I tried posting this and it didn’t “seem” to get through so I’ll try to do this again. I found this helpful in my voting decision:
Voting Principles for Catholics
- “There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. These are called ‘intrinsically evil’ actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned,” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, USCCB, #22).
Principle: You cannot support something that is intrinsically evil.
- “A vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy,” (Catholic Times, September 23, 2012, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, Diocese of Springfield).
“It is important to be clear that the political choices faced by citizens not only have an impact on general peace and prosperity but also may affect the individual’s salvation,” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, USCCB, #38).
Principle: By voting for someone who supports and advocates an intrinsic evil, you are participating in that intrinsic evil, and could possibly be committing a mortal sin that jeopardizes your eternal salvation.
- “Some issues involve ‘intrinsic evils’; that is, they can never under any circumstance or condition be morally justified. Preeminent among these intrinsic evils are legalized abortion, the promotion of same sex unions and ‘marriages’, repression of religious liberty, as well as public policies permitting euthanasia, racial discrimination or destructive human embryonic stem cell research,” (Clarification of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, Bishops of Dallas/Ft. Worth ).
Principle: Abortion, same–sex “marriage,” and the repression of religious liberty – which are three of the pre–eminent issues in this current election cycle – are indeed all intrinsically evil.
Principle: Therefore, by voting for someone who advocates and supports abortion, same–sex “marriage,” and/or the repression of religious liberty, you are participating in an intrinsic evil and could be jeopardizing your salvation.
- “The fact that only the negative commandments oblige always and under all circumstances does not mean, that in the moral life, prohibitions are more important than the obligation to do good indicated by the positive commandment,” (Veritatis Splendor, Pope John Paul II, #52).
“The right to life impl ies and is linked to other human rights—to the basic goods that every human person needs to live and thrive. All the life issues are connected, for erosion of respect for the life of any individual or group in society necessarily diminishes respect for all life. The moral imperative to respond to the needs of our neighbors—basic needs such as food, shelter, health care, education, and meaningful work—is universally binding on our consciences and may be legitimately fulfilled by a variety of means,” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, USCCB, #25).
Principle: Both opposing evil and doing good – feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, etc. – are essential obligations.
Principle: Issues that pertain to basic needs such as food, shelter, health care, education, and meaningful work are all linked to the right to life.
- “Disregard for the right to life, precisely because it leads to the killing of the person whom society exists to serve, is what most directly conflicts with the possibility of achieving the common good… It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop…” (The Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II, #72; #101)
“The direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life from the moment of conception until natural death is always wrong and is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed,” (Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, USCCB, #28).
“Therefore, we cannot make more clear the seriousness of the overriding issue of abortion – while not the ‘only issue’ – it is the defini ng moral issue, not only today, but of the last 35 years. Since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, more than 48 million innocent lives have been lost. Each year in our nation more than one million lives are lost through legalized abortion,” (Clarification of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, Bishops of Dallas/Ft. Worth ).
Principle: Abortion is the overriding issue, the defining moral issue, of our day because it is from the right to life that all the other rights – the right to food, shelter, health care, religious liberty, etc. – flow and are made meaningful.
- “As Catholics we are faced with a number of issues that are of concern and should be addressed, such as immigration reform, healthcare, the economy and its solvency, care and concern for the poor, and the war on terror. As Catholics we must be concerned about these issues and work to see that just solutions are brought about. T here are many possible solutions to these issues and there can be reasonable debate among Catholics on how to best approach and solve them. These are matters of ‘prudential judgment.’ But let us be clear: issues of prudential judgment are not morally equivalent to issues involving intrinsic evils. No matter how right a given candidate is on any of these issues, it does not outweigh a candidate’s unacceptable position in favor of an intrinsic evil such as abortion or the protection of ‘abortion rights,’” (Clarification of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, Bishops of Dallas/Ft. Worth ).
mlz
Go figure…
