Election Voting

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Walterross

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Hi everyone. I have a pretty deep question concerning the upcoming elections. I know that as catholics we are supposed to vote pro-life and against euthanasia and such. My question is: does the church think that abortion, contraceptives, euthanasia etc. are the only issue in the world? For example, in the 2016 elections, I couldn’t find myself to vote for Hillary because she is very pro-choice. Yet I couldn’t find myself to vote for Trump because of him being so radical and somewhat of a loose cannon. Although I’m glad that Hillary did not win, all I hear nowadays is criticism of Trump. Some of it is just hate, which will always be there. But some of it makes sense. For example, how can we detain children from their families at the border? That is just inhumane and will likely scar these kids for life. Also, what if the democratic side is supporting the poorer people? I come from a broken home with only a single mother raising me and my younger brother. I’m 20 btw. When the governor of our state was elected, a republican, my mom lost her job and we were struggling for a while. The common stigma is that the republican party is for the rich. Yet, we want to survive as well. Also, gun control. If most pro life candidates are also pro gun, then the two usually go hand in hand. With all the shootings today, I see the frustration of gun control laws. I almost agree with the democrats when they say that they’d rather control guns because, quite simply, prayers don’t work. We can pray all we want for peace but it just doesn’t work. It makes me question the existence of God sometimes. With all this being said, I saw a post on ig saying that we must vote according to the 5 non-negotiables or our souls may be in danger. With all these confusing conflicts: e.g. Trump being pro life yet having a history of being racist/ a sexual offender. Also the above discussed issues, how can anyone say that our souls will be at stake when everything is so confusing/conflicting. Also, when we pray to God for peace, for example, we are almost never answered, or God says no, I guess. It makes me question what kind of God he is, or if he even exists at all.
 
You are asking the million dollar question. I know what I vote for. Some issues on the Catholic no go list are things I can put up with for the mere fact that there is likely to be no movement on the issue. I tend to vote for one party over the other more frequently in than in past decades; but that does not mean there are a few in this party that I would jump for joy if they lost their election. Personal integrity means a lot to me which is another guiding principle.
 
Welcome to the wonderful world of voting 🙂

The best I can offer up is to learn all you can about history and philosophy and theology and science, preferably from books, and never stop learning.

There are so many confusing voices out there, some in the media and social media are lying their heads off and they know it. Others are very biased (actually everybody has some bias), but the more you know, the less easily you can be buffaloed
 
Walterross said:
Also, what if the democratic side is supporting the poorer people? I come from a broken home with only a single mother raising me and my younger brother.
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Republicans don’t hate the poor. They simply think it’s not the government’s job to assist the poor.

Walterross said:
Also, gun control. If most pro life candidates are also pro gun, then the two usually go hand in hand. With all the shootings today, I see the frustration of gun control laws. I almost agree with the democrats when they say that they’d rather control guns
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Walterross said:
Trump being pro life yet having a history of being racist/ a sexual offender
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And Hillary is no better.

This past election was a perfect example of how the American partisan system is very broken.

Find a pro-life Democrat or a 3rd party candidate near you, and assist them. They need all the help they can get.
 
I see and agree with all of your points. It makes sense. But another question that I had was do you think God would actually be merciful towards us if it is so easy to make mistakes, especially in elections?
 
That all depends on our level of knowledge, and our intentions.

If we vote for someone who has consistently voted down pro-life regulations, then we will probably be held at least partially responsible for the evils they commit, especially if we are aware of that record. The same sort of culpability would likely be true for all the non-negotiable moral questions.

As for other topics, such as the best way to care for the poor, there is an aspect of prudential judgment to them which would probably negate most culpability,. If we vote for a system that has been shown to not help the poor, then we’d probably be at least partially culpable for that, but we can’t really know.

The thing is, life is the most important topic, it is the first right, and it supersedes any other topic. Without the right to life, we have no other rights.
 
I understand this. But what confuses me is if life is our number one priority, what about the people struggling who already have life. For example: the poor or those detained at the border. It’s just hard to think of us saving lives in abortion for example, but the same candidate that is helping us do that is also separating children from their families at the border.
 
I’ll be honest, I cannot comprehend how people think those two things are equivalent.

The first, the pro-life issue, is literally about stopping doctors from ripping children apart in the womb. It is about allowing everyone a chance to live.

The other is about prudential application of immigration laws. The children being separated, while certainly sad, comes as a direct result of the choices of the parents. We separate every other kind of criminal from their child; the fact that we can relate to or understand their crime doesn’t make it any less of a crime. It’s the parent’s fault the children are put into that situation, and I can feel bad for them while still not believing it is immoral. (Note: The manner in which we treat the children definitely has a moral dimension to it, but the separation is not in-and-of itself immoral.)

To put it bluntly, one of these things is clearly within the realm of prudential judgment, the other is irredeemably evil. You cannot compare them, and the pro life issue clearly carries greater weight when it comes to voting.
 
We have a moral obligation when voting to limit evil as best we can. Vote for the candidate that will do, promote, and legislate the least evil. Not voting at all does nothing to limit evil.
 
The unborn human being already has life. He or she is going through the stages that are required: fertilized egg, zygote, embryo, fetus, infancy,toddler,child,teen,young adult, and on until death. To stop the growth at anytime is to cause death. Those unborn have no choices but we have choices to deal with what we have been dealt. We are called to help one another. Those who have more should give help to those in need. We are not perfect at it, but we can keep trying. We cannot justify the taking of life and should not give support to those who allow for the taking of life.
 
Thank you all for the great explanations about this topic. I always have respected human life and was always against abortion but you all helped me see why it should be the top priority when voting. Thank you all!
 
Walterross said:
But another question that I had was do you think God would actually be merciful towards us if it is so easy to make mistakes, especially in elections?
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There’s a difference between loving God and putting Him first; and looking desperately for a loophole to do what you want, , then hoping retro-actively that He’ll rubber stamp your plans.
 
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