How can mandatory insurance coverage of contraceptives violate the religious rights of Catholics when 98% of sexually active Catholics have already be

[joclucsylv]

I am totally against Abortion!!! It is murder. However, I have for a long, long, time, after carefully listening to all sides, have come to the decision that “Laws” will not stop abortion. It will not stop until men and women realize that is is murder. It will not stop until Bishops, Priests, teachers of our youth in religion, teach what a horrible mortal sin this is. We need to hear it from the Pulpit in Sunday homilies, teach it in the religion classes. These days, you will not embarrass a 6th grader showing them a film on abortion. They know more and have seen more about sex than the teacher of the class or the Priest. Lets back off fighting whether a law will do this or that and get down to true teaching of the Church.

Truly…those people who don’t follow the teaching of the Church because they haven’t heard the true message from the pulpit or catechism class will be held less culpable wouldn’t they?

The church hasn’t been strong enough in delivering their messages and teachings. Hopefully that will change.

 

[PumpkinSeed]

But Pumkin seed they don’t know anybetter and it saddens me when these people are judged as a lesser Catholic. It is the fault of the church and priests and bishops for not being more straightforward about the church’s teaching on bc. We do not have a Catholic school in my area so the Catholic learns their faith from mass and going to CCD. In my experience, I never learned of the evils of contraception until coming to Catholic Answers. My mom did tell me bc was wrong but she is the only one who told me that while growing up. I dare say most Catholics of my generation and younger in my area of the world had no clue contraception was wrong before the HHS mandate went all over tv to which they were probably said,“huh…the church says contraception is wrong?”

Our church needs to do a better job in teaching it’s people.

Yea but it is the persons fault aswell. If they are going to believe something, then they should have a reason to believe it. Even basic research on Catholics youll find info that tells you birth control is wrong. Why would somebody choose a religion without knowing anything about it? These people are blindly following because they are raised that way. Well it is their duty to know what they are believing. I don’t have sympathy for those who blindly follow without actually doing correct research.

The church should be telling these things yes, but it is also the duty of the person to know what they are believing.

 

[Bartolome_Casas]

The BIBLE, the Sacred, Holy Word of God, constantly condemns the Church, points out its sins, and calls it back to holiness.

All the theologians agree that the People of Israel were the CHURCH before the coming of Christ and especially Pentecost. The People of Israel were the CHOSEN PEOPLE. We Catholics are the CHOSEN PEOPLE now.

The prophets in the Old Testament condemn and criticize the sinful ways of the then existing Church more than it condemns and criticizes the foreign peoples.

Even the New Testament, especially in the letters of St. Paul, is full of condemnation of the laxity, worldliness, and sinfulness of the many of the people in parts of the Catholic Church. This can be seen in the Book of Revelation, too.

Therefore, it must be granted that prophetic calls TODAY to the Church to abandon its sins and return to God cannot be seen as something akin to “un-patriotic” in the political sense.

The Church is not a college sports team. A Catholic doesn’t have to constantly scream, "We’re Number One! We’re Number One!"

John the Baptist and Jesus the Lord constantly called us to repent. The pope recently did the same on his visit to Mexico.

The real problem, in my view, is not government health insurance programs. That’s just politics. One is free as a Catholic to support universal health care, or not, and agree or disagree with what should be mandated. The pope and the bishops have said that they favor universal health insurance organized by the government.

The real problem in my view is the massive lawlessness among Catholics concerning sexual matters: Sex in dating and pornography that are the same as non-religious people. Abortion rates that are actually higher than atheists. And use of contraceptives at the same levels of Protestants and secular people. This is not a matter of politics about which opinions may vary, but is a matter of SIN that destroys souls, families and the nations.

To me, this is should seem obvious. Matters of SIN should trump matters of POLITICS.

Yet, all the outrage is about what the secular government is doing. **There’s NO outrage **about all the widespread sinfulness of Catholics concerning contraceptives.

Jesus the Lord did not give a SINGLE speech about the corruption and injustices of the Roman government, though there was surely plenty of that.

Is the Catholic Church simply being hijacked by those who want a radical laissez-faire economic system in the USA. If so, then I guess I don’t belong anymore.

Is that what being a Catholic means today, being a de facto follower of Ayn Rand and her radical individualism?

If I have to choose between Ayn Rand and her disciple Alan Greenspan, and Jesus the Lord and his disciple St. Paul, I’ll choose the latter.

