Catholic Vote: Not. Trump.

As Iowans prepare to cast the first votes in the 2016 nomination process, we owe you our thoughts. While we are not officially endorsing a candidate at this time, we believe it is important to share some critical thoughts on the race, or at least on one candidate in particular.

As Catholics, we are called to participate in the democratic process. The Church does not endorse candidates for public office. That job rests with us, the laity. No candidate is perfect, and no simple checklist is sufficient. Prudence is a necessity. Some candidates ought to be disqualified from receiving the support of a Catholic voter. Others must be weighed in light of the moral principles given to us by our Church.

We have asked for your feedback on multiple occasions. Thousands of CV members have written. We've read them all. In addition we follow the daily news, analysis, polling, and have crafted our strategy for 2016.

We have sifted through the most popular arguments in defense of Trump and listed them below along with our own take. Here they are:

While we share much of the frustration over the failure of the GOP to make significant progress, we are reminded of Republicans' once oft-quoted criticism of President Bill Clinton: character matters.

Donald J. Trump left his first wife and married his mistress, only to leave her a few years later for another mistress. Reportedly he left his second wife by leaking the news to a NY newspaper and left the headline on the bed for his wife to find. In his book, The Art of the Deal, Trump bragged about having sex with many women, including some who were married. He has appeared on the cover of Playboy Magazine with a model wearing only his tuxedo jacket. He has mocked the disability of a NY Times reporter. He belittled John McCain for being a prisoner of war. His casino in Atlantic City was the first in the country to open up a strip club. His Twitter account is a running barrage of insults, lies, and personal attacks on anyone who disagrees with him. And did we mention he famously cheats at golf? Now who does that remind you of?

Now ask yourself: does this man have the character becoming of the President of the United States?

Trump is a salesmen, and salesmen don't buy, they sell. So he wonâ€™t be "bought." Instead he will sell out everyone and anyone when it benefits him, as he has his entire career. He was a liberal democrat, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-universal health care, pro-government bailouts, and a financial backer and friend of Hillary Clinton until he decided to run as a Republican last summer. He is the definition of an opportunist with no guiding principles.

Trump markets himself as an effective leader who will get things done simply by making "smart deals." He refuses to explain precisely how he intends to deliver results, and more often than not, promises to use force or work around or outside the law. Such a leader mirrors what we currently see in the White House. It would be incredibly harmful to our system of government, which is limited by our Constitution -- even if we like the policy outcome. We must be a nation of laws. For Trump, it is all about power. For a Christian, the presidency should be about service.

If you believe the headlines, you would assume everything Donald Trump touches turns to gold. Not so. Trump has only demonstrated an ability to make deals that benefit him personally. Four times he bailed on his own casinos to shield himself from their impending bankruptcies. And then there is Trump Magazine, Trump Airlines, Trump Steaks/Steakhouse, Trump Vodka, and most famously Trump University, to name only a few -- all bankrupt or closed, and massive failures. "Losers" as Trump is fond of saying.

He has constantly cozied up to big government to trample the little guy, either by abusing private property rights, or selling out small contractors and vendors, many of whom lost their life savings. Just ask elderly widow Vera Coking, whom Trump attempted to displace via eminent domain laws to make way for a limousine parking lot for his New Jersey casino -- the same casino he put into bankruptcy. Vera stood tall against the politically-connected billionaire Trump for years in court, enduring his practice of belittling personal attacks. She eventually won and called Trump a "maggot, a cockroach, and a crumb."

Trump has pledged to build a massive wall on our southern border and to make Mexico pay for it. Meanwhile he has promised to deport 11 million+ illegals, without explaining how, then plans to allow them all back in legally according to criteria he has yet to fully explain.

We agree illegal immigration is a problem that must be solved. Trump's solution is delusional, strikes us as xenophobic -- and truthfully, will never happen. If anything, Trump's demagoguery on immigration showcases the emptiness of many of his promises. As President Obama has learned, American presidents don't dictate laws. The Senate and House would have to pass any change of this magnitude, and such a solution has little to no chance of being approved. Border security and immigration enforcement are realistic fixes. Rounding up 11 million+ people and sending them back to Mexico is not practical or realistic, let alone humane. Those who rightfully want to solve the problem of illegal immigration deserve more than crowd pleasing platitudes. And it's certainly worth noting that Donald Trump criticized Mitt Romney for being too harsh on immigration back in 2012. This is just another issue where Donald Trump had a very recent and rather convenient conversion.

Several other presidential candidates have outlined more realistic policies to deal with problem. And that's what real leaders do. They outline solutions and build consensus. Hyperbole and demagoguery are tools of salesmen (see above) out for your money or your vote. Trump's lack of detail reminds us of another famous politician who proclaimed: "we have to pass the bill before you can see whatâ€™s in it."

This defense of Trump is somewhat rich, given the irony that Trump himself has boasted of playing the game, paying off politicians and enriching himself from the very system he now purports to reform. Case in point: in the past week a growing number of so-called "establishment Republicans" have warmed to supporting Trump, people like Bob Dole and Trent Lott -- including establishment Republicans in Iowa like Gov. Terry Branstad. Why? Because they believe, rightly in our view, that Trump doesn't have any principles at the end of the day. He's someone who will wheel and deal -- and you and I will be stuck with the bill.

