What if Faithful Citizenship was not a document from the U.S. Bishops? What if instead it was a new political party platform? Would you vote for a “third party” that stood for what Faithful Citizenship stands for rather than cast your vote for the Democrats or Republicans? Looking at survey data I don’t think many American Catholics would. Catholics tend to put their party preference ahead of their faith. They often choose to emphasize the issues their party is consistent with Church teachings on and minimize or ignore those that it is not....
....This idea came to me after reading one of Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s blogs earlier this year which placed the U.S. Bishops in the uncomfortable left-right, two-party system context:
“One side usually blesses us when we preach the virtue of fiscal responsibility, the civil rights of the unborn, the danger of government-tampering with the definition of marriage, and the principle of subsidiarity … Yet this same side then often cringes when we defend workers, speak on behalf of the rights of the undocumented immigrant, and remind government of the moral imperative to protect the poor.
The other side enjoys quoting us when we extol universal health care, question the death penalty, demand that every budget and program be assessed on whether it will help or hurt those in need, encourage international aid, and promote the principle of solidarity … and then these same folks bristle when we defend the rights of parents in education, those of the baby in the womb and grandma on her death bed, insist that America is at her best when people of faith have a respected voice in the public square, defend traditional marriage, and remind government that it has no right to intrude in Church affairs, but does have the obligation to protect the rights of conscience.
So, we bishops get both blessed and blasted, a friend or foe of bloggers, pundits, and politicians, depending on what the issue is.”
Sounds like my parents.
I’ll clue you all in:
The pro-Labor part of this set of beliefs trumps everything else. Dad was a Reagan democrat, but otherwise they have voted solid democrat everytime, regardless of abortion/gay marriage
I have long maintained that the formation of such a party--conservative on social issues and liberal on economic issues--would be perfect way to destroy the Marxist Democrat party which is hard left on
all issues. People should not have to violate their religious beliefs to vote in their economic self-interest, and people should be able to vote their economic self-interest without voting for perverts.
Once upon a time almost all Americans were conservative on social issues, whatever their economic beliefs. I'm for anything that will get us back there.
“Faithful Citizenship in 2008 . . . is an extraordinary comprehensive statement of the Church’s teachings and positions on social and political issues.”
Faithful Citizenship in 2008 was a piece of crap. If the new one is like the old one, then the new one is a piece of crap too.