www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Vote for next U.S. President

Yes, I was scratching my head at that one too...

Fr. Deacon Daniel

Lawrence and Serge (The young fogey),

Thanks for responding to my question but simply listing a couple of Catholics who signed documents and stating that one will not participate doesn't fully address my question. We have sort of a justification for voting in some of the documents promulgated in the late nineteenth and early twentienth centuries. Yet our American anti-culture has devolved quite a bit since then. Is there a Catholic justification for dropping out of it in order to support something more worthy or do these documents and St. Paul's admonishion that all authority comes from God and Jesus' command to give unto Caesar obligate us to participate in the charade?

CDL

BTW I'm grumpy this morning. Perhaps I should go back to bed.

BTW2 Father Serge, I just noticed your post and fully agree.

I am just opting out. I can't morally vote for Obama or Mc Cain.

Converted Viking

At the risk of making this thread sound like a broken record, I too will most likely not vote for either Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain. I looked at the Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates, but like Young Fogey, I found them seriously lacking as well.


I see nothing in Scripture or Tradition that requires a Catholic to vote. We are required to pray for our leaders, as well as submit to them when they do not ask us to betray our faith, but we are not required to vote for them. At least that's my own take.

Frankly, over the years I have become less and less interested in the American political process. I see so little difference between the two parties that I don't understand all the sturm und drang produced every few years over candidates that are so alike. Personally, I am going to work on the conversion of hearts to Christ, one at a time, starting with my own!

I haven't made up my mind but I'm leaning toward staying home this November. I have moral objections to both candidates.

Joe

See Archbishop Charles J. Chaput's new book on the topic: Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life [amazon.com]. I have not yet read it, but a friend has and highly recommends it. Also, it has received praise from Vatican sources.

One Review: “Using arguments from history as well as the wisdom of the world’s greatest thinkers, Archbishop Chaput urges Catholics to live our faith without compromise and to use our faith as the foundation for renewing American society in the twenty-first century. His tone is one of ‘now or never,’ and his presentation is crisp, intelligent, and accessible to a wide audience. This is an important book for Catholics to read and consider if we are truly to make a difference in the public square. Archbishop Chaput has made a unique and significant contribution to the Church and the nation at a time when voices like his are needed to be raised and heard.”
—Very Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M., President, The Catholic University of America

I just added it to my Amazon shopping cart. I've read what Chaput has written on liturgy and other things - he is almost always excellent.

Amen! It's almost axiomatic that Democratic appointees will practice "legislation from the bench," as well as pledging to uphold Roe vs. Wade.

The only question that I really take seriously when facing an election is this: "Will my voting help to bring down the present two party system and point us toward a Catholic Monarchy?" That's the extreme way of stating it. Perhaps it is enough just to ask if by voting I can in some tiny way help the society move toward the Church. I can't quite see how my participation will help in either case. Still, I will probably vote and of course not for Obama.

Perhaps Archbishop Chaput's book will help but by the review it sounds like the same only generalized vagueries that I listened to all of my life and have often repeated myself.

CDL

4000 babies die each day in this country to abortion. I am not sure how anyone can ignore that. The basis of all Catholic social justice starts with the right to life.

If Obama wins it will make it harder to have women stay home because of his tax hikes. It will make it harder to pay for Catholic school because of the same thing. He will not be able to pull the troops out as soon as people would like. It isn't that easy.

McCain has some problems but .......

I have to agree on this one. Though I am not thrilled about the choices this year, I did hear Obama make critical remarks about the Supreme Court judges already sitting and his stated resolve to appoint pro-abortion people to the Court.

BOB

MrsMW,


I am in complete agreement with this statement. Which is why I see little real difference between Obama and McCain and will probably vote for neither. Over the past 14 years, Republicans have had power in many ways - even controlling both executive and legislative branches at one point - yet almost nothing was done to change our laws to protect innocent unborn life. Nothing McCain has said or done makes me believe he will act differently.

Furthermore, McCain has shown a disturbing tendency to desire the acceptance of the liberal establishment, especially on issues he does not believe in deeply. Do you really believe he will fight to nominate a justice who believes that all people from conception to natural death should be protected by law? I, for one, do not. And considering his enthusiasm for invading other countries and support of torture, I see little reason to vote for him. (Note that Obama, in my mind, is so seriously unqualified that he doesn't even merit a justification for rejecting his candidacy).

I have to agree with Francis. I also note that some of the most liberal members of the court (e.g. Souter and Kennedy) are Reagan/Bush appointees. There is no guarantee that McCain is going to appoint conservative judges. Also, the same conservative judges who would possibly overturn Roe v. Wade (which would be a good thing) also vote to expand executive power and fail to protect civil and privacy rights. So even "conservative" judges are a mixed bag.

I see no evidence that would make me expect that Roe v. Wade will ever be overturned. At best, we might be able to pass some laws that regulate and place minor restrictions on access to abortion. But that is about as good as we are going to do. And I can't be a single issue voter. I haven't made up my mind yet and as I mentioned, I might not even vote. But I do not believe that the Republican party is seriously pro-life. I think they say they are pro-life to get the evangelical and Catholic votes, but they aren't interested in putting any effort into it.

Joe

Well put Francis, very well put. One is as bad as the next in my book.

Viking

I shall add my Amen to the above, Serge Keleher.

Obama has said if elected he will pass a "Freedom of choice "act that would in fact get rid of all state laws and regulations on the abortion industry. He will for sure put pro-abortion judges on the court. He will start funding UN projects that spread abortion to other countries. He will also put abortion back in military hospitals. When he was in the state goverment he voted against a bill that would require doctors to save babies that survived abortion.

Abortion is legal due to the courts. Maybe McCain will not put in Scalia or Thomas as he has said but Obama will for sure
put in a pro-abortion judge. McCain has said over and over that he would put in judges like Scalia and Thomas.

A million and a half babies die each year to abortion. The war doesn't even come close to that. Yes it was a stupid war but it doesn't come close to all the babies we have lost due to abortion

McCain has stated over and over he does not condone torture. He was a victim of it so I think he is not a supporter of it.