My first vote as a RCIA Candidate?

[Andruschak]

OK, upcoming elections are upon us. I live in California. One of the ballot propositions is intended to discourage teens from having abortions. Cardinal Mahoney has put his endorsement on it. How binding is this on an RCIA Candidate like me? I will vote YES as a matter of obedience, of course.

But now we come down to Republican vs. Democrat, complicated in my case by being registered with the Libertarian Party. I have no idea how the Catholic Church regards Libertarians and other small parties.

I tip my bonnet to the Republicans for being anti-abortion. But under the Republicans the rich have gotten much richer and the poor have gotten poorer. And the number of poor have increased.

So, has there been any authentic Catholic paper on who we would be REQUIRED to vote for? If so, I will vote as directed as a matter of obedience. If not, um, well, er…suggestions?

 

[Nohome]

So, has there been any authentic Catholic paper on who we would be REQUIRED to vote for?

If there ever is one, the RCC will lose its tax exempt status.

Nohome

 

[Andruschak]

If there ever is one, the RCC will lose its tax exempt status.

Nohome

OK, any Official Suggestions?

 

[jmcrae]

Never vote for any candidate who is openly pro-abortion, unless all of the candidates running are so - in which case, vote for the least foul of them - although in my case, I’d spoil my ballot and write on it that no pro-life candidate means I cannot vote in this election, in good conscience - but that’s just me; I’m a bit of a hardliner on that particular issue.

Other than that, it’s totally up to you.

(I know of one election where the Catholic population was so elated to finally have a pro-life candidate to vote for that the candidate was completely shocked to not only win by a landslide (he had expected to lose the election and go back to his regular job), but the voter turn-out was triple what it had been in previous elections for that riding. So, yeah - if you can’t vote, then write on the ballot what the reason is.)

 

[LCMS_No_More]

OK, upcoming elections are upon us. I live in California. One of the ballot propositions is intended to discourage teens from having abortions. Cardinal Mahoney has put his endorsement on it. How binding is this on an RCIA Candidate like me? I will vote YES as a matter of obedience, of course.

But now we come down to Republican vs. Democrat, complicated in my case by being registered with the Libertarian Party. I have no idea how the Catholic Church regards Libertarians and other small parties.

The Libertarian Party is pro-choice on abortion.

I tip my bonnet to the Republicans for being anti-abortion. But under the Republicans the rich have gotten much richer and the poor have gotten poorer. And the number of poor have increased.

The California Republicans are PLINO (Pro-Life In Name Only) as our “pro-choice,” pro-embryonic stem-cell research, pro-gay “marriage” Governor can attest. He claims to be Catholic yet he holds these amoral positions. If it were up to me, he’d be publicly excommunicated from the Church.

So, has there been any authentic Catholic paper on who we would be REQUIRED to vote for? If so, I will vote as directed as a matter of obedience. If not, um, well, er…suggestions?

The Church cannot officially take positions on who you can vote for without risking their status as a tax exempt organization. There are principles to bear in mind, however. Abortion is the major issue of the day and we, as Catholics, are to vote pro-life as much as possible. In cases where this is impossible, it’s a harder question to answer. There is a “Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics” posted here, but I am of the opinion that it seems to be saying that you should always vote Republican (no it doesn’t say that outright but that’s what comes across to me), so I would read it with a grain of salt. You should ask several good, orthodox priests in your area about what you should take into account in this upcoming election. Both gubernatorial candidates are equal on abortion, gay “marriage” and stem-cells. They differ on other important life issues (the ones usually ignored by people on this board), however. Schwarzenegger is a big fan of the death penalty and the unjust war of choice in Iraq. Angelides is against both.

 

[LCMS_No_More]

Never vote for any candidate who is openly pro-abortion, unless all of the candidates running are so - in which case, vote for the least foul of them - although in my case, I’d spoil my ballot and write on it that no pro-life candidate means I cannot vote in this election, in good conscience - but that’s just me; I’m a bit of a hardliner on that particular issue.

Other than that, it’s totally up to you.

(I know of one election where the Catholic population was so elated to finally have a pro-life candidate to vote for that the candidate was completely shocked to not only win by a landslide (he had expected to lose the election and go back to his regular job), but the voter turn-out was triple what it had been in previous elections for that riding. So, yeah - if you can’t vote, then write on the ballot what the reason is.)

You don’t have to “spoil” your ballot in order to not vote, you just leave that part of the ballot unmarked. There are several issues on the ballot that need to be voted on and in Los Angeles County, you make any other marks on your ballot (like soap boxing your position on abortion), you didn’t vote, even if you intended to on other issues on the ballot and marked those items.

 

[rlg94086]

Hi Andruschak,

Regarding…

Schwarzenegger is a big fan of the death penalty and the unjust war of choice in Iraq. Angelides is against both.

Catholics can differ the death penalty and war, so I would base your decision on your own opinion there.

As far as non-life issues in the Church, there are two different approaches. One is that government should spend money on social welfare programs. The other is that private groups or individuals are called to do it.

As a Libertarian, I would guess you fall into the latter group.

So, abortion is the really big one. It may be difficult for you to find a Libertarian who is pro-life, but as LCMS said, both your gubernatorial choices are pro-choice. So, I’m guessing Libertarian or a pro-life “third party” candidate would be your best bet.

As far as the PLINO stuff…just ignore it. It’s just the Democrat’s way of trying to marginalize the pro-life Republicans. In any case, look at the individual candidate.