Do Catholic's Have to Vote?

[JRKH]

I haven’t noticed anyone mentioning this but:
Not voting IS voting.

It’s voting “I don’t care”.

Something that too many people have decided on.

Now I realize the the OP appears to have some sort of reasoning behind his decision not to vote, but this reasoning is not what is read by the polsters when they see low voter turnout. What is read is “apathy”.

Better to vote and vote “third party” if you are disatisfied with the big parties than not vote at all.

Not voting just puts you in the biggest catagory of voters. ONes that the parties are really not that interested in wooing.
A third party vote says, I care but the big parties just ain’t getting it right. Even a few percentage points for a third party can get the “Fat Cat” political types worried.

I use this example. Some years ago a fellow by the name of Ross Perot came along and garnered enough votes (Nearly 19%) to cause the fellows in Washington to sit up and take notice. Two years later the republicans came out with the “Contract with America”…Promising greater fiscal responsibility etc…Coincidence?

Long story short. Not voting is not caring. “Protest Voting” (for a legitimate candidate/party) can have greater benefit than picking the “lesser of two evils”. The oft touted excuse, “he has no chance of winning” is foolish since this is not a horse rice where you are betting on a winner, but an opportunity to make you voice heard.

Peace
James

 

[Dakota_Roberts]

I haven’t noticed anyone mentioning this but:
Not voting IS voting.

It’s voting “I don’t care”.

Something that too many people have decided on.

Now I realize the the OP appears to have some sort of reasoning behind his decision not to vote, but this reasoning is not what is read by the polsters when they see low voter turnout. What is read is “apathy”.

Better to vote and vote “third party” if you are disatisfied with the big parties than not vote at all.

Not voting just puts you in the biggest catagory of voters. ONes that the parties are really not that interested in wooing.
A third party vote says, I care but the big parties just ain’t getting it right. Even a few percentage points for a third party can get the “Fat Cat” political types worried.

I use this example. Some years ago a fellow by the name of Ross Perot came along and garnered enough votes (Nearly 19%) to cause the fellows in Washington to sit up and take notice. Two years later the republicans came out with the “Contract with America”…Promising greater fiscal responsibility etc…Coincidence?

Long story short. Not voting is not caring. “Protest Voting” (for a legitimate candidate/party) can have greater benefit than picking the “lesser of two evils”. The oft touted excuse, “he has no chance of winning” is foolish since this is not a horse rice where you are betting on a winner, but an opportunity to make you voice heard.

Peace
James

People really need to understand that

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Long story short. Not voting is not caring. “Protest Voting” (for a legitimate candidate/party) can have greater benefit than picking the “lesser of two evils”. The oft touted excuse, “he has no chance of winning” is foolish since this is not a horse rice where you are betting on a winner, but an opportunity to make you voice heard.

Long story short. I will never lend my voice to an evil, even a lesser one.

As the Church Teaches through the Catechism:
1789 Some rules apply in every case:

• One may never do evil so that good may result from it

 

[JRKH]

Originally Posted by JRKH
Long story short. Not voting is not caring. “Protest Voting” (for a legitimate candidate/party) can have greater benefit than picking the “lesser of two evils”. The oft touted excuse, “he has no chance of winning” is foolish since this is not a horse rice where you are betting on a winner, but an opportunity to make you voice heard.

Well said.

And yet every one of has heard these types of arguments/excuses for not voting
"I don’t vote because:
They’re all crooks…
Picking lesser of two evils…
One vote more or less won’t matter…
Nothing ever changes…
and on and on.

I agree that we should not vote for the “lesser of two evils” ( I used that as it is a common excuse). So it’s all the more important to find someone who we CAN vote for.

Peace
James

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I agree that we should not vote for the “lesser of two evils” ( I used that as it is a common excuse). So it’s all the more important to find someone who we CAN vote for.

Peace
James

James,
This is something we can agree one.

But as I said, when all the candidates that I can choose from support some sort of moral evil I will not voice my support for any of them.

 

[Medic_Mark]

Thank you for your replies, everybody. It was very insightful.

I think I am going to continue to abstain from voting, especially if I remain unconvinced about character and intentions of a particular candidate or issue. It may very well be that I am never able to cast a vote in good conscience. Consent is not without consequence. All too often we are forced to choose one vice over another and encouraged to feel good about it.

To those who state that abstention from voting necessarily indicates acceptance of the status quo, apathy, or ignorance of the issues, I would say that your position is untenable and fundamentally flawed. One simply cannot rule out a few more alternative possibilities, some of which were raised in this thread.