But perhaps that means I must separate from certain Catholic people of the former persuasion.

 

[LilyM]

Bartolome, the two (condemnation by the Church of government policy that enables/condones/encourages sin and condemnation by the Church of actual sin) go hand-in-glove. There is no such thing as ‘just politics’ to a devout Catholic, for all, the political as well as the personal, needs to be integrated and consistent.

And the two spheres feed into each other. I know plenty of Catholics, seeing the Bishop’s condemnation of the policy and curious as to why they are condemning it, delve deeper into the Church’s teaching on contraception and abortion. And with that greater understanding at least sometimes comes acceptance and repentance for those who have used.

And this route of catechesis is every bit as effective as any spiel from the pulpit, since millions know of the USCCB’s objection whereas at most hundreds might attend the average parish’s Mass and hear the homily.

 

[Bartolome_Casas]

Bartolome, the two (condemnation by the Church of government policy that enables/condones/encourages sin and condemnation by the Church of actual sin) go hand-in-glove…

If there was a campaign aimed at Catholics in the Church to SHAME (or otherwise motivate or inspire) Catholics to throw away their birth control pills and condoms, a campaign that mirrored and paralleled the campaign coming from elements of the Church to SHAME the elements of the federal government regarding its health insurance mandate, **THEN I WOULD BE CONTENT. **

Then I would see no contradiction. Then I would see integrity. Such would please the Almighty, I imagine. Then I would see something that is truly Christian in nature and not something that is merely a political tactic of the big money forces that promote radical laissez-faire economics.

But one VERY RARELY hears a peep in the Church about the massive use of birth control pills and condoms and whatever by the Catholics who line up for Holy Communion every Sunday.

So, to use the analogy of the other writer quoted above, we don’t have “hand in glove,” we just have the glove. Somethings missing. That’s what I feel.

I just always wonder why this is never discussed. It seems like being a Catholic means nowadays something like being a Jayhawk fan (Univ. of Kansas), and all you are allowed to say is “We’re number one! We’re number one!”

Jesus never calls us to be fans of the Church in a political or spectator sports sense. He called us to HUMILITY, or REPENTANCE, to HOLINESS, qualities that are almost absent in politics and sports.

 

[Abu]

Bartolome Casas #23
Is the Catholic Church simply being hijacked by those who want a radical laissez-faire economic system in the USA. If so, then I guess I don’t belong anymore.
Is that what being a Catholic means today, being a de facto follower of Ayn Rand and her radical individualism?

The idea that the Catholic Church in the U.S.A. is “hijacked” towards a “radical laissez-faire economic system” is pure fantasy. Neither the bishops nor papal teaching has ever encouraged that and there is no evidence for it.

What is fact is the distortion towards the destruction of free enterprise by finagling governments for the past 80 years – the present meltdown is the result on top of many previous destructive policies.

Even Alan Greenspan has highlighted the “excess credit which the Fed pumped into the economy," resulting, finally, in an American economic collapse in the Great Depression beginning in 1929 and extending, mostly, until 1941. This judgment which Greenspan makes about the “excess credit” that directly brought about the Great Depression was made in a 1966 article in Ayn Rand’s Objectivist magazine and subsequently republished in Rand’s *Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.*2]
[2] Alan Greenspan, “Gold and Economic Freedom” in Ayn Rand’s Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (New York: Penguin, 1987), pp. 20ff.

Ayn Rand’s definition and meaning of “uncontrolled and unregulated” is quite unacceptable as the State has the right and duty to make wise laws, and that’s why we have laws to seek and punish those who steal, cheat, swindle, and against monopolies as people can, and some do, undermine the common good, and the primary role of government is to support families in solidarity, and the role of the Church in subsidiarity and, yes, the common good.

Real Catholics take their definition from Bl John Paul II who affirmed and defined the free economy in Centesimus Annus, 1991, #48, and the duties and limits of the State.

#25
But one VERY RARELY hears a peep in the Church about the massive use of birth control pills and condoms and whatever by the Catholics who line up for Holy Communion every Sunday.

Totally agree that much more needs to be done by bishops to encourage and mandate their priests to giving the truth on this at Mass.

 

[joclucsylv]

Yea but it is the persons fault aswell. If they are going to believe something, then they should have a reason to believe it. Even basic research on Catholics youll find info that tells you birth control is wrong. Why would somebody choose a religion without knowing anything about it? These people are blindly following because they are raised that way. Well it is their duty to know what they are believing. I don’t have sympathy for those who blindly follow without actually doing correct research.

