Is it a grave sin to vote Republican?

[pulchraesamicamea]

I don’t think it’s a sin.

In my country, both Democrats and Republican parties support abortion.

I honestly don’t know which to pick because they just seem to be fighting about nothing important right now.

 

[Dougbro1]

In my country, both Democrats and Republican parties support abortion.

Are there any other parties in your country that don’t?

 

[Jimbo]

I’ll admit to being torn. I don’t want to voter shame. If you take abortion out of the picture I’d likely lean to being a fiscally conservative Democrat. But abortion is there. It’s like saying ‘Boy, I don’t want to vote for Bull Connor but he has such a progressive tax plan’. or ‘That John C. Calhoun isn’t my cup of tea with his racial bigotry; but I really like his help of the poor…’. One thing is not like the other.

I’m disgusted with both parties, for various reasons. One of the reasons I bailed on both of them and try to support the American Solidarity party where I can, and other third parties where I can’t, is to reject them and the point to which they’ve fallen.

I wish we as an electorate demanded better. But we don’t. We often settle for pragmatic in the moment. I get that, to an extent, but the constant settling has created a slow downward spiral where the choice are just wretched.

 

[LeafByNiggle]

pnewton:

It is a formal act of voting, not of abortion.

It is a formal act that perpetuated and advances the cult of death.

If it does so, it does so as an unintended consequence, which makes it Remote Material Cooperation with evil, which may be permissible when there are proportionate reasons to do so.

 

[blackforest]

I don’t know that it’s entirely our fault as an electorate. I do think that the media and the major parties engage in some rigging and coronation processes. Forces like gerrymandering and money-as-“speech” also disempower voters. Our first priority is to overhaul that whole corrupt System. That endeavor is bipartisan and shouldn’t even be controversial. Then I think we could see candidates that voters are actually demanding, including more pro-life Democrats and Independents getting a fairer shake.

 

[pnewton]

pnewton:

It is a formal act of voting, not of abortion.

It is a formal act that perpetuated and advances the cult of death.

That definition equates a specific vote for a democrat with the culture of death directly, and thus begs the question, making it a logical fallacy. You are using circular logic.

Did I commit a formal act of evil voting for state Republicans, who then left it legal to sell guns (privately) to a man who failed a background check and then commit mass murder? I do not think so. More to the point, as the USCCB have stated directly that it is possible to vote that for such a one, in certain cases, without it being sinful, it cannot be formal cooperation with evil, which would be sin, unless one discounts the teaching authority of the Church.

 

[vern_humphrey]

That definition equates a specific vote for a democrat with the culture of death directly, and thus begs the question, making it a logical fallacy. You are using circular logic.

To beg the question means to ask your opponent to accept a proposition that will prove your position. Where did I do that?

Did I commit a formal act of evil voting for state Republicans, who then left it legal to sell guns (privately) to a man who failed a background check and then commit mass murder? I do not think so. More to the point, as the USCCB have stated directly that it is possible to vote that for such a one, in certain cases, without it being sinful, it cannot be formal cooperation with evil, which would be sin, unless one discounts the teaching authority of the Church.

The key word is “in certain cases.” The certain cases are when there is no pro-life candidate.

You can then vote for the less pro-abortion candidate, or if they are equal, base your vote on some other issue.

 

[vern_humphrey]

That definition equates a specific vote for a democrat with the culture of death directly, and thus begs the question, making it a logical fallacy. You are using circular logic.

To beg the question means to ask your opponent to accept a proposition that will prove your position. Where did I do that?

I thought I could break your post into two different parts, and answer each part separately – I obviously failed. Here is how I would answer the first part.

 

[pnewton]

To beg the question means to ask your opponent to accept a proposition that will prove your position. Where did I do that?

This phrase: “… that perpetuated and advances the cult of death.”

The key word is “in certain cases.” The certain cases are when there is no pro-life candidate.

That is not the definition the voter guide gives, though it is one example. What is said is:

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.

I really wish everyone would just accept this and quit trying do define this some Republican Party way. It is quite Republican enough without enhancement.

 

[pnewton]

As to formal cooperation with evil, the guide says:

s. 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.

Note that there are issues one can try to advance from both parties. As Pope Francis reminded us, there are no negotiable values. So we have to be clear in our own heart what we want for our country.

