Can Catholics Vote Democrat?

[fnr]

There is no moral equivalence between the party which supports abortion-on-demand, forcing opponents of death to pay for them, and the party whose platform opposes killing of innocents. There is no splitting the baby. Rob :dts:

Here is a statement from the USCCB on the top issues Catholics should ask politicians:

Catholic teaching challenges voters and candidates, citizens and elected officials, to consider the moral and ethical dimensions of public policy issues. In light of ethical principles, we bishops offer the following policy goals that we hope will guide Catholics as they form their consciences and reflect on the moral dimensions of their public choices. Not all issues are equal; these ten goals address matters of different moral weight and urgency. Some involve matters of intrinsic evil that can never be supported. Others involve affirmative obligations to seek the common good. These and similar goals can help voters and candidates act on ethical principles rather than particular interests and partisan allegiances.We hope Catholics will ask candidates how they intend to help our nation pursue these important goals:
•
Address the preeminent requirement to protect the weakest in our midst—innocent unborn children—by restricting and bringing to an end the destruction of unborn children through abortion.
•
Keep our nation from turning to violence to address fundamental problems—a million abortions each year to deal with unwanted pregnancies, euthanasia and assisted suicide to deal with the burdens of illness and disability, the destruction of human embryos in the name of research, the use of the death penalty to combat crime, and imprudent resort to war to address international disputes.
•
Define the central institution of marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and provide better support for family life morally, socially, and economically, so that our nation helps parents raise their children with respect for life, sound moral values, and an ethic of stewardship and responsibility.
•
Achieve comprehensive immigration reform that secures our borders, treats immigrant workers fairly, offers an earned path to citizenship, respects the rule of law, and addresses the factors that compel people to leave their own countries.
•
Help families and children overcome poverty: ensuring access to and choice in education, as well as decent work at fair, living wages and adequate assistance for the vulnerable in our nation, while also helping to overcome widespread hunger and poverty around the world, especially in the areas of development assistance, debt relief, and international trade.
•
Provide health care for the growing number of people without it, while respecting human life, human dignity, and religious freedom in our health care system.
•
Continue to oppose policies that reflect prejudice, hostility toward immigrants, religious bigotry, and other forms of discrimination.
•
Encourage families, community groups, economic structures, and government to work together to overcome poverty, pursue the common good, and care for creation, with full respect for religious groups and their right to address social needs in accord with their basic moral convictions.
•
Establish and comply with moral limits on the use of military force—examining for what purposes it may be used, under what authority, and at what human cost—and work for a “responsible transition” to end the war in Iraq.
•
Join with others around the world to pursue peace, protect human rights and religious liberty, and advance economic justice and care for creation.

So when you read this statement, what is the appropriate response?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Plus, one has to consider they will lie just to get into office.

That has worked wonders in the USA.

Thank you North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin for falling for ridiculous campaign notions. Hope these states are happy with their 2012 Senate selections.

Missouri might not be as guilty as some. McCaskill didn’t have a chance of re-election until Akin made that ill-considered remark about “legitimate rape”. I’m sure he had no thought to legitimize rape, and overinterpreted information he had seen about stress-related implantation failures. He tried to explain the first, but never did abandon the second.

The Repub committee tried to get him to drop out, but he wouldn’t.

 

[MJE]

Hi Rob,

I am a Social Worker and spend my career working with those from places you might call “cesspools”. You might call some of their children “thugs”.

I call them brothers and sisters in Christ.

There are inner city public schools you and I would not let our children walk thru for fear of violence against them. And if your child was violated by one of the serial violators?

Many scholars, particularly black scholars like Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell have written extensively about the violent failing inner city public schools that poor families are locked in. They both attended inner city public schools during days of segregation.

from Walter Williams: Many black students are alien and hostile to the education process. They are permitted to make education impossible for other students. Their misbehavior and violence require schools to divert resources away from education and spend them on security, such as hiring school police and purchasing metal detectors, all of which does little for school safety. The violent school climate discourages the highest-skilled teachers from teaching at schools where they risk assaults, intimidation and theft. At a bare minimum, part of the solution to school violence and poor academic performance should be the expulsion of students who engage in assaults and disrespectful behavior.
You say, “What’s to be done for these students?” Even if we don’t know what to do with them, how compassionate and intelligent is it to permit them to make education impossible for other students?
The fact that black parents, teachers, politicians and civil rights organizations tolerate and make excuses for the despicable and destructive behavior of so many young blacks is a gross betrayal of the memory, struggle, sacrifice, sweat and blood of our ancestors. The sorry and tragic state of black education is not going to be turned around until there’s a change in what’s acceptable and unacceptable behavior by young people. That change has to come from within the black community.
timesdispatch.com/news/article_be1f81bf-b33f-55f8-8408-a8e041bbeb3e.html

 

[freeRadical]

More social workers.
More classroom aides.
Smaller class sizes.
Better training for teachers to better manage children with disabilities.

