Kathryn Jean Lopez: "Catholics for Obama?"
(Hat tip: Brian Burch at Fidelis)
Kathryn Jean Lopez finds that it's "a tough case to make":
Can a Catholic be for Barack Obama? ...(emphasis added)
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The answer to the question is not up to me. The answer comes to the individual Catholic through prayer and reflection on the demands of his conscience, informed by the teaching of the Church. Neither of those steps can be glossed over. And there can be no mistaking what responsibilities the Catholic voter faces.
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Catholics need to know what their Church teaches. Know your candidate. Know abortion isn’t just any issue. It’s a grave offense and betrayal to fail to protect the most innocent human life. If you’re a Catholic who honestly can see how Barack Obama’s election as president won’t contribute to or compound that offence, go in peace. I don’t see it. I don’t see how anyone can see it. And so for those who don’t get a vote, for those who have been mutilated and murdered in the name of “choice,” this Catholic will cast hers against him in November.
[Read the whole thing]
My Comments:
I often give Lopez a hard time at this blog for her commentary that is sometimes, shall we say, less than rational (whether it's her uncritical support for Romney as the "true conservative" candidate, her excommunication of McCain as "not one of us" for his opposition to water-boarding, or her hand-wringing over exit-polling data, to name just a few instances).
But in this editorial, I think she's hit the right tone. Can Catholics support Obama? I've stated many times that I believe the case for voting for Obama can be made, but that it is quite a difficult one to make (and, to date, Catholics like Prof. Kmiec haven't successfully pulled it off). And, once the case has been made that "truly grave moral reasons" exist that would justify such a vote, it is not likely to be one that I would agree with as a prudential matter.
The shorthand that I've given to my view on the matter is that it is inaccurate to proclaim that a pro-life Catholic MAY NOT, under any circumstances, vote for Obama; but it is a reflection of the seriousness of Obama's shortcomings on abortion to say that a pro-life Catholic probably SHOULD NOT vote for him.*
* Which says nothing about what the pro-life Catholic's posture toward McCain OUGHT to be. So far, I have withheld my support for McCain, and will likely continue to do so unless and until he gives some indication that he shares my policy priorities.)
Labels: Culture of Death, Moloch Obamessiah, Pro-Life, The Catholic Vote, Voting Your Values
posted by Pro Ecclesia 3:16 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
My own view is that "proportionate" reasons means that you need to find something as bad as killing 1.5 million innocents per year to vote against in voting for Obama. The Iraq War doesn't rise that threshold. Neither does universal healthcare.
Neither does anything else.
Paul nails it. Until Obmama and the Democrats can explain their inaction for the last 30 years along with their unconditional support of Planned Parenthood, they cannot be considered.
Kmiec is upset that he was never considered for a judicial appointment or he has been taken by Obama fever.
No Catholic in good conscience can support a person who not only voted against banning partial birth abortions, but also regretted voting to allow the courts to consider saving Terri Schiavo's life.
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