 

[vern_humphrey]

This phrase: “… that perpetuated and advances the cult of death.”

How is that begging the question?

I really wish everyone would just accept this and quit trying do define this some Republican Party way. It is quite Republican enough without enhancement.

Who is trying to define this some Republican Party way? All I am saying is that abortion is a VERY grave matter.

Look at it this way – could you find any morally acceptable reason to vote for Hitler? Hitler killed 12 million innocent people in the Holocaust. We have killed four times that many through abortion.

 

[Fauken]

American Solidarity party

I wish we as an electorate demanded better. But we don’t. We often settle for pragmatic in the moment.

It doesn’t help that the country has basically run on a two party system since its inception.

 

[vern_humphrey]

It doesn’t help that the country has basically run on a two party system since its inception.

It can’t be otherwise. A parliamentary system, which places all power in the parliament, can have viable multiple parties. A system like ours, with separation of powers cannot.

 

[pnewton]

Look at it this way – could you find any morally acceptable reason to vote for Hitler?

Of course not, but I can’t find a morally acceptable way to vote for most Democrats, and for me, a few Republicans.

 

[goout]

Is it a grave sin to vote Republican?​

No, but wearing socks with sandals is. Or so I’ve been told. I would never do such a thing.

 

[twf]

If you actively support the death penalty or torture, then yes, perhaps you should. Two prime examples of areas where the Republican platform is at odds with Catholicism. While more of a grey area, the Republican Party and the Catholic Bishops definitely tend to be at odds on the treatment of migrants / immigrants (many of whom are Catholic).

 

[YourNameHere]

Actually, Trump has not built 50 feet of new wall. Money spent has gone to repair old wall.
Trump currently is trying to take $3.6 billion from the Dept. of Defense away from state expenditures for military base improvements. He wants to use that money for his wall. (He campaigned on having Mexico pay for it. But after the Mexican government laughed in his face, he had to get the money from somewhere else.)
Also money set aside for rebuilding Puerto Rico has been diverted (i.e., stolen) to his wall fund.
For two years, the Republican controlled Senate and House refused Trump money for his wall. Then he turned down a deal the Democrats offered because they tied the Dreamer issue to the money offered.
Now, he just takes money ear-marked for military bases and uses it for something else.
Illegal immigrants have not been deported back to their countries. They have been locked up in makeshift border gulags in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, by the border patrol and ICE.
Those are the facts.

 

[YourNameHere]

First and foremost, the Democrats allow women to right to choose or not to choose an abortion. There is no crusade.
The Republicans do nothing but use abortion as a wedge issue to gain support from those of us who are against abortion. But they do nothing.
The Republicans tried to repeal and replace ObamaCare. But their plan was to replace the present plan with a plan that would have taken health care away from 24 million people. Fortunately, the late Senator John McCain voted against the plan.
Republicans have allowed jobs to go to China, Mexico, and many other places outside of our border.
Republican immigration policy (or lack there of) has allowed a record number of illegals to try to get into this country.
The GOP has done nothing to protect us from Isis, North Korea, Russia, and China.
I could go on, but I do not have the time or the space here.

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

I am an independent. There are parts of both major parties that I disagree with.
Abortion when it comes to Democrats.
Just about every other issue when it comes to Republicans.

 

[Victoria33]

Retired General Mattis is saying how ISIS rose to power due to the withdrawal of troops in Iraq under the Obama administration, ISIS is one of the greatest evils of my lifetime. It wouldn’t hurt to read the news from time to time. Trump allowing the military and our great allies, the SDF to do their duty, has greatly decreased the power of ISIS and busted the caliphate.

It’s a grave sin to vote republican like I need a hole in the head. In other words, a ridiculous notion unless you are a fan of ISIS and extremism. That’s aside from the life issue.

Men and Women

Brits, Americans, Australians and others, volunteered to fight ISIS. They, on their own, joined the Kurdish fighting units, some died fighting against ISIS, a group where really, comparing to the Nazis is not an understatement, compare to Imperial Japan too and their deeds during World War II, the area of control is just much smaller. There has also been a threat that continues indeed, to the west. That threat appears to be much smaller now but nonetheless, present.