The church should be telling these things yes, but it is also the duty of the person to know what they are believing.

A convert would definitely research their faith and possibly a revert. However, a cradle Catholic who is raised in a family who has been Catholic for generations and who is raised in a predominately Catholic area would have no reason to research. Catholicism is at the core of their being. They know it’s right and there is no reason to research why they believe. They just know it’s the right thing to do. That doesn’t make them any less Catholic than anyone else. This is why I dislike the judgemental term cafeteria Catholic.

I, for one, did not research my faith until I was well into my 20’s and was challenged by protestant coworkers. I do say that being challenged has made me know and love my faith even more and has confirmed to me that Catholicism is the chruch established by Christ.

 

[Cristiano]

Isn’t this kind of ironic, or hypocritical, or something like that?

Isn’t it sort of like someone who eats only at McDonalds’ or Dunkin Donuts suing McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts for ruining their health?..

It is more like forcing a vegan restaurant to sell McDonald’s food because some of its employees like to eat McDonald’s hamburgers during their lunch break. The employees might be hypocritical but the owner is not.

 

[PumpkinSeed]

A convert would definitely research their faith and possibly a revert. However, a cradle Catholic who is raised in a family who has been Catholic for generations and who is raised in a predominately Catholic area would have no reason to research. Catholicism is at the core of their being. They know it’s right and there is no reason to research why they believe. They just know it’s the right thing to do. That doesn’t make them any less Catholic than anyone else. This is why I dislike the judgemental term cafeteria Catholic.

I, for one, did not research my faith until I was well into my 20’s and was challenged by protestant coworkers. I do say that being challenged has made me know and love my faith even more and has confirmed to me that Catholicism is the chruch established by Christ.

I’m glad you researched it. I think they should too.

 

[Cristiano]

If there was a campaign aimed at Catholics in the Church to SHAME (or otherwise motivate or inspire) Catholics to throw away their birth control pills and condoms, a campaign that mirrored and paralleled the campaign coming from elements of the Church to SHAME the elements of the federal government regarding its health insurance mandate, **THEN I WOULD BE CONTENT. **…

The Church is not in the business of shaming anyone. The Church is not doing any ad hominem attacks it is simply addressing an unjust form of government. This is not a religious discussion about birth control within the Church but a social discussion about freedom of religion within the country, two very distinct subjects.

 

[Abu]

Joclucsylv #27
a cradle Catholic who is raised in a family who has been Catholic for generations and who is raised in a predominately Catholic area would have no reason to research. Catholicism is at the core of their being. They know it’s right and there is no reason to research why they believe. They just know it’s the right thing to do. That doesn’t make them any less Catholic than anyone else. This is why I dislike the judgemental term cafeteria Catholic.

The “cradle Catholic” like myself has every reason to research Catholicism, precisely because of the vast array of misconceptions, attacks and misrepresentations of Christ’s own Catholic Church, in newspapers, in books, radio, TV, politicians and renegade Catholics themselves – for the purpose of advising, correcting, and forming families with the fullness of truth.

I do say that being challenged has made me know and love my faith even more

But some who are challenged wilt and fall away because they never did examine and learn WHY Christ’s Church teaches the dogmas and doctrines which She holds dearly.
So the term “cafeteria Catholic” is most apt as it describes the Catholic who picks and chooses what to believe in faith or morals to suit their own tastes – just as in a cafeteria. We don’t judge a person’s guilt before God, but their statements and acts in relation to truth, as we are commanded to do.

 

[CopticChristian]

Isn’t this kind of ironic, or hypocritical, or something like that?

Isn’t it sort of like someone who eats only at McDonalds’ or Dunkin Donuts suing McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts for ruining their health?

For the last 40 years, about 98% of Catholics having sexual intercourse have been using contraceptives. Study after study shows this. This wasn’t happening because the federal or state government was forcing contraceptives on any Catholic.

I just don’t get it. And I don’t get that more Catholics don’t see how bizarre it is for certain Catholics to be outraged at the federal government over this matter.

Isn’t this like the proverbial “Elephant in the Room” that no one will talk about?

Why are some Catholics so fired up to take a stand against the federal government on this matter, but these same Catholics are never roused to indignation about the massive, widespread private purchase and use of contraceptives by Catholics?

