice, then I am assenting to that stance. Unfortunately, there is a fair bit of confusion around what USCCB documents have to say and the comments from individual bishops, whose interpretation and expression of the contents of the document might be more stringent or more lenient. Me? I think I’d rather err on the side of caution – return the unmarked ballot or vote pro-life.
Unfortunately, many so-called Catholic universities, particularly in the States, are at odds with official Church teaching on a wide range of topics. These sound bites don’t surprise me much.
I agree with lwestin – there are much better resources from which to quote than the ones in this article.
And you’re right Andrea – “This isn’t difficult.”
There is a difference between treating subject X as a “single issue” and as a “trump issue”. A candidate’s stance on the legality of abortion should not be the only issue a Catholic takes into consideration when voting. It can, however, be the issue that trumps others.
Charles Lewis seems confused on this point. He writes “as far as [Bishop Jospeh Martino] was concerned, there was only one issue for Catholics to take into consideration when they go into the voting booths next month.” Yet the column also quotes the Bishop, who says that the abortion question is not simply one position among many of equal importance. Then, a few paragraphs later, Lewis concedes that the matter of the right to life is a “core position of Catholic teaching, not just one position among many.” Well, which is it?
Bishop Martino’s letter (http://www.zenit.org/article-23793?l=english), which I presume Charles Lewis has read, nowhere claims that the abortion issue is the only consideration at stake. It says instead that the issue takes precedence over others. In no way can the letter be construed as a justification of “single issue” voting.
Note also that the Bishop did not endorse or oppose any particular candidate. Lewis is simply exagerating when he says that “Bishop Martino might have well as said “vote Republican””. Pastoral letters such as this are intended to remind the faithful of the authoritative requirements of the Church’s doctrine. What position a particular candidate or party happens to hold is beyond the scope of the letter.