A
adrift
Guest
It depends on if it is an unjust war.
- Status
J
JackVk
Guest
Precisely why I’m voting for Rand Paul. He is pro-life, wants to keep us out of pointless wars, get rid of the NSA’s intruding, audit the Federal Reserve, and let people keep what they have worked to earn.
L
Lily_Bernans
Guest
All well and good, and you are certainly entitled to vote for whom you please, but why throw away your vote? He can’t win the presidency this year.
J
JackVk
Guest
Because then I can say that I didn’t vote for any of those who will win. It’s not a wasted vote because it’s not going towards the two-party system that has failed miserably. When the winner continues America’s national tailspin, I can stand back and say “I told you so”.
A
Adonia
Guest
There has not been a government program that has come down the pike since Clinton was the president (and was turned in the right direction by Gingrich) that Democrats have opposed. Every one of them is socialist leaning in nature from gun control to health care. At this point there are few conservative Democrats, just about everyone of them has gone to the left.
And yes, we know that Donald Trump is not a conservative as it was not too long ago that he too was praising Obama and Hillary. Trump is an opportunist and is only responding to people who are fed up with the establishment politicians on both sides of the aisle.
L
Lily_Bernans
Guest
Okay, I understand. Thank you!
I’ll be voting for the Republican candidate regardless. I’m just not sure who I like the best. Paul and Cruz are probably my least favorite, with Paul being my least favorite by a long shot. Generally, Rubio and Christie are probably my two favorites, but I definitely think Trump could be a big positive force as well. For one thing, he’s not beholden to any lobbyists or special interests. He actually has experience with negotiating complex deals and getting good results. And another thing, I just thought of the other day is that he’s not 100% beholden to the Republicans either. Generally, whichever party wins, they tend to ignore good ideas from the other party. I don’t see Trump doing this as much as other candidates. With a Trump presidency, if a democrat has a good idea (yes, I’m sure it can happen . . . . sometimes 
) it will probably have a better shot at being looked at than if anyone else is president.
) it will probably have a better shot at being looked at than if anyone else is president.
H
Horton
Guest
Does the fact that Trump refuses to participate in the debate tomorrow evening in Iowa because Fox News refused to remove Megyn Kelly as a moderator have any impact on your decision? I will vote for the republican candidate also unless the Dems or Indys pull someone out of thin air who is better (note: none of the current Dems running has a chance of ever getting my support). To me it seems Trump has finally pushed back to far and knows it. He even put out a cover statement saying he thought there had been too many debates already so that is his reason for not wanting to participate rather than his misogynist feelings toward Kelly.I’ll be voting for the Republican candidate regardless. I’m just not sure who I like the best. Paul and Cruz are probably my least favorite, with Paul being my least favorite by a long shot. Generally, Rubio and Christie are probably my two favorites, but I definitely think Trump could be a big positive force as well. For one thing, he’s not beholden to any lobbyists or special interests. He actually has experience with negotiating complex deals and getting good results. And another thing, I just thought of the other day is that he’s not 100% beholden to the Republicans either. Generally, whichever party wins, they tend to ignore good ideas from the other party. I don’t see Trump doing this as much as other candidates. With a Trump presidency, if a democrat has a good idea (yes, I’m sure it can happen . . . . sometimes
time.com/4196506/republican-debate-donald-trump-megyn-kelly-fox-news/
A
Adonia
Guest
I was thinking positive of Trump myself, but his latest antics have turned me off. He is nothing but a narcissistic bully who thinks the world revolves around him. He is crude and rude and even with all his money he has little class. Plus, he said recently that he would cut deals with the Democrats and we certainly don’t need that either. We have enough of a dictator with Obama, and I fear Trump would be just as bad or even worse.
S
Sy_Noe
Guest
- In this statement, we bishops do not intend to tell Catholics for whom or against whom to vote. Our purpose is to help Catholics form their consciences in accordance with God’s truth. We recognize that the responsibility to make choices in political life rests with each individual in light of a properly formed conscience, and that participation goes well beyond casting a vote in a particular election.