The question is then are we to consider the law as it concerns the institution of the Church and stated beliefs or by polls.

 

[joclucsylv]

The “cradle Catholic” like myself has every reason to research Catholicism, precisely because of the vast array of misconceptions, attacks and misrepresentations of Christ’s own Catholic Church, in newspapers, in books, radio, TV, politicians and renegade Catholics themselves – for the purpose of advising, correcting, and forming families with the fullness of truth.
But some who are challenged wilt and fall away because they never did examine and learn WHY Christ’s Church teaches the dogmas and doctrines which She holds dearly.
So the term “cafeteria Catholic” is most apt as it describes the Catholic who picks and chooses what to believe in faith or morals to suit their own tastes – just as in a cafeteria. We don’t judge a person’s guilt before God, but their statements and acts in relation to truth, as we are commanded to do.

OK

I never felt I had to research it until I was challenged. I just knew I loved my Church. Sometimes love is all it takes.

 

[Bartolome_Casas]

In the past, some governments have FORCED followers of Jewish Law to eat non-Kosher foods.

In the past, some governments have FORCED followers of Jesus Christ to participate in religious observances of the non-Christian state religion.

**THOSE are SERIOUS violations **of Religious Freedom Rights, which the U.S. Constitution forbid and which the U.N. Charter forbids. Things like that would get me very riled up, and very ready to file lawsuits and organize protests and so forth.

This current matter of a law requiring insurance companies to cover contraceptives, in a context in which over 90% of Catholics WANT insurance companies to cover contraceptives, hardly seems like a CRISIS in comparison to past violations such as those mentioned above.

The in question law doesn’t require Catholics to use contraceptives. Over 90% of sexually active Catholics already are PAYING MONEY OUT OF THEIR OWN pockets to buy contraceptives at Walgreens and Wal-Mart, so, if those Catholics want to pay into an insurance plan to reduce the costs of their contraceptives, I don’t see any harm.

Using the contraceptives is a mortal sin. But that’s on the the souls of the individual Catholics making that choice. The secular government and the secular businesses are not members of the Catholic Church, and so, it seems to me, are not bound to follow Catholic teachings in the same way that Catholic individuals are.

The secular government in New Testament times committed many actions that were gross unjust and terribly imprudent.

Jesus the Lord never condemned the unjust or imprudent actions of the secular government officials in his day. Jesus had a personal meeting with the Roman governor, Pilate, and never said a word to Pilate about Pilates government policies regarding taxation, business regulations, or the criminal justice system.

John the Baptist never condemned the unjust or imprudent actions of the secular government officials in his day. John the Baptist DID criticize King Herod, and it got him beheaded. But he didn’t condemn the policies of King Herod regarding taxation, commercial regulations, policing and the courts, but rather only a very PERSONAL sin of King Herod.

St. Paul the Apostle, who wrote half of the of the New Testament, never condemned the unjust or imprudent actions of the secular government officials in his day.

The other apostles and disciplines described in the New Testament never condemned the unjust or imprudent actions of the secular government officials in New Testament times.

Yet, all of the above condemned the PERSONAL SINS of individuals, and called them to REPENTANCE and FAITH.

Does this tell us some thing? Aren’t we Catholics a continuation of the New Testament Church? Why aren’t we acting like it then?

Doesn’t this give us some clue about a “disconnect” regarding the massive outrage about a government insurance law that makes contraceptives less expensive, but requires no one to use them, while at the same time no one in the Church that says contraceptive is a sin **is the least bit bothered about the MASSIVE sinful contraceptive use among the Catholics **in the communion line each Sunday at Holy Mass?

**Who do the holy prophets in the Bible condemn the most? Pagans? Outsiders? No! ** The holy prophets, in both the Old and New Testaments, condemn and call back to holiness the Chosen People. We Catholics, as members of the One True Church, ARE the Chosen People now.

Catholics, we need to** get our act together**, and stop burying our heads in the sand.

The sins and ignorance of outsiders is not our main problem nowadays.

Catholics, we must stop chanting, as in spectator sports, **“We’re Number One! We’re Number One!” ** That’s not what the holy prophets chanted.

Has the Catholic Church in the USA given up on personal holiness, and is now just focusing on taking the government away from secularists and liberals? If so, then I am not a part of the Catholic Church in the USA. If “righteous” now for USA Catholics is not a matter of just voting out liberals and secularists out of power in secular government offices, and then we have sunk really low as a People.

