Not sure what to believe

[asd72]

WIN??? Is this a competition to see who is the most holy?

That’s what is always comes down to on these forums. I’m done. Episcopal Church, here I come.

You seem to want to cast the blame for your possible defection on everyone but yourself. First the gossips in your Church, now those who disagree with you on here. Please understand that you are responsible for your own decisions.

I hope you are able to discuss your issues with your Priest and follow truth not changeable emotions.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Distract? Are you kidding me?

Capital punishment as self defense is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. These people are strapped to a table and murdered. They could live their life out in prison. Why is that life, and the lives of innocent people lost in war, not as important as the unborn or the terminally ill?

Conception to NATURAL DEATH, not human-given death. Didn’t Jesus stop people from stoning each other??

It’s more like you’re picking and choosing what life is more important.

No, I believe that YOU are doing that, by justifying your political vote for a candidate who is 100% in support of abortion, and who voted 3 times to block a bill that would grant basic medical care for babies born alive during a botched abortion. Trying to make excuses for that vote is typical, and many Catholics are feeling guilty, but some are not, and are defiant about going against the 5 non-negotiables.

I am not saying that the people in your parish are being charitable in their discussions, but I do think that you and other Catholics who continue to vote for these candidates must really consider what you are doing. And running away to the Episcopal church solves nothing. Unless, that is, you no longer believe in mortal sin. Or the Real Presence.

 

[twoangels]

Oh, JM, thank you for this! I’ve been feeling horrible, went to confession, daily mass, trying to figure out what I’m doing, where I’m wrong. I don’t know what to think anymore. Every time I set foot in a Catholic church, all I hear from people is how much they hate the president, or how everyone who doesn’t believe 100% should leave. It makes me so sad and anxious, I actually started looking at a local episcopal church. I feel unwanted, wrong, sinful. and hopeless.

But I can’t imagine being anywhere else. I desperately need Christ in the eucharist.

I think the media gives a wrong impression about what Church authorities are saying. Stay away from media summaries. This includes lifesitenews. Go to the sources. If you see an article about the Pope saying something, go to news.va and see if you can find the transcript of his entire speech. You’ll get a far more complete message that way. Keep an eye on the Vatican website and the USCCB’s website. The USCCB’s document on the formation of conscience was actually very good. It wasn’t a simple minded check list. It forced you to think critically on the issues and to make sure you were well formed on those issues.

We are called to do two things. The first is to follow our conscience. The second is to form our conscience according to the Truth. This does mean we shouldn’t take Church teaching as a suggestion we can agree or disagree with, the the moral confusion comes in when people want to reduce morality to a simplistic list of rules. Its simplier and less demanding that way. Its far easier to say “ask a priest” and expect the priest to give you a categorized list than it is to acknowledge that formation of conscience is a process. Certainly, if your priest is a good spiritual director, seek his council in the confessional. Some priests aren’t good spiritual directors though and have no interest in giving council. Sometimes they give council that is unhelpful and doesn’t pertain to your situation. Sometimes they give council that actually is damaging and encourages dispair. They’re priests. They’re not all spiritual directors and in my experience, there aren’t enough qualified spiritual directors for every Catholic in the world to have one as a resource.

The benefit we have in this day and age is how much information is at our fingertips. We can learn our faith better than previous generations if we know where to go. And as we do this, its important to understand that formation of conscience is lifelong. Following your conscience can mean doing morally wrong things in invisible ignorance. Unforunately some people think too highly of their consciences and don’t allow for this formation. They think its appropriate to just say “Look voting for this guy is a sin and you’ll go to Hell” is helping you to form your conscience when its not.

Conscience is based on moral principles more than rules. Its more abstract and takes critical thinking. Its one thing to say “Objectively this person shouldn’t win. Objectively graver evils will happen if this person becomes president. Therefore I shouldn’t vote for him.” It’s another thing to get upset with people because you simplified their homework by letting them copy your “homework.” “But my answer is right! You’re wrong!”

Its one thing to be defiant of the Church’s authority. Its another thing to use the principles you know to the best of your ability and come to the wrong conclusion. Its ok to get a wrong answer. In fact, its better to know how to do “the math” and get a wrong answer than to copy someone else’s answers. A doubting conscience (constantly doubting, second guessing yourself and relying on other people’s consciences to make up for your lack of a functioning conscience) is worse than a conscience in error. Its actually spiritual progress to have the humility to accept your moral mistakes.

 

[Nimzovik]

Distract? Are you kidding me?

Capital punishment as self defense is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. These people are strapped to a table and murdered. They could live their life out in prison. Why is that life, and the lives of innocent people lost in war, not as important as the unborn or the terminally ill?

Conception to NATURAL DEATH, not human-given death. Didn’t Jesus stop people from stoning each other??

It’s more like you’re picking and choosing what life is more important.

Not the point, now is it? I had addressed voting proclivities, i.e. voting for a *Rabid *abortionist, that facilitates the deaths of untold millions. The death of said deaths does indeed seem to dwarf **any **Capital Punishment practice in existence - yes? Do the Math.

 

[crenfro]

Hello.

The below is correct for how a real Catholic should base his vote.

I will keep you in my prayers. Please pray for me that I will continue to ask God’s will for myself, (and try to do it!) instead of asking myself what’s my will for me.

Thank you for bringing up this question.

There ARE the 5 non-negotiables for Catholic voters, which are:

1. Abortion (and it’s #1 for a reason)
2. Euthanasia
3. Homosexual marriage
4. Embryonic stem cell research (because of #1)
5. Human cloning

Any of those are reasons NOT to vote for a politician, let alone ALL of them. .