Hello all,
Just curious to what extent your faith influences for whom you will vote in a secular election like the upcoming US presidential election or any other election, for that matter.
For instance, do you vote for a candidate of the same faith as yours (if there is one) as the main voting qualification criteria or does faith play no role whatsoever? Perhaps somewhere in between?
Background example:
Back in 1976 and 1980, my fellow evangelicals voted for Jimmy Carter in large numbers. At my evangelical university in 1980, I was looked down upon when I was asked for whom I was going to vote and I told them, "Ronald Reagan’. After all, Ronald Reagan was a divorced movie star whereas Jimmy Carter was a faithful Christian of one wife who wore his faith on his sleeves. At my Christian school, I was considered a disloyal rebel who was out of step with what was considered right by my peer group.
I told them at the time that if I was voting for next door neighbor, I would vote for Carter but that I thought Reagan would make the better overall leader based on other traits I saw in him.
In this year’s US presidential election, one of the candidates is of the same Christian faith tradition as me. However, I do not share that political party’s views on many important issues and so I do not intend to vote for that candidate, even though the opposing candidate is not much to write home about, either.
Scenario for Catholics:
One of the vice presidential candidates is a Catholic who by all accounts attends Mass regularly and even sings in the choir. However, he is part of a ticket that opposes Catholic teaching on abortion and same sex marriage, if I understand correctly.
The opposing VP candidate is an evangelical who shares the same views on abortion and “gay marriage” that Catholicism teaches, but he is not a practicing Catholic anymore.
As a Catholic, are you more apt to vote for the candidate who has a Catholic VP running mate or the one who holds similar views as the Catholic Church on matters such as abortion and gay marriage but is not Catholic? Or does none of this factor in at all?
In case someone is interested about my own personal beliefs on this subject, my Christian faith helps form my conscience and my world view, which in turns helps me decide who to vote for – but my faith alone (no pun intended) is not the overriding factor, as illustrated above in the 1980 example I shared.
Your thoughts and (name removed by moderator)ut are welcomed.
**FACT: No Catholic & No Christian in good conscience can vote for today’s Democrats at least on the National level. to do so is a MORTAL SIN as it is complicity with Abortion and SSM, Transgender bathrooms, locker rooms ect.
**
This is NOT a political issue; it IS a MORAL issue. Abortion; murder/ thou shalt not kill is the 5th Commandment given to us by God… ALL other issues are secondary to it.
Here is part of an excellent explanation by Cardinal Burke, that ALL of us NEED to read
READ the Democratic Party platform.if you still harbor doubts
Not sure how to vote in the U.S. election? Here’s Cardinal Burke’s advice
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/c...onsider-candidate-who-defend-life-family-free
ROME, Italy, August 30, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of the most outspoken defenders on Catholic teaching regarding life, marriage, sexuality, and the family, weighed in on the upcoming U.S. election, telling reporters that the faithful must vote for the candidate who will do the most to “advance” the protection of human life, defense of the family, respect for freedom, and care for the poor.
“I think that what we have to do in this time is to look at both candidates to see if one of them will not, at least in some way, advance the common good, both with respect to the good of human life, the good of the family, the freedom of conscience, the care of the poor, and to look at that very carefully,” the Cardinal told reporters during an international teleconference conducted by Carmel Communications and attended by LifeSiteNews.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s support for abortion has been called “extreme and unlimited.”
She asserts that unborn babies have no constitutional rights. She has promised to appoint only pro-abortion judges to the Supreme Court. She supports abortion during all nine months of pregnancy and has promised, if elected, to enact the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand in history.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he supports abortion restriction and has called himself “pro-life” on various occasions, but in the past he identified himself as “very pro-choice.” He believes that Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973, should be overturned. He said he would stop funding Planned Parenthood “as long as they’re doing abortions.” He also promised to appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court and to defend “religious liberty” by appealing the Johnson Amendment.
God Bless you
Patrick
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