 

[Corki]

This current matter of a law requiring insurance companies to cover contraceptives, in a context in which over 90% of Catholics WANT insurance companies to cover contraceptives, hardly seems like a CRISIS in comparison to past violations such as those mentioned above.

Where do you get your numbers?

Majorities of both men and women in the New York Times/CBS News poll also voiced support for religious and moral exemptions to the mandate.

And that’s not even a poll of just Catholics.

ncregister.com/daily-news/new-poll-shows-how-strongly-americans-oppose-the-hhs-mandate

It’s one thing for a person to want insurance to cover somethng and something else entirely to support government requiring that something be covered.

PS Stop with the red text. It’s annoying and makes your posts hard to read or to take seriously.

 

[Cristiano]

In the past, some governments have FORCED followers of Jewish Law to eat non-Kosher foods.

In the past, some governments have FORCED followers of Jesus Christ to participate in religious observances of the non-Christian state religion.

**THOSE are SERIOUS violations **of Religious Freedom Rights, which the U.S. Constitution forbid and which the U.N. Charter forbids. Things like that would get me very riled up, and very ready to file lawsuits and organize protests and so forth.

This current matter of a law requiring insurance companies to cover contraceptives, in a context in which over 90% of Catholics WANT insurance companies to cover contraceptives, hardly seems like a CRISIS in comparison to past violations such as those mentioned above.

The in question law doesn’t require Catholics to use contraceptives. Over 90% of sexually active Catholics already are PAYING MONEY OUT OF THEIR OWN pockets to buy contraceptives at Walgreens and Wal-Mart, so, if those Catholics want to pay into an insurance plan to reduce the costs of their contraceptives, I don’t see any harm.

Using the contraceptives is a mortal sin. But that’s on the the souls of the individual Catholics making that choice. The secular government and the secular businesses are not members of the Catholic Church, and so, it seems to me, are not bound to follow Catholic teachings in the same way that Catholic individuals are.

The secular government in New Testament times committed many actions that were gross unjust and terribly imprudent.

Jesus the Lord never condemned the unjust or imprudent actions of the secular government officials in his day. Jesus had a personal meeting with the Roman governor, Pilate, and never said a word to Pilate about Pilates government policies regarding taxation, business regulations, or the criminal justice system.

John the Baptist never condemned the unjust or imprudent actions of the secular government officials in his day. John the Baptist DID criticize King Herod, and it got him beheaded. But he didn’t condemn the policies of King Herod regarding taxation, commercial regulations, policing and the courts, but rather only a very PERSONAL sin of King Herod.

St. Paul the Apostle, who wrote half of the of the New Testament, never condemned the unjust or imprudent actions of the secular government officials in his day.

The other apostles and disciplines described in the New Testament never condemned the unjust or imprudent actions of the secular government officials in New Testament times.

Yet, all of the above condemned the PERSONAL SINS of individuals, and called them to REPENTANCE and FAITH.

Does this tell us some thing? Aren’t we Catholics a continuation of the New Testament Church? Why aren’t we acting like it then?

Doesn’t this give us some clue about a “disconnect” regarding the massive outrage about a government insurance law that makes contraceptives less expensive, but requires no one to use them, while at the same time no one in the Church that says contraceptive is a sin **is the least bit bothered about the MASSIVE sinful contraceptive use among the Catholics **in the communion line each Sunday at Holy Mass?

**Who do the holy prophets in the Bible condemn the most? Pagans? Outsiders? No! ** The holy prophets, in both the Old and New Testaments, condemn and call back to holiness the Chosen People. We Catholics, as members of the One True Church, ARE the Chosen People now.

Catholics, we need to** get our act together**, and stop burying our heads in the sand.

The sins and ignorance of outsiders is not our main problem nowadays.

Catholics, we must stop chanting, as in spectator sports, **“We’re Number One! We’re Number One!” ** That’s not what the holy prophets chanted.

Has the Catholic Church in the USA given up on personal holiness, and is now just focusing on taking the government away from secularists and liberals? If so, then I am not a part of the Catholic Church in the USA. If “righteous” now for USA Catholics is not a matter of just voting out liberals and secularists out of power in secular government offices, and then we have sunk really low as a People.

I think that you have a lot of historical confusion between the present government in the USA and the governments that you used as example. It is comparing apples to oranges.

