America's Election, Religious Freedom, and Other Annoying Topics

I plan to vote in a few days. Some of my choices are easy, others not so much.

One of the relatively easy choices is a measure on the Minnesota ballot. We'll be voting on whether marriage should be defined as a union of a man and a woman.

Politics

I'm voting to keep the definition of marriage that's worked for thousands of years. That doesn't mean that I'm a far-right-wing extremist, despite what some folks may believe:

• "America's National Election; What I Believe; and What I Don't"
  (October 31, 2012)
  Particularly
  • "Far Right-Wing?"
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)

One more reality check, and I'll try to remember what I had in mind for this post's topic.

Being Loud

(Non Sequitur, Wiley Miller (October 28, 2012), used w/o permission)

Some folks spew hate and claim that they're being very 'Christian.' Being loud doesn't make them right.


(ArizonaLincoln (talk), via Wikipedia, used w/o permission)

I've discussed malignant virtue before; also what the Catholic Church says about sex and love:

• "Minnesota's Archbishop, Marriage, and Getting a Grip"
  (June 10, 2011)
• "No Open Season on Transgendered People, Please!"
  (April 26, 2011)
• "Hating People? Not an Option"
  (December 9, 2010)
• "California, Same-Sex Marriage, and Some Guy in Korea"
  (August 7, 2010)
• "The Catholic Church and Homosexuals: Harsh and Soft, Judgmental and Understanding"
  (March 13, 2009)

Issues, Candidates, and Me

Wrenching myself back on-topic, there's an election coming up in a few days.

Don't worry: I'm not 'political.' I do not claim that:

• One candidate or party is
  • Always right
  • Never wrong
• Anyone who disagrees with me is a
  • Commie
  • Homophobe
  • Spawn of Satan
  • Racist
  • Whatever

On the other hand, I can't ignore politics. Paying attention to candidates and issues comes with being a 'good citizen.' One of the most important issues at stake is religious freedom, the right to act as if one's beliefs matter.

Ethics and Other Threats to Government Leaders

Religious freedom doesn't mean "free to agree with me." It means being free to choose: and free to act as if those choices matter. In my case, it means free to act as if God matters.

That sort of freedom can be very annoying, especially to government leaders:

• "A Senator and a Bishop; Another Sex Scandal; and Religious Freedom"
  (November 2, 2012)
  Particularly
  • Ethics and the Establishment
  • "Seek ... What is True and Good"

Telling parishioners to seek what is true and good may not seem threatening. I think what got Bishop Kagan in trouble is that he had the temerity to say what, specifically, is true and good: and what isn't.

Basically Simple

The Catholic Church has a reputation for having lots of rules. There's something to that, but the most important rules are simple:

• Love God, love your neighbor
  (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)
• Everybody is our neighbor
  (Matthew 5:43-44, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-30; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1825)

If it's that simple, why all the rules? For starters:

"...I think we'd have a lot fewer pages written about why loving your neighbor is a good idea, if folks hadn't been trying to weasel out of the 'simple' version for two millennia...."
(September 26, 2011)

I've got quite a bit more to say, but that's enough for this post. I'll be back with a look on what the Church says about citizenship in about an hour.

---

You may find a link list of today's three posts, and others, useful. Then again, maybe not:

• "An Election, Citizenship, and Expectations"
  (November 4, 2012)

---

Getting a grip about:

• Religion
  • "9/11, Religion, and Assumptions"
    (September 11, 2012)
  • "Reason and Religion: 'Now Let's Get This Straight' "
    (September 30, 2012) (guest post)
  • "The World isn't Flat"
    (June 9, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Science and Religion
    • Faith and Reason
  • "Hope, Joy, and 'More Despondent Than Thou?' "
    (January 8, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Apocalypse Whenever
    • We're All Gonna Freeze Starve Get Blown Up Drown Uh, Change?
  • "Uncertainty, 'Being Religious,' and This Catholic"
    (February 12, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Religious People Think They Know Everything?
• Tolerance
  • "Change, Love, and Mass Murder"
    (May 30, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Coping with Change, Decisions, and Mass Murder
    • People: Individuals and the Common Good
    • Neighbors and Rules
  • "Diversity in Unity: Two Millennia and Counting"
    (April 18, 2012)
  • " 'The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum' and
    'America - Love It or Leave It' "
    (February 29, 2012)
  • "Chauvinism Knows No Borders"
    (July 23, 2011)
  • "Cultural Chaos, Divisiveness, and CNN"
    (April 1, 2010)
• The Catholic Church
  • "Ignorance, Attitudes, and the Catholic Church"
    (September 2, 2012)
  • "Catholics aren't Calvinists"
    (May 7, 2012)
    Particularly
    • What Everybody Knows, That Just Ain't So
  • " 'Nazi Pope,' Urban Legends, Academic Standards, and the News"
    (April 17, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Harvard, Chick Publications, and the Pillar of Fire Church
    • Research, Facts, and Other Pesky Things
  • "My Take on the News: Sex; SNAP; and Slurs"
    (January 6, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Catholics Sank the Titanic?