American Elections are Coming: What's a Catholic to Do?

Which of these photos represents what a Catholic who lives in America should do?

A

"I Voted" sticker. November 4, 2008.

B

Adoration Chapel in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. October 25, 2010.

It's a trick question. The answer is A and B.

Prayer, meditation: that's all good stuff, and highly recommended. But the idea isn't to be 'so heavenly-minded that we're no earthly good.'

There's an election coming up in just over a week. I'm a Catholic, living in the United States of America. I'm able to vote - and so I've got a responsibility to do so. Intelligently.

Vote: Vote Smart

Voting is simple: just show up at the polling place, with enough ID to satisfy local rules, and mark up a ballot. It's really simple.

Voting intelligently takes a bit more work. Preparation, actually. I take a look at the voting records of candidates - it doesn't give insight into what someone who's new to politics is like, but it's a valuable reality check for assessing incumbents. My household's lived at one address for quite a while, and got on enough mailing lists to ensure that we have a short stack of 'voting guides' from a variety of organizations. Lucky us: the point is that the information is out there, and quite a bit is online, as well as showing up in mailboxes.

Advice From Some Guy With a Blog

Speaking with the full authority of some guy with a blog - I've written about that before - here's a short list how to vote. And how not to vote.

• Learn what the issues are
  • And what the candidates have
    • Said
    • Done
• Learn what Catholic teaching on the issues is
  • NOT what some op-ed or news item says it is
  • United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a pretty good place to start
    • I use Google to search the Catechism, putting [site:usccb.org/catechism] at the end of the search terms
• Don't vote
  • Because your family always voted for that party
  • Based on how good a candidate's haircut is
  • Because the candidate goes to your church

Some of that may sound silly. On the other hand, I've heard arguments that a political candidate's physical appearance can gain - or lose - votes: so that crack about a haircut may not be all that silly.

So What If Someone Wants to Marry Their Hamster?

One of the issues in play is making up new rules about what marriage is. Trans-species marriage hasn't, to my knowledge, been promoted: but some other kinky variations have. The Catholic Church has a well-defined teaching on the subject.

And I've written about that before.

Related posts:

• Life
  • "Remember: 'Clinically Dead' isn't 'Dead' "
    (October 22, 2010)
  • "Abortion, 'Health Care,' 'Life of the Mother,' and a Story About Two Guys"
    (November 20, 2009)
  • " 'Hand of Hope' Spinal Bifida Case - Eugenics, Ersatz Compassion, and Life"
    (May 6, 2009)
  • "Life: It's a Single Issue, and an Important One"
    (November 2, 2008)
• Marriage
  • "Archbishop of Minnesota, About Proposition 8"
    (August 8, 2010)
  • "California, Same-Sex Marriage, and Some Guy in Korea"
    (August 7, 2010)
  • "Why State Definitions of Marriage Matter to This Catholic"
    (June 23, 2010)
  • "The Catholic Church and Homosexuals: Harsh and Soft, Judgmental and Understanding"
    (March 13, 2009)
• Voting
  • "Primary Elections, Voting, and Being Catholic"
    (August 10, 2010)
  • "Party Politics, Reality, the Big Picture, and This Catholic"
    (October 1, 2009)
  • "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
    (November 3, 2008)
  • "Elections, Abortion, Voting, Conscience, and Other Troublesome Topics"
    (November 1, 2008)
  • "Elections and Citizenship, Catholic Style"
    (September 24, 2008)

Background:

• Faithful Citizenship
  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
  • "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" (PDF format)
  • "Do's And Don'ts: Political Responsibility Guidelines to Keep in Mind during Election Season"
• Justice, Peace and Human Development
  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
• National Committee for a Human Life Ammendment