by Brandon Jubar

Politics and Religion

So... let's talk politics. Heck... let's talk religion, too!

I had a rather interesting conversation the other night with a few friends. Unfortunately, we got sidetracked from the original topic and never came to any sort of conclusion, but we debated long enough to get me thinking.

The way it all started was a comment about a homily that my wife and I had heard. The priest was talking about respecting life and he discussed the fact that it's not just about speaking out against abortion or the death penalty. It's also about DOING something. And in this representative democracy in which we live, what we can do is be very selective concerning how we vote.

One friend of mine was extremely adamant that Priests and the Church should not deal with politics at all. He claimed that it would threaten the Church's nonprofit status if they started endorsing candidates.

Now, I'm not sure how that would work, because nonprofits all over the place are constantly endorsing candidates... but that's not the issue for me. The issue is something else that he said. Basically, he stated that religion and politics should be kept separate, and that he doesn't believe it is appropriate for the Church to tell Catholics who to vote for.

He then went on to say that it's ridiculous to try to vote according to our Catholic beliefs, because there aren't any candidates who are perfect Catholics. If you rated candidates according to the Church teachings, we wouldn't be able to vote for anyone!

Okay. Question number one: Do Priests, Bishops, and Cardinals vote? If so, how do they choose?

Second question: Are we supposed to follow the teachings of Jesus everywhere except in the voting booth?

Third question: How can I vote my conscience and not bring my Catholic beliefs into the decision? My Catholic beliefs help form my conscience!

For the record, I neither expect nor want our Priests to TELL me how I should vote. However, what better way to discuss the teachings of the Catholic Church than to examine current political topics? Let's face it... most people learn and remember concepts better when they are applied to real life situations.

If we compare the candidates' platforms to our Catholic beliefs, will we end up having to choose the lesser of two evils? My answer is "who cares?" Scrutinizing the candidates doesn't change the candidates; it merely increases our knowledge of them. Our scrutiny does not create the two evils, it merely exposes them for what they are.

Of course, perhaps that is really what bothered my friend about the whole thing. If we have a greater understanding of what our favorite politicians truly stand for, we might be a bit uncomfortable with at least some of our choices.

And frankly, we probably should be.

Peace,
~Brandon

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