It would seem for a lot of American Catholics the choice between Barrack Obama and John McCain, as potential president, is at best an unhappy one. Conflicted within the broad strokes of political gesture, many equate the choice between supporting a candidate who supports abortion (Obama) and another (McCain) who supports the continuance of war.
Speaking to The National Post’s Kelly McParland, 38 year-old mother of six and dedicated Catholic, Ann Conway admits:
“If I do end up voting for Obama, then I’ll go to confession after and tell the priest my sin.”
Elsewhere writing for The National Catholic Reporter, Nicholas P. Cafard suggests it might be a moot point since:
“The right to abortion is guaranteed by the federal judiciary’s interpretation of the Constitution. And while the president appoints federal judges, the connection between a president’s appointments and the decisions rendered by his appointees is tenuous at best.”
You’re voting for a President it would seem, not for Federal Judges.
Cafard goes on to suggest there are other areas – other ‘intrinsically evil acts’ – that a President yields much more direct control over. He goes on to talk about the continuance of war and torture. (It has always seemed counter-intuitive to me that McCain who was himself a victim of torture is so supportive of so-called ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’)
So what’s a good Catholic to do?
I was fascinated to learn of the existence of the Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics. Apparently here you can get the low down on the most important of issues affecting Catholics. Specifically: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and homosexual marriage.
Impressively the booklet (available here in PDF or here as a YouTube video) doesn’t directly reference any delegate or party, and instead discusses the five subjects mentioned earlier. If you don’t have the time to read the booklet or watch the ten minute video, let me summarise: put “anti” in front of each of the subjects mentioned above. Now find the candidate who has that stance on each of these ‘non-negotiable’ principles. Failing that, choose the candidate who has that stance on ‘most’ of the principles. The video suggests by acting in this way you will be choosing the candidate who will do the least harm. The lesser of two evils, perhaps?
If you’re not Catholic, but Christian, don’t feel too persecuted by the Vatican’s watchful gaze! The same website also offers The Voter’s Guide For Serious Christians (available here in PDF.) Although a brief comparison leads me to conclude they are identical.
The Onion: Obama Runs Constructive Criticism Ad On McCain
In Other News…
(It’s okay Serious Catholics, I’m not running for anything so feel free to overlook my promotion of a non-negotiable issue here.)
I’m not really sure why I’m including this here. To me its not a religious issue. It is a Gay and Lesbian issue. We just tend to assume it is a religious issue since the religious are the most vocal protesters of the issue. Yet, still, to my mind that makes it their problem not their issue.
A Connecticut Court has ruled against a ban on gay and lesbian marriage. Reuters reporter Ted Lorson writes:
After four years of legal wrangling in the state court system, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that a ban on gay marriage constituted “cognizable harm” and infringed on a “fundamental right” of same-sex couples.
Happy Sunday everyone!