The problem with that is someone has to pay for it. Local governments need to convince their local citizens of the importance of education and get them to support their local school. The focus should be on local and state education, not federal education.

Unfortunately, the government has a reputation for incompetence, inefficiency, and wasting money.

 

[freeRadical]

Because removing Federal and State tax dollars would further the gap between the schools in well heeled suburbs and in the inner city.

I don’t believe I said anything about removing state funding of education.

Property taxes bring more money in communities where more folks own homes and pay higher property taxes

Businesses pay property taxes too.

It is my opinion that local taxes be evenly distributed throughout all communities because why should a child in the suburbs be entitled to a finer school just because his parents and neighbors have more money than his peer living in a poor rural or inner city community.

Why should local taxes be evenly distributed?

Local taxes should be distributed in such a way that people pay taxes equal to the benefits they receive from the public service.

 

[CrossofChrist]

I was wondering if it’s ok for Catholics to vote Democrat? I know that the Democrats are more in favor of abortion, but that doesn’t they don’t do other things that help our country. If anyone on here is Catholic and a Democrat what advice do you have?

I’m an Independent, but unfortunately third parties rarely get votes.

My question is: why would you? I honestly want to know something good Democrats have done for our country these last 6ish years. Anyone, please help me out here.

 

[Crossbones]

The problem with that is someone has to pay for it. Local governments need to convince their local citizens of the importance of education and get them to support their local school. The focus should be on local and state education, not federal education.

Unfortunately, the government has a reputation for incompetence, inefficiency, and wasting money.

Of course someone has to pay for it. I think I don’t have a problem with more of this coming from a state or federal level as opposed to the local level, especially in metropolitan areas where the rich segregate themselves from the poor. We’d be better off pumping money into schools instead of the military industrial complex, IMO.

 

[freeRadical]

Of course someone has to pay for it. I think I don’t have a problem with more of this coming from a state or federal level as opposed to the local level, especially in metropolitan areas where the rich segregate themselves from the poor. We’d be better off pumping money into schools instead of the military industrial complex, IMO.

Do you really think that “pumping money into schools” will really help the public education system in the US? Since when has throwing money at a problem ever solved anything?

Do you know how much the federal government has spent on the “War on Poverty”? Has it helped alleviate poverty?

 

[Crossbones]

Do you really think that “pumping money into schools” will really help the public education system in the US? Since when has throwing money at a problem ever solved anything?

Do you know how much the federal government has spent on the “War on Poverty”? Has it helped alleviate poverty?

We pump a ton of money into having the best military in the world by far and we do.

 

[freeRadical]

We pump a ton of money into having the best military in the world by far and we do.

That’s not what I asked.

Do you think that all the money we spent to fight poverty had any effect?

 

[Crossbones]

That’s not what I asked.

Do you think that all the money we spent to fight poverty had any effect?

I’m sorry, you asked three questions. The first was if I thought “pumping money into the educational system will really help?” My answer is yes.

Then you asked when “Since when has throwing money solved anything?” and I suggest that throwing money at the military has made it by far the best military in the world.

So, I answered the first two of your three questions. Now, for poverty, which I fear is a strawman that you will use to divert from my first two answers. There was a significant drop in the poverty rate throughout the 60s (from ~22% to ~12%). It isn’t clear to me which policies made that happen though, and it isn’t clear that the declaration of the ‘war on poverty’ was anything but political rhetoric after the fact.

So, instead of debating that, let me ask you a question. Did throwing money into the military make it the best military in the world?

 

[freeRadical]

So, instead of debating that, let me ask you a question. Did throwing money into the military make it the best military in the world?

Maybe. Doesn’t mean it will work for education. Especially since education is administered by government schools and all the corruption that comes with that. What makes you think the money would go to the students and not to the teachers and the administration?

Most studies I have read have stated that the reason the US is the dominant military power in the world is because of aircraft carriers. We have the most in the world.

