Conflict with current events

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Ralph

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I’m really struggling with the support that not just us Catholics but Christians as a whole have for Donald Trump. I just don’t see how we can overlook so much about him and his life. Just because he appoints a judge we think will over turn Roe vs Wade? Suppose we would support a Adolph Hitler who promised to do that? My faith in Christ and what He taught just seems not to be able to reconcile what we as a church seem to be willing to over look. I’m once again struggling with being a part of organized religion that seems to be very hypocritical and selective in applying God’s Word in our daily living. I really want to remain in the Church. I’m a daily Mass attendee and desire the Sacraments but this is a big problem for me.
 
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Ralph said:
I’m really struggling with the support that not just us Catholics but Christians as a whole have for Donald Trump.
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I’d say about half the Catholics out there in USA don’t support Donald Trump. Just like about half the rest of the country doesn’t support him. I know lots of Catholics who didn’t vote for Trump last election and won’t vote for him now. Catholicism does not mean we embrace a particular political party or candidate, whether that’s the candidate you don’t like (Trump) or the candidate you do like. It means we use our own consciences to make our own informed choices.

Stop fretting over other people’s politics. You should be focusing on how you yourself are going to live the gospel of Jesus Christ today, not on who your neighbor might vote for.
 
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Ralph said:
I’m really struggling with the support that not just us Catholics but Christians as a whole have for Donald Trump. I just don’t see how we can overlook so much about him and his life. Just because he appoints a judge we think will over turn Roe vs Wade? Suppose we would support a Adolph Hitler who promised to do that? My faith in Christ and what He taught just seems not to be able to reconcile what we as a church seem to be willing to over look. I’m once again struggling with being a part of organized religion that seems to be very hypocritical and selective in applying God’s Word in our daily living. I really want to remain in the Church. I’m a daily Mass attendee and desire the Sacraments but this is a big problem for me.
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Where does the “organized religion” support Donald Trump, or anybody? Your issue is not with the organized religion; your issue is with individual Catholics who have their own thoughts and opinions just as you do.

The Catholic Church as an institution (“organized religion”) has no say on any political leader, even if individual people or even bishops do.

So you don’t like Donald Trump. I don’t like him either. I don’t like our Liberal Prime Minister. But where Trump or Trudeau or Hitler make good decisions, I will support their good decisions. Where they make rotten ones, I will denounce each equally forcefully.
 
Trump is nowhere near Hitler and making that tired comparison makes people less inclined to take you seriously.
 
The Church does not tell you who to support, so let’s not play connect the dots here.

You seem to have a low tolerance for anything or anyone that doesn’t share your views if you are letting things bother you enough that you are struggling with “being a part of organized religion.”

Tune it out. Stop listening to the news or going on the internet if things you are hearing are affecting your faith so much. The world is going to go on whether you are up to date on the latest or not and there isn’t much you can do to change things.
 
Thank you all for these replies. I never thought anyone was forcing me to do anything or vote for anyone. Polls show pretty conclusively Christian support for Trump is very significant. My issue is not his politics or whether he’s right,left or in between. The issue is him not his politics. If I agreed with every political position of his I’d still have the problem I have with the,what appears to be, his overwhelming support by the Christian community. In my church and with those I have close relationship with I’m alone in my feelings. I’ve prayed about this very much. I pray the Liturgy of the Hours and my personal prayers daily and this still seems to be a problem for me. My priest is a Trump supporter and frankly I can’t really talk to him about this because for me it’s not politics it’s character issues.
 
You don’t need to talk to your priest. Your problem is not really Trump, it is your intolerance. You are getting yourself all worked up about him and you just need to stop. All of your anger and anxiety are not going to help you.

Stay out of the World News forum for your own sake.
 
Tired comparison? Fill in another comparison then. I think you missed the point of what I was saying.
 
It’s just hard to take anyone’s point seriously when they compare Trump to Hitler. You may dislike the guy and there are things to dislike about him, but comparing him to a genocidal dictator because he talks trash, cheats on his spouses, or whatever personal issue he has is extreme.
 
Intolerance is nothing anyone has ever in my 77 years accused me of but I will certainly pray about that. Please understand it’s not a political problem . It’s his person not positions.
 
Thank you. My bad. Hopefully my bad comparison didn’t mute the point I was trying to make.
 
I didn’t mean political intolerance. Clearly, he is someone you dislike. Just let it go. Don’t watch him, listen to him, read about him, or speak about him.
 
Anyway, a lot of Christians recognize they politicians are, for the most part, awful people and it is pointless to try to vote for the most virtuous candidate and instead focus on who is more likely to bring about the policies they want.
 
Again thanks everyone for your (name removed by moderator)ut. Probably I opened a bit of a can of worms.
 
My advice: shun politics. If it harms your faith, then it’s not worth it. The Church isn’t requiring anyone to support any party. You have the right to vote, and the right not to vote. Don’t listen to those who say not voting is some sort of blasphemy against our country.

If you like, look into the American Solidarity Party which is more in line with Catholic social teaching. I myself voted libertarian last time.
 
Ralph said:
Polls show pretty conclusively Christian support for Trump is very significant.
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You do realize that “Christian” in USA includes a LOT of people who aren’t Catholics, right? And these days, as used by the media, primarily means Evangelicals?

And that there are a great many Catholic parishes in USA that skew liberal?
 
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StudentMI said:
Don’t listen to those who say not voting is some sort of blasphemy against our country.
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To be fair, the Church does encourage people to vote as part of their overall duty to be a good citizen. The Church does not tell you who to vote for, as others have said.
However, your average ballot on Election Day has about 30 things on it to vote for, and only one of those things every four years is President of the United States. Even if I decided not to vote for President, or to pick a third party candidate, or write in a name, there are still 29 other things ranging from local tax and bond initiatives to candidates for state and local office that I would want to vote on.
 
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Don’t worry about it. The Catholic Church should not get into partisan politics. If voting makes you uncomfortable, know that it’s okay not to vote and that you are not alone.
 
redbetta said:
comparing him to a genocidal dictator
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Are you saying this because we never backed Hitler? I actually agree with you on this but for the record we did back Stalin who was at least three times worse. That supposedly was the best course we could have taken at the time though.
 
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