A dreaded question we might encounter these days is, “What do you think about the election?”
Shrugged shoulders and rolled eyes seem to be common reactions.
Being in a place of uncertainty, or not being happy with the choices presented, can leave one feeling confused — maybe wanting to avoid voting at all.
Nevertheless, we know as Catholics that voting is not just a right we enjoy but a duty we have as citizens — a moral duty which doesn’t disappear just because its challenging or uncomfortable. The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes this clear when speaking about the Fourth Commandment. In paragraph 2240 we read: “Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one’s country … .”
Ultimately, one’s vote is an attempt to build a Christian society, or at least one where Christian values are honored and upheld.
Chief among them all is the respect for human life and the dignity which God has uniquely endowed it with — defending it especially where it is most attacked. Hence, intrinsic evils like abortion and assisted suicide must be vigorously opposed at every opportunity.
Likewise, religious liberty must be defended since an attack on it is ultimately an attack on the right of conscience, which is part and parcel of what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God.
Naturally, there are many other very important issues which must be weighed because they likewise deal with human dignity and the just ordering of society.
Fortunately, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has released a document entitled, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” which tries to help the Catholic voter sort through these issues and put them into perspective — all of this in attempt to do precisely what the title implies: to form consciences properly. This document is available at usccb.org — the US Bishop’s website.
In addition, the Catholic Conference of Illinois has also put out a summary guide based on “Forming Consciences,” which attempts to help in the same way. Other groups may put out their own “voting guides” but some of these may not truly be representative of an authoritative interpretation of the Catholic faith.
Even with these guides, a Catholic may still end up struggling. Sometimes it helps to think in terms not only of the candidate, but what that candidate will bring with them in terms of Supreme Court appointees, overall party platform and the general direction they will likely move society in.
Another helpful consideration may be to think in terms of the “culture of life” and the “culture of death” — those phrases St. Pope John Paul II uses in “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”). Which candidate is likely to build more of a culture of life? Or at least do a better job of impeding the culture of death?
These are important phrases to keep in mind because of the general responsibility citizens have in contributing to the good of society. No society is ever advanced by an expansion of the culture of death.
And even if no candidate were to help contribute to the growth of the culture of life, not expanding the culture of death may be the best one can hope for.
In this way we can think of our individual vote in terms of a brick. Ideally, that brick of ours would be our contribution to building that sanctuary of life that God desires for all His people. However, that same brick can also be used (if that is not an option) to build a barrier inhibiting the spread of the culture of death.
As election day nears may we bring to prayer, not only the casting of our own vote, but the direction of a country that God has blessed, and wants to continue to bless, so long as we cooperate with His design.