 

[markomalley]

Did throwing money into the military make it the best military in the world?

Allow me to step in here:

The answer is “NO”

Having the best soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines made the US military the best in the world.

The toys enhanced our capabilities…but it was the people that made it the best.

We got the best people by training the |-|3ll out of them. And, while some of that training was pretty expensive, the foundational skill sets were largely learned as the result of some relatively low-tech means.

 

[Crossbones]

Maybe. Doesn’t mean it will work for education. Especially since education is administered by government schools and all the corruption that comes with that. What makes you think the money would go to the students and not to the teachers and the administration?

Most studies I have read have stated that the reason the US is the dominant military power in the world is because of aircraft carriers. We have the most in the world.

Well, aircraft carriers cost a whole lot of money.

To the point though, I understand that you are concerned that any funds will be misappropriated. To a certain extent, this is somewhat inevitable, as I have seen this in any professional environment I worked in (private high-tech industry and private education). I think the idea of more ‘boots on the ground’ will help though. Talented social workers, school psychologists, teachers and classroom aides make a huge difference and having fewer students on their case loads will allow them to provide the students with more attention to assist them to overcome the deficiencies or disabilities.

The goal would have to be that the money is spent on these people and these people stay committed to the purpose of supporting students.

 

[stinkcat_14]

My question is: why would you? I honestly want to know something good Democrats have done for our country these last 6ish years. Anyone, please help me out here.

Can you name something that the republicans did that was “good” during the eight years of Bush? We had tax cut, but the tax cut wasn’t paid for, so that was not “good”, just a benefit for us living and sticking our grandchildren with a higher national debt. We started two wars, but didn’t pay for them. So that is not good, just a redistribution from future generations. We had a major expansion of welfare under Bush as well in passing medicare part D. So there is very little “good” done by either party. One may argue that democrats are more evil, but one cannot argue that republicans, at least historically are in any way good.

 

[Catholic_farmer]

I think politicians that are actually in line with Catholic teachings are so rare that they may even be listed as mythical beasts. I was talking to a unicorn the other day and he said he hadn’t seen any in quite some time.

(formerly “lutheran farmer”)

 

[freeRadical]

Well, aircraft carriers cost a whole lot of money.

To the point though, I understand that you are concerned that any funds will be misappropriated. To a certain extent, this is somewhat inevitable, as I have seen this in any professional environment I worked in (private high-tech industry and private education). I think the idea of more ‘boots on the ground’ will help though. Talented social workers, school psychologists, teachers and classroom aides make a huge difference and having fewer students on their case loads will allow them to provide the students with more attention to assist them to overcome the deficiencies or disabilities.

The goal would have to be that the money is spent on these people and these people stay committed to the purpose of supporting students.

The problem is that teachers care more about themselves then they do the students.

 

[Dawnia]

Allow me to step in here:

The answer is “NO”

Having the best soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines made the US military the best in the world.

The toys enhanced our capabilities…but it was the people that made it the best.

We got the best people by training the |-|3ll out of them. And, while some of that training was pretty expensive, the foundational skill sets were largely learned as the result of some relatively low-tech means.

 

[freeRadical]

Allow me to step in here:

The answer is “NO”

Having the best soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines made the US military the best in the world.

The toys enhanced our capabilities…but it was the people that made it the best.

We got the best people by training the |-|3ll out of them. And, while some of that training was pretty expensive, the foundational skill sets were largely learned as the result of some relatively low-tech means.

Another thing that makes our military better is that we have a voluntary military force with long contracts. The military is a career in America. Countries that have conscription military forces with mandatory small-length contracts, such as 2 or 3 years, cannot keep up with the skills of our military members because they constantly have to train the next “crop” of soldiers.

 

[phil19034]

I think politicians that are actually in line with Catholic teachings are so rare that they may even be listed as mythical beasts. I was talking to a unicorn the other day and he said he hadn’t seen any in quite some time.

(formerly “lutheran farmer”)

so true.

I know I’m a minority with this view, but this is why I think there should be a “Catholic Party.” One who’s platform is in line with Catholic teaching. Sometimes I think it’s time for Catholics to do what the Protestants were always afraid Catholics would do… “Vote as the Pope commands.”

I’m Catholic First, A Family Man Second, American Third, a suburban Philadelphian fourth & a Republican fifth.

How many people put their party before their religion, family, country and community? :dts: