Posted on 09/08/2020 7:05:42 AM PDT by pgyanke
The 2004 presidential election pitted incumbent George W. Bush vs Catholic Democratic challenger John F. Kerry. Their second debate was televised live on the evening before “Respect Life Sunday.” During the debate, a question was asked by an audience member on whether tax dollars will go to support abortion under their respective administrations.
John Kerry responded first. He gave a two-minute answer that meandered in and out of the issue but ended with the affirmation that, yes, under his administration, tax dollars would support abortion.
George Bush stood up, walked over to her, and told her to her face, “My answer is, we're not going to spend taxpayers' money on abortion.” What more needed to be said? He answered her question directly and made a bold policy statement.
At Mass the next day, the celebrant priest talked about the sanctity of life during his homily but stayed away from any mention of this monumental and topical debate question. I confronted him thoughtfully afterward:
Me: “Did you see the debate last night?”
Priest: “Yes.”
Me: “Did you hear the question and response on using tax dollars to support abortion?”
Priest: “Yes.”
Me: “Look at all of the ‘Kerry-Edwards’ bumper stickers in the parking lot. Don’t you think your listeners today could have benefited from some perspective on this ‘Respect Life’ Sunday?”
Priest: “We can’t get into politics.”
Me: “That’s the problem we have in this country… the Church is allowing politicians to tell them what may be discussed during Mass. The politicians are stepping into your domain and the Church is ceding the ground because life and death are now political.”
Although John Kerry would go on to lose the election, he did so with the support of more than half of Catholic voters nationwide.
I have produced voting guides for my Catholic family and friends in every election since 2006. My initial template was the “Voters Guide for Serious Catholics” produced by Catholic Answers. However, there was something missing from this guide that is also missing from nearly every other guide for the serious Christian voter—where do the political parties stand on these bedrock issues? For example, most guides made it clear that Catholics can never vote for someone who supports abortion… but who, exactly, are these abortion-supporting candidates? If Catholics “can’t” vote for them, why can these politicians count on significant Catholic support in every election?
My purpose in this short book is to take that one next step that others won’t—name names and parties. Up until now, my voting guides have included excerpts from both major political party platforms from the national and (my) state level on the relevant issues. This book includes excerpts from the two national major party platforms. There is a sharp contrast on these issues between the Democratic Party and GOP.
Although the arguments here are damning to the Democratic position, this isn’t meant to be a cheerleading effort for the GOP—that party is as full of lying politicians as any other. The Church would be foolish to throw Her lot in with any political party. Voters need to consider more than the issues of life when considering their vote for the candidates of other parties. We can get beyond the issues of life with the Democrats only when they cease supporting the culture of death.
Are there other parties and politicians supporting abortion and similar issues? Yes, and Catholic voters should research those alternatives before voting. This book deals with the greatest champion of the culture of death in the world—a major American political party. Without the support of the Democratic Party, the culture of Death couldn’t advance. When their support ends, abortion and related evils will finally be defeated.
This effort is about identifying evil and confronting it. The Church doesn’t take a political position in pointing out that a party and politicians advocate for policies which are intrinsically evil. If ancient Rome had a republican form of government, I sure hope the Apostles and their successors would have been forceful in teaching the early Church to not vote for those who would feed Christians to the lions! Our bishops today should be just as courageous. Will pointing out the evil of one party naturally help the other? Yes. In our two-party system, hurting one will naturally help the other. That fact doesn’t change the need for clarity and bold confrontation. When advocacy for evil policies becomes the next “third rail of politics” that no politician would dare touch, we can get back to a reasoned discussion of public policy.
That is the situation I seek to facilitate for the Democratic Party and my country… to get beyond this destructive support for the culture of death so we can move on to the other issues of the day. While we say Rosaries in front of abortion clinics and March for Life on the anniversary of Roe v Wade, there are far too many Democratic Party bumper-stickers in Church parking lots. Our vote should align with our prayers.
Scripture tells us there are four sins that cry out to God for vengeance: murder (Gen 4:10), sodomy (Gen 17:20-21), oppression of orphans and widows (Ex 2:23), and cheating laborers of their due (James 5:4). The first two of these are dealt with in this book—they are fundamentally in conflict with the moral law and always wrong no matter how they are conducted. There is no “right” way to do either of them… yet, they are priorities of the Democratic Party. The latter two are subjects for public policy debates. No political party has a plank in their platform advocating for the oppression of orphans and widows or the cheating of laborers. These sins are only an issue in any election to the extent of conflicting perspectives on public policy. We may disagree how a party or politician goes about caring for orphans, widows, and laborers—but these are public policy debates, not intrinsic evil. Those in the Church arguing for the “Seamless Garment” approach err in giving equal weight to all of these issues.
Support for this book has been mixed in the clergy. While I have received strong encouragement, I have also been accused of attacking the Church. This is not an attack on the Church… exactly the opposite. She is perfect in Her Doctrines and Dogma. Her ministers, on the other hand, are human with the same frailties as all men. They need reminding of cultural and political realities related to their magisterial responsibilities in faith and morals. Modern culture seeks to reduce Jesus to a Social Justice Warrior. Modern culture wins the argument only when the Church fails to push back. Abortion will end when our bishops say it ends.
National party platforms are updated every four years at the national conventions. It’s an interesting study to watch the evolution of the Democratic Party Platform through the years. The 2012 Platform included support for three out of the five intrinsic evils discussed in this book; embryonic stem cell research, homosexual marriage, and abortion. The 2016 Platform did not mention embryonic stem cell research. The 2020 Platform doesn’t mention homosexual marriage. It’s important to note that dropping the issues from their platform hasn’t ended their advocacy for all five of the issues in public policy.
This effort isn't about selling books. It's about ending evil in public policy.
Abortion ends in America when the bishops say it ends.
Call the bishops. Encourage them to do what they already know is the right thing to do.
Demographics:They say that a shift in the bottom three would spell disaster for the Democrats… what about a shift in the top two? They should lose for supporting the culture of death. If it can be made clear that they lost BECAUSE they support evil in public policy, that will go a long way toward discouraging others from going down that same road in the future. Life wins!Christians 65% (in general)
Catholics 20% (in particular)
Hispanics 14.2%
Black 13%
Homosexual 4.5%
Abortion is political. As was slavery. Gay marriage. Jewish holocaust. Armenian genocide. Environmental destruction. Fatherless families. Every din is political. Jesus’ life and death was political. Priest sex abuse is political. Pope Francis is political. NFL and NBA and NAMBLA are political.
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