I vote based on how the candidate stands on issues. If they agree with me on more than the other guy, they get my vote. Unless they support abortion, then the other issues don’t matter. I could give to cares what letter they have after their name.I was raised that if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. I was raised Right and I vote conservative.
Your list sounds interesting to me because it is exactly the same positions my mother-in-law has in those issues. However my MIL calls herself a liberal. According to her even though she is pro life she falls within liberals because she thinks that the proper way to eliminate abortion is through promoting and encouraging abstinence and helping women that are pregnant by providing them economical support, medical insurance, education etc. She says she doesn’t like conservatives because according to her they don’t want abortion but they don’t want to provide help to pregnant women in need. According to her most Catholics in MA back in the day would identify themselves with liberals because they believe in helping the poor and in social justice which are catholic values. According to her lately liberalism has been filled up with radicals and that is what has affected them, though she blames the radicals on the positions some conservatives take or the things they say …like that republican guy talking about rape. But in the end I think that list sound very reasonable.I am not sure that I really fit either label or party anymore. On some things I tend to be on the liberal side and on others the conservative, just for some examples:
-I am against abortion.
-I am against same sex marriage and adoption.
-I am in favor of tax reform, preferably to a flat tax system.
-I am in favor of reasonable gun control.
-I am in favor of fair and equitable immigration reform.
-I am in favor of government assistance to the poor, but not to the extent some want.
-I am in favor of a strong national defense.
-I am in favor of laws that prohibit unjust discrimination.
-I am against the death penalty in the US.
There are many other issues of course, but this gives some insight into where I stand.
Except as I seem to recall there a section in the Catholic Church catechism speaking about the ability today to protect society and that cases of putting another human being to death under the term, capital punishment, are rare if not non existent. Yet I know of many conservative Republican practicing Catholics who would support the death penalty in far more than rare cases.The Church does now and always has allowed for the death penalty
I believe your MIL is right. Not only about Catholics in MA though. Back in the day before 1973 at least, most Catholics I knew were Democrats because of those values she mentions. I even knew some with busts of JFK in their living rooms. But a single issue and now two with gay marriage, has seemed to change Catholic political affiliations.Your list sounds interesting to me because it is exactly the same positions my mother-in-law has in those issues. However my MIL calls herself a liberal. According to her even though she is pro life she falls within liberals because she thinks that the proper way to eliminate abortion is through promoting and encouraging abstinence and helping women that are pregnant by providing them economical support, medical insurance, education etc. She says she doesn’t like conservatives because according to her they don’t want abortion but they don’t want to provide help to pregnant women in need. According to her most Catholics in MA back in the day would identify themselves with liberals because they believe in helping the poor and in social justice which are catholic values. According to her lately liberalism has been filled up with radicals and that is what has affected them, though she blames the radicals on the positions some conservatives take or the things they say …like that republican guy talking about rape. But in the end I think that list sound very reasonable.
How about open borders for higher-skilled workers and closed borders for lower-skilled workers? Or open borders for cultured Europeans, Asians, and Canadians and closed borders for Europeans and Asians of lower socioeconomic status, poor Mexicans, and other Latinos? Americans, mainly conservatives but also liberals to a significant degree, once believed this, and, I would venture, many still do.Speaking specifically about immigration, I think that the real answer has to be somewhere in the middle. I think that completely open borders are a bad idea and I think that completely closed borders are an equally bad idea.
Again, I consider myself to be a good liberal Catholic, but declined to vote because neither party stood for true Catholic issues across the boards.Theoretically, yes. In reality, no. The Democratic Party has stated in full force their party platform in support of abortion. The Democrat elected representatives set this party platform, and a vote for any Democrat encourages this party platform, even from so-called pro-life Democrats. (We saw how much their commitment to pro-life causes was really worth in the vote for Obamacare.)
So the answer is no, you can’t be a liberal and a good Catholic in practice. Voting for a pro-death party is participating in evil.
No. My European grandparents when they saw the Statue of Liberty upon their arrival were not particularly highly skilled. They were not even particularly fluent in English. It was a 2nd language to them for even most of their lives I would say. My grandmother waited tables. They made their way to a coal mining area where my grandfather worked in the mines and my grandmother was a homemaker. Sometimes selling homemade baked goods to earn a little extra.How about open borders for higher-skilled workers and closed borders for lower-skilled workers? Or open borders for cultured Europeans, Asians, and Canadians and closed borders for Europeans and Asians of lower socioeconomic status, poor Mexicans, and other Latinos? Americans, mainly conservatives but also liberals to a significant degree, once believed this, and, I would venture, many still do.
True, and my MIL is in her 70’s so yes she fits the before 1973 model. I guess she is an old fashion liberal.I believe your MIL is right. Not only about Catholics in MA though. Back in the day before 1973 at least, most Catholics I knew were Democrats because of those values she mentions. I even knew some with busts of JFK in their living rooms. But a single issue and now two with gay marriage, has seemed to change Catholic political affiliations.
Kendra didn’t say she is a member of a party, much less that she votes based on party affiliation.I vote based on how the candidate stands on issues. If they agree with me on more than the other guy, they get my vote. Unless they support abortion, then the other issues don’t matter. I could give to cares what letter they have after their name.
I have to say that personally I agree with you!Neither side is 100% in line with Church teaching. I’d rather not label myself and just focus on following Jesus and His Church. I refuse to register with a political party, as both sides are corrupt.
I tend to agree with you but with regard specifically to presidential elections, if we look at the fact that the vast majority of the Supreme Court Justices that have voted in favor of abortion have been appointed by a pro life President, I can totally see that pro life liberal making a very valid argument that voting for a pro life president does very little to help the pro life movement or that pro life presidents have done more harm than pro choice ones in that sense.I have read of multiple liberals who are Catholics who say they are pro life but vote for politicians who support abortion and embryonic stem cell research, standing in contradiction to the pro life view they say they hold so I question whether you can be truly pro life if you vote for politicians who are pro abortion and support embryonic stem cell research over a politician who is pro life.
You had George Bush in office for two terms and what did he do to promote the pro-life movement?Yes. Succinctly stated and reducing the issue to it’s elements.
I concur with your premise. How can one claim to be Catholic, yet vote for those (Obama, Sebellius etc). that wish Catholics harm? Harm via Abortion. Via the HHS Mandate. Via the assault on Religious Freedoms?
Define liberalism. The Church has condemned classical liberalism and modern liberalism. So clarification is needed.Given that they are free to support the pro-life movement, why not? Such liberal thinking is not harmful in any way to the Church. Liberals are called to ‘journey’ in their faith every bit as much as conservatives. I am personally a liberal who supports the pro-life movement and I feel I can contribute to the Church with 100% of my spirituality.
Conservatives may condemn Obama, but not liberalism, per se.