More ammo for voting ping
Perhaps Bush should have considered this before endorsing civil unions yesterday.
Here is a simple, straightforward, scripturally-based guide that even the Rabbi would approve.
A CATHOLIC VOTERS GUIDE -
THE FIVE NON-NEGOTIABLE ISSUES
These five current issues concern actions that are intrinsically evil and must never be promoted by the law. Intrinsically evil actions are those which fundamentally conflict with the moral law and can never be deliberately performed under any circumstances. It is a serious sin to deliberately endorse or promote any of these actions, and no candidate who really wants to advance the common good will support any action contrary to the non-negotiable principles involved in these issues.
1. Abortion
The Church teaches that, regarding a law permitting abortions, it is "never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it" (EV 73). Abortion is the intentional and direct killing of an innocent human being, and therefore it is a form of homicide.
The unborn child is always an innocent party, and no law may permit the taking of his life. Even when a child is conceived through rape or incest, the fault is not the child's, who should not suffer death for others' sins.
2. Euthanasia
Often disguised by the name "mercy killing," euthanasia also is a form of homicide. No person has a right to take his own life, and no one has the right to take the life of any innocent person.
In euthanasia, the ill or elderly are killed, by action or omission, out of a misplaced sense of compassion, but true compassion cannot include intentionally doing something intrinsically evil to another person (cf. EV 73).
3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Human embryos are human beings. "Respect for the dignity of the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo" (CRF 4b).
Recent scientific advances show that often medical treatments that researchers hope to develop from experimentation on embryonic stem cells can be developed by using adult stem cells instead. Adult stem cells can be obtained without doing harm to the adults from whom they come. Thus there is no valid medical argument in favor of using embryonic stem cells. And even if there were benefits to be had from such experiments, they would not justify destroying innocent embryonic humans.
4. Human Cloning
"Attempts . . . for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through 'twin fission,' cloning, or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union" (RHL I:6).
Human cloning also involves abortion because the "rejected" or "unsuccessful" embryonic clones are destroyed, yet each clone is a human being.
5. Homosexual "Marriage"
True marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Legal recognition of any other union as "marriage" undermines true marriage, and legal recognition of homosexual unions actually does homosexual persons a disfavor by encouraging them to persist in what is an objectively immoral arrangement.
"When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral" (UHP 10).
ABBREVIATIONS
CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church
CPL Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Notes on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life
CRF Pontifical Council for the Family, Charter of the Rights of the Family
EV John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)
RHL Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation
UHP Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Considerations regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons
Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list
I asked a non-orthodox Jewish customer of mine about this today. He has voted Democrat his entire life. He said, "first of all, we look at the orthodox Jews the same way everyone else does - we think they're weirdos. But that being said, there's only one friend of Israel in this election, and it's not Kerry. Kerry is all about coalitions and getting along with everyone, and everyone else hates Israel. How long would it take for Kerry to cave and pull support of Israel? As much as I can't believe I'm saying this, I'm voting for Bush."
If he's voting for Bush, that means a whole lot more typically Democrat Jews will be too. Look for this election to contain a lot of surprises in the pro-Bush direction.
"When facing a choice between two candidates, religious Americans put themselves into an impossible predicament by seeking perfection."
...and then sit around on their hands watching the more imperfect candidate take power and drive the country further from Biblical ideals.
If you haven't read "America's Real War" by Lapin, I highly recommend it.
If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
It is not just a great argument, it is excellent.
People should take an interest in how their nations are run. I think compulsory voting is a good system. The voting public must realise that they are both the puppets and puppeteers of their nations' process of government. People can change things. i.e. The ripple/butterfly effect...