Electing Donald Trump would send the pro-life movement back to the 1990s, when the Republican Party wanted to run away from defending the unborn. In fact, Trump recommended his own sister, Maryanne Trump Berry, for the Supreme Court. She's the federal judge who overturned New Jersey's ban on grisly partial-birth abortions. The next President may choose as many as three or more new justices. Trump's suggestion of his pro-abortion sister as an example ought to worry anyone who cares about the Court. And let's not forget he once said Oprah would make a great Vice President. Enough said.

Trump's political conversions have all happened at very convenient times. As recently as 2000, Trump was firmly "pro-choice," even refusing to oppose partial birth abortion! He was in favor of gay civil unions. He is open, even now, to subsidizing abortion giant Planned Parenthood with our tax dollars. He considers gay marriage a settled issue and has offered no plan to protect religious freedom. He is pro-universal health care, supported the stimulus package and government bailouts, supported gun control and a host of radical positions. Trump is like many Democrats we know. He is a political opportunist.

Trump is right about something -- it is time for a change. We do need to shake things up and make America great again. And his awakening of working class voters who are often sidelined by terrible policy and poor leadership is a lesson every Republican must take seriously or they will lose in November.

But the power to change does not require a fear mongering business mogul, appealing to our worst fears instead of our best hopes.

With other good candidates in the race, we encourage our members to look beyond Trump.

This is an historic opportunity to win back the White House with someone we can be proud to have as President.

Poland was a communist country (even more so than Argentina ever was) when St. John Paul II was a young priest and eventually became Cardinal and Archbishop of Krakow. I don't think he "cozied up with dictators or preached communist ideals."

Nor did the magnificent Polish Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski (called the Cardinal of the Millenium) who spent must of his life in Nazi or Communist prisons, openly flouting both of those movements. In 1955, the quite unpopular Polish dictator went to Wyszynski's prison cell to warn him of dire punishment if the Catholic people were, as is traditional, to go on pilgrimage to the Monastery at Jasna Gora, high up on the face of a mountain which contains an icon known as the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. When people arrive at the foot odf the mountain, the icon (reputedly painted on a tabletop from the home of the Holy Family and made by St. Joseph) is lifted up by the monks to be seen and prayers are said by the monks leading the Faithful below and the evil threatening them often goes away. This is the MORAL MIGHT of poor Poland which has usually not been a military power and has been abused by Austria, Russia and Germany for centuries. Always, Poland survives in the hearts and brave souls of its people and comes back. The aforementioned red dictator fell about a week after threatening Wyszynski and was replaced by a new and more respectful dictator.

When the time came and Solidarity revolted, Pope JP II and the Polish hierarchy played key roles in toppling the regime of dictator Jaruszelski and ending communism itself after the Polish KGB martyred the very popular Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, who has now been declared Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko and likely on his way to full canonization as a saint.

Michael Cardinal von Faulhaber of Munich spent the entire Nazi era figuratively spitting in Hitler's face, taking in ancient Torah Scrolls to preserve them and publicly announcing it, ordering every statue of Jesus or Mary in his archdiocese to be adorned with a yellow armband and the Star of David, and daring Hitler to retaliate which Hitler did not have the guts to do. He knew a coward when he saw and confronted one.

Or Alois Cardinal Stepinac of Croatia who resisted Tito and was tried by Tito's courts and STILL acquitted.

Or Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty, Primate of Hungary, who was convicted of treason by a communist kangaroo court and sentenced to life in prison but freed by the 1956 Revolution only to have to move into the US Embassy in Budapest where he lived until 1973, his presence constituting the ultimate worldly rebuke to Hungary's communist tyrants.

Or Google the life of Fr. Werenfried von Straaten, "the bacon priest, who, under the guise of delivering bacon to nuns walked all over communist Eastern Europe, on behalf of the Holy See, encouraging the Catholic grass roots to resist. We could use a man like him in the Obozo-ridden USA today.

There are hundreds of such stories and every one worth knowing but no one is teaching Catholics or anyone else the stories. A Jewish Professor Emeritus of History at Oxford is spending the rest of his life writing of the heroism of those called "Righteous Among the Gentiles" during the Holocaust. He is largely concentrating on the heroism of common people who risked the lives of themselves and their loved oes to save Jewish strangers, hiding them in secret hideaways i their own homes or under the floors of barns, feeding them, clothing them, and lying to the Nazis about having no Jews with them. Many, but by no means al, of the "Righteous" were Catholic and were encouraged by clergy. From the very first century, we have known how and practiced in many places the art of being a Church in the catacombs. defying evil governments. There were also cowards ad bums but they are not what I am here writing about.

I understand that you are sincere but please do not paint with too broad a brush. Francis is certainly a terrible pope and we may certainly pray that God send us a replacement more in the mold of JP II or B-XVI ASAP. With Francis as pope and Obozo in the White House, our civilization is in ruins and naked before its many enemies. Francis is nearing 80 and has said on several occasions that he expects his papacy to be short. We need to persuade our fellow Catholics who have been on the wrong track to more fully embrace the True Faith.

Sorry to write at such length but you were ignoring a lot of heroism of our fellow Catholics. Don't be demoralized by the current mess. We have had far worse popes, i. e. Alexander VI, and survived. I may have an advantage in having been educated in good Catholic schools before Vatican II wreaked havoc everywhere.

May God bless you and yours!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.