I’m one of the 100 million or so Americans who watched the presidential debate last night.
Like other students of history, I had no illusion that I was watching the Lincoln-Douglas debates. It was more like two kids on a playground dissing each other’s family backgrounds.
But in a little more than a month, I will cast a vote for President and I hope you will as well. It is vital to cast a vote for someone who has a chance to win and best reflects Catholic values.
In saying this, I am fully aware that neither candidate is in any way or manner a paragon of Catholic values. But we have a responsibility to vote for the one who is closest, or perhaps in this case, is the least objectionable.
Staying home or writing in Bishop Sheen is a cop out – a sin of omission in my book. You have to take a viable stand.
Don’t worry; I’m not going to attempt to tell you the particular person to vote for. However, here are some questions to ask yourself before voting; some require doing a little homework.
- Do you want more government or less government?
- Do you want higher taxes or lower taxes?
- Which candidate will better defend to the death the constitution of the United States – and especially the Bill of Rights?
- Which candidate will appoint justices to the Supreme Court – and other federal courts – who will defend the constitution?
- Which candidate will better protect the right to practice your religion, not just in your home or a church, but in the public square.
- Which candidate will better protect human life from conception to natural death?
- Which candidate has demonstrated greater honesty and integrity?
- Which party platform better represents your view of the world?
- Do you believe in democracy or communism?
- Do you believe that private enterprise — or government — is best at creating innovation and job growth?
I believe these are the important questions. They merit prayerful, thoughtful consideration.
We are looking at two major candidates with many human flaws. But don’t let that distract from the fact that they have exceedingly different views of the world and would take us in very different directions.
Catholic will decide the winner of this election. How we decide may determine whether we can continue to be free to practice our faith.
For me it’s easy: the one who didn’t disrespect Pope Francis
And the one who disrespects the Pope most is the one who campaigns for abortion.
the one who disrespects pope francis the most is the one who disrespect all aspects of life, not only birth rights… health issues, women issues, immigrants, the one that care less about helping the poor, the hungry, the needy, the entire circle of life…. the first commandment was “love thy neighbor…”, it was not “thou shall not kill”… think about that! Selecting a president based on ONLY the abortion issue is a unique phenomenon in the US. The Catholic Church in other countries cares about “social issues”, “equality”, “feed and serve the poor”… just like Jesus did. Pro-birth is clearly a consideration, but other absolute evils should also be considered.