How to lead family members/ evangelize them?

[Jbrady]

The article you linked to from EWTN is not in accordance with Church teaching. It is solely the opinion of the author, and can be safely ignored or rejected.

 

[do_justly_love_mercy]

I think this is a big deal and am afraid of anyone going to hell

I am fairly certain that voting Democrat does not result in somebody going to hell. I have always voted Democrat. Overall, I think their policies are more likely to achieve more good than I think the Republican policies are likely to achieve.

I also think that Donald Trump has done a lot of harm to the dignity of the office of president and has damaged the reputation of the United States around the world. I don’t think that his more or less fruitless rhetoric on the abortion topic is enough to outweigh all the reasons why I intend to vote for Joe Biden this year.

Members of your family can make their own decisions. You don’t think it’s just a bit arrogant to think that they don’t understand the issues while you do?

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Pragmatically, one can take into consideration the fact that while the Democrats tend to support legal abortion, the number of abortions performed in the United States is actually less under Democratic governments.

I never knew that. That is something to consider.

I support Republican administrations, as well as Republican control of the House and Senate, more for pro-life reasons than any others. A Republican President and Senate will choose Supreme Court justices who might roll back portions of Roe v Wade. A Democratic President and Senate will choose justices who absolutely will not touch RVW, and who will in fact explicitly work to advance abortion rights. I also have as a lesser concern the Federal judiciary at large.

On all other issues (gay marriage aside), I find myself gravitating more and more Democratic all the time. Republicans typically don’t oppose gay marriage either — the whole country basically caved on this issue, I guess the relentless positive portrayal of all things gay in the mass media has finally taken its toll (not to mention that pretty much everyone, myself included, knows probably several people who are gay, and it’s true, they don’t have horns and tails after all).

 

[27lw]

You think it’s not a big deal that Biden himself, big time Catholic that he is, himself performed that mockery of a wedding, a “same sex” wedding?
It used to be a sin that “cried out to heaven”. I know that the Church doesn’t teach that anymore. Not sure why not.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Relax. The Lord doesn’t send people to hell for being Democrats, or for not being “single issue voters”.

As Peeps said, neither party is following Catholic/ Christian doctrine perfectly. The Republicans are hardly “God’s Own Party”.

I’m still registered Democrat, will not be changing any time soon, and if I think a Democrat is actually the better person to lead in a given election, all things considered, I have no qualms about voting for them. I personally am a lot more interested in the individual candidate than I am in an overall party platform. Others are free to vote their own consciences or decide based on the criteria they think is most important. Voting is a personal decision of each person. In the USA it is secret, and that’s for a reason, so that people can vote their own consciences in peace without being hounded or pressured.

If you can’t discuss politics with your family without getting all anxious about it or minding their business when it comes to their voting habits, then maybe don’t discuss it with them.

 

[do_justly_love_mercy]

I think that is a perfectly sound reason for voting Republican. It’s not a conclusion I’ve yet arrived at myself, but I certainly understand the reasoning.

Also, this will only be the third time I’ve been qualified to vote in a presidential election, so I have not had the opportunity to choose between a lot of candidates! Certainly Trump complicates my decision-making process, because there are so many reasons not to vote for him. I could imagine voting for a more moderate (and statesmanlike) Republican in the future, especially one who supported abolishing the death penalty (which on a pragmatic level I consider possibly a more viable issue to fight on right now purely because I think there is a pretty good chance of getting it achieved).

My fiancé in the UK feels the same way. He is actually younger than I am, so in his lifetime since turning 18, British politics has been dominated by Brexit and the resurgence of the far left, leading him always to have voted Liberal Democrat. However, he says that he probably would have voted for Ted Heath’s Conservatives in the 1970s and Tony Blair’s Labour Party in the 1990s. I predict he’ll be voting Labour next time if Keir Starmer lives up to expectations.

The only place where I think a line has to be drawn is where people start saying that people are destined for hell because of their voting choices. It is also a peculiarly American phenomenon. If I asked my fiancé whether he worried about people going to hell for voting for a particular political party he’d think I was crazy. The bottom line is, I think there are decent people who vote for both parties, often for surprisingly similar reasons, just trying to weigh up where they can do more good or less harm.

 

[Walterross]

I’m also scared that I might have contributed to her knowledge of the sin, thus increasing how guilty she is for it. I love my mom so much and would do anything to prevent this from happening

 

[Jbrady]

I’m also scared that I might have contributed to her knowledge of the sin, thus increasing how guilty she is for it.