- Catholics often face difficult choices about how to vote. This is why it is so important to vote according to a well-formed conscience that perceives the proper relationship among moral goods. 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.
- 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.
So no it is not sinful to vote for Bernie Sanders according to the bishops. The bishops do not tell Catholics for whom or against to vote. They recognize political choices rest with each individual.
It would only be sinful according to the Catholic faith if you were voting for him with the intent to support abortion or SSM for instance. But individual Catholics can vote for whomever they want if they determine there are other serious moral reasons to do so.
C
Confiteor_Deo
Guest
It would certainly be a sin to vote for him. The court cases can be changed, and there are still legislations going around concerning various restrictions on abortion. If we have a president that upholds morality, there is only good that can come out of it, whereas if we have a president without morals, no good can possibly come out of him.
S
Sy_Noe
Guest
Not bad for a Jewish man who says he isn’t actively involved in an organized religion to take from the Gospels. 
And that exactly is what my informed conscience is telling me to do.And btw for those who keep bringing up an informed conscience, none of us can see into another’s conscience… that is unless we are God:
CCC 1776 “His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.”
S
Sy_Noe
Guest
So is torture which the last I knew was an intrinsic evil. CCC 2297 even says torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity.
J
jschwartz
Guest
Bernie is a prophetic figure for our time, calling us to greater awareness and action of the needs of our country.
Today’s Republican Party has no regard for human life. It has regard for zygotes and blastocysts, but none for the nutrition, educational, developmental, and social needs of children. Abortion is a tragic decision in many cases, but in other cases, it is the lesser of two evils, and is sadly necessary where a pregnancy is incompatible with life in its broadest conception.
Today’s Republican Party has no regard for human life. It has regard for zygotes and blastocysts, but none for the nutrition, educational, developmental, and social needs of children. Abortion is a tragic decision in many cases, but in other cases, it is the lesser of two evils, and is sadly necessary where a pregnancy is incompatible with life in its broadest conception.
S
Sy_Noe
Guest
You apparently don’t see any differences at all between the 2 major parties on policy. I say that only because with the major parties controlling the election process, it can be difficult for a candidate who is not of one of the two major parties to get on enough state ballots and definitely difficult to break through enough to actually win enough states to secure an Electoral College win. Ask wannabe Presidents Anderson, Perot, and Nader to name a few. About the most a minor candidate can do is play a spoiler’s role by taking enough votes away from one of the majors. And still one of the 2 majors will end up winning.
P
Pat_Albertson
Guest
Thank you for this enlightening article.
S
Sy_Noe
Guest
Please please Bernie, work to raise my taxes so I don’t have to pay high monthly premiums to private insurance companies and higher deductibles.
S
Sy_Noe
Guest
I’m sure Tim Staples is a good Catholic and certainly can reach his conclusions. But it doesn’t mean Catholics who reach other voting conclusions are not also good Catholics. And he cites Catholic Answers’, a private laity-run internet business, voters guide, the use of which the bishops previously discouraged.
ewtn.com/v/news/getstory.asp?number=48969
The US Catholic bishops have their own guide, from which I cited from earlier, to show how an individual Catholic can vote for whomever they choose, even pro choice candidates as long as they are doing so for other serious moral reasons and not with the intent of supporting abortion or SSM for instance.
S
Sy_Noe
Guest
That is a big problem I see with the Republican Party. When they speak of family values they seem to mainly be referring to abortion and SSM. But there is so much to family values. The many needs you mentioned. Guaranteed family leave when a couple brings a newborn into their family would be another. Healthcare as a right for everyone another. Higher wages. And so much more constitute family values.
C
Confiteor_Deo
Guest
I think the serious moral reasons that would justify supporting a candidate that is pro-choice or favors homosexual “marriage” have to outweigh or at least be equal to the gravity of those two sins. Considering how grave abortion is, compounded by the evil of homosexual “marriage”, this does not apply in the case of Bernie Sanders and the moral restriction of support for him remains.
- Status