 

[Leon_Bloy]

Isn’t this kind of ironic, or hypocritical, or something like that?

Isn’t it sort of like someone who eats only at McDonalds’ or Dunkin Donuts suing McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts for ruining their health?

For the last 40 years, about 98% of Catholics having sexual intercourse have been using contraceptives. Study after study shows this. This wasn’t happening because the federal or state government was forcing contraceptives on any Catholic.

I just don’t get it. And I don’t get that more Catholics don’t see how bizarre it is for certain Catholics to be outraged at the federal government over this matter.

Isn’t this like the proverbial “Elephant in the Room” that no one will talk about?

Why are some Catholics so fired up to take a stand against the federal government on this matter, but these same Catholics are never roused to indignation about the massive, widespread private purchase and use of contraceptives by Catholics?

Hmm… if we just changed Church teaching so that lying isn’t a sin anymore, then all those people who say lying is wrong but still lie sometimes wouldn’t be hypocrites anymore.

 

[_Abyssinia]

Isn’t this kind of ironic, or hypocritical, or something like that?

Isn’t it sort of like someone who eats only at McDonalds’ or Dunkin Donuts suing McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts for ruining their health?

For the last 40 years, about 98% of Catholics having sexual intercourse have been using contraceptives. Study after study shows this. This wasn’t happening because the federal or state government was forcing contraceptives on any Catholic.

I just don’t get it. And I don’t get that more Catholics don’t see how bizarre it is for certain Catholics to be outraged at the federal government over this matter.

Isn’t this like the proverbial “Elephant in the Room” that no one will talk about?

Why are some Catholics so fired up to take a stand against the federal government on this matter, but these same Catholics are never roused to indignation about the massive, widespread private purchase and use of contraceptives by Catholics?

‘98% of Catholics have used contraception’ claim has been debunked by The Washington Post:

washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-claim-that-98-percent-of-catholic-women-use-contraception-a-media-foul/2012/02/16/gIQAkPeqIR_blog.html

Also, according to the CDC report 38.2% of American women aged 15-44 said they do not currently use contraception:

cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-refuted-cdc-report-not-true-99-women-have-used-contraceptives-139-have-never-had

There is a difference between somebody using their own money to buy contraceptives, and forcing people who have moral objections to it, to pay for it. And HHS mandate does not just force employers to pay for contraception, but for sterilization, abortificants and a $1 minimum abortion surcharge will also be is also in the rule.

Leegal is correct, no matter what the percentage is of Catholics who use contraception - that does not give the give the government authority to make Catholics, and on Catholics who have objections to there HHS mandate to pay for objectionable services.

 

[Bartolome_Casas]

Though I think the reaction of some of the Catholic laity to this “crisis” is ironic and hypocritical, I simultaneously suspect that some Machiavellian adviser in the political realm dreamed up this “crisis” intentionally, for the purpose of dividing Catholics.

You know, the old “divide and conquer” strategy. It’s one of the most powerful gambits in the “chess game” of national politics.

The law providing insurance coverage for contraceptives was put into the law precisely tp divide the more lax Catholics away from the more fervent Catholics. It’s all about votes. The party that promotes social progressivism needs lots of Catholic votes to win. Likewise, the party that promotes conservatism needs lots of Catholic votes to win.

This whole “crisis” was manunfactured in order ]to put Catholics in the awkward and embarrassing and awkward position of defending a moral precept that most Catholics don’t follow and don’t believe in.

Brilliant move, you Machiavellian schemer, whoever you are!

But, to be fair, both of the major parties are coming up with such schemes all the time. They are paid to help their clients WIN. Winning is the key thing in politics, since if you don’t win, you don’t have any power or influence at all, and you must just sit on the sidelines.

Yet, in my view, just as Jesus doesn’t care who wins the Superbowl, who wins the NCAA Final Four, who wins the World Series, Jesus doesn’t care who wins the “game” of politics.

Jesus came to win souls, to bring individual souls to repentance, and faith in God. This is plainly shown by reading the Four Gospels.

Jesus stayed completely out of politics. Jesus didn’t try to change or reform government, though many of his fellow Jews WERE trying to do just that.

True, there were no democracies in the time of Jesus. So. we should vote.

But should we think that anyone is saved by politics? I don’t think so.

The founding fathers of the USA didn’t think so either. They didn’t even expect or want there to be political parties!