There is no sin in voting for Democratic candidates. The article you read does not represent Church teaching, and EWTN should be deeply ashamed for publishing such false and misleading drivel.

 

[NoelFitz]

My mom seems to side with the democrats because she believes that they are the party that supports the poor and that the republicans support the rich.

This thread on balance seems fair. You mom, like most moms, is probably correct.

And, that one should really focus on Catholic teaching rather than Republican or Democratic Party affiliation or loyalties.

Ageed. This is a vital point.

I read on EWTN that if you know a candidate supports abortion and vote for them, even if not for that reason, you commit mortal sin. Isn’t that black and white? I’m really asking.

If EWTN wrote what you claim you read, it is wrong.

If you can’t discuss politics with your family without getting all anxious about it or minding their business when it comes to their voting habits, then maybe don’t discuss it with them.

Agreed.

In voting one should follow conscience.

 

[JSRG]

My mom agrees with us and thinks that abortion is wrong, but can’t come to the point to vote Republican over this one issue when she believes all the other issues.

Tell her (or perhaps more accurately, suggest) to vote for Brian Carroll (if possible–he should be on the ballot or at least a write-in option in most states) and support the American Solidarity Party.

…admittedly, that’s my advice in general concerning politics but it seems especially apt in this case.

 

[do_justly_love_mercy]

I’m also scared that I might have contributed to her knowledge of the sin, thus increasing how guilty she is for it. I love my mom so much and would do anything to prevent this from happening

Are you actually reading the comments people are posting in response? This has been addressed. Perhaps try reading the good answers you have received instead of just repeating the same thing. Perhaps you were just hoping for an echo chamber?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I doubt whether many here believe in actual hell like the op, so folks aren’t on the same page.

Where do you get this from? Of course I believe in Hell and I’m pretty sure that several of the other posters do too because I’ve been reading their posts a long time.

Hell is a doctrine of the Catholic church. You just accused a bunch of people on this thread of not believing in Church doctrine. This is insulting, as well as completely unfounded.

 

[27lw]

For people who believe in actual hell, it must be a big concern about family members who seem to be heading there (whether or not you agree with the OP’s political points).
Everyone just seems very dismissive to the OP’s concern, causing me to wonder if some posters here even believe in hell. Otherwise how can they be so cavalier?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

We’re not dismissive because we don’t believe in Hell.

We’re dismissive because this is a young poster who is having an unreasonable concern, bordering on the scrupulous if you ask me. Nothing he has said suggests his family is immoral or in danger of going to Hell. He read something that gave him the idea it was a mortal sin to vote Democratic, which is frankly ridiculous. I’m not going to give credence to that kind of baloney.

 

[27lw]

Walterross:

I’m also scared that I might have contributed to her knowledge of the sin, thus increasing how guilty she is for it.

There is no sin in voting for Democratic candidates. The article you read does not represent Church teaching, and EWTN should be deeply ashamed for publishing such false and misleading drivel.

Hmmm, jbrady vs. EWTN.
Who is more likely to accurately present Church teaching?

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Do you and your brother really need to “bash” the Democrats?

I makes more sense to discuss ideas.

My dad was a lifelong Democrat who started voting for more and more Republican candidates because the abortion issue started to shake out as R vs D issue.

I’m a republican who has voted for pro life Democrats and would do so again.

But dont torment your mom

 

[JulianN]

Hmmm, jbrady vs. EWTN.
Who is more likely to accurately present Church teaching?

If EWTN actually said that (rather than the OP misunderstanding), then EWTN misrepresented Church teaching.

 

[27lw]

27lw:

Hmmm, jbrady vs. EWTN.
Who is more likely to accurately present Church teaching?

If EWTN actually said that (rather than the OP misunderstanding), then EWTN misrepresented Church teaching.

There’s obviously a difference of opinion. Would I believe EWTN, or a random “jbrady” on the internet?
Anyone can read the EWTN piece and see that it is in line with church teaching.
I notice no one refuted particular points, just said “EWTN is wrong”.

 

[JulianN]

I notice no one refuted particular points, just said “EWTN is wrong”.

Here you go:
A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to subhuman living conditions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning, or racist behavior, **if the voter’s intent is to support that position.**In such cases, a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and dignity.

1. There may be times when a Catholic who rejects a candidate’s unacceptable position even on policies promoting an intrinsically evil act may reasonably decide to vote for that candidate for other morally grave reasons. Voting in this way would be permissible only for truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences or to ignore a fundamental moral evil.

 

[Dan_Defender]

Lead by example.

This. And pray for them.