Voting Our Conscience, Not Our Religion

NY Times ^ | October 11, 2004 | MARK W. ROCHE

[Aquinasfan]

There are almost one and a half MILLION abortions every year. How does that compare to those threatened with death because of diseases that may or may NOT be cured with stem cells, those on death row, or those threatened because of poor health car or bad air and water? Somehow, I don't think all of those 'social justice' cases combined can come anywhere NEAR the number of babies killed every year.

Life trumps everything.

Bump

[Dominick]

This position has two problems. First, abortion is not the only life-and-death issue in this election.

It is one of the four sins that cry out to Heaven for vengeance, the slaughter of defenseless innocents. The other three are the sin of impurity against nature (buggery), abuse of the poor and defrauding the workingman of his wages. Kerry supports gay marriage, while Bush supports gay "unions" neither position is Catholic. No American politician would be guilty of abusing the poor, but Kerry's plan for new taxes can be argued as defrauding working men of their wages.

While the Republicans line up with the Catholic stance on abortion and stem-cell research, the Democrats are closer to the Catholic position on the death penalty,

True but lesser than abortion. There are conditions where the Death Penalty can be applied, there are no licit conditions for abortion.

universal health care

No Catholic theology I can find mandate a government bureaucracy to administer health care, especially when this would possibly lead to compulsory birth control. Kerry's position is not pro-catholic on this point.

and environmental protection.

Nothing in Catholicism says we must hug trees. We can't waste the Earth that we are entrusted with, but Kerry's position is pretty much the same as Bush, except that Kerry will ratify Kyoto to placate Europe.

Really Bush is much closer to the actual and not imagined Catholic positions. CINO Union leaders would find that Kerry is their man, but I know most rank and file are voting for Bush, hands down. Most Catholics in the Knights of Columbus that I know are Bush supporters, a Kerry supporter is an aberration at a KoC meeting.

[wita]

Great comments so far, and a great big principled bump. I'd have loved to address this to the entire thread, but somehow I don't seem to be able to get past the preview with anything other than a valid screen name.

[NewCenturions]

THIS Catholic family for Bush (bump)

[grellis]

As far as I'm concerned voting for ketchupboy is like committing Heresy and Treason at the same time.

Amen, and a big ol' welcome to Free Republic!

[betty boop]

What tripe! How does this dude define "more equitable taxation?" Is it equitable, in a free society under a rule of equal justice under law, to discriminate among the citizenry like this, to treat them not as equal individuals, but as members of groups who on the basis of group identification alone, have to bear unequal burdens? Karl Marx's answer would be a resounding YES; for the progressive income tax is a pillar of communist social thought. When did it become a pillar of Catholic social thought????

Thanks for the ping, Salvation. BTTT!

[applemac_g4]

>>Mark W. Roche is dean of the College of Arts and Letters at
>>the University of Notre Dame.

>Just another reason NOT to entrust your child's academic life
>and soul to Notre Dame.

Class of 1991 here. Under Malloy's leadership, the university has strayed far from its Catholic roots, and while it still maintains the veneer of a Catholic school it's not the sort of place that a practicing Catholic should go if they are seeking a truly Catholic education.

http://www.naples.avemaria.edu/

Would be a much better choice.

[WifeMotherDaughterSister]

bookmark for later-thanks

[Chode]

the slimes building is lucky it doesn't get hit by lightning every time it mentions religion...

[jmaroneps37]

Latest Pew poll on Catholic vote: Bush 49/33 that's an imprvement from 49/39 just on Sept 28. I guess not enough Catholics are listening to this phoney windbag.
Come to catholicsagainstkerry.com
Help us fight this fight!

[SuziQ]

I'm proud to say I'm one of many 'Founders' of Ave Maria. When Fr. Fessio sent the first letters out about the school two years ago, I was just enthralled with the idea of building a new town around the school, and jumped at the chance to support a new authentically Catholic college!! Our daughter is thinking she'd like to go there, at least for the first two years. She wants to major in either Cognitive Psychology or Japanese, neither of which is offered there, as yet, so she could transfer to a different school for her Jr. and Sr. years.

I would feel better about her going to a large public or private university after having a good couple of years in a supportive environment. She doesn't want to have to fool with co-ed dorms and the like, and she doesn't like the thought of going off away from home for the first long length of time to a school with thousands of students!! She likes the idea of a small school in the beginning. We're thinking of going down there in the Spring since she's in her junior year. She's homeschooled, but we'll have to work around her schedule in the Spring; she's going to be attending a local community college for Chemistry.

[applemac_g4]

>I'm proud to say I'm one of many 'Founders' of Ave Maria.

Suzi, that is something to be proud of. As a Notre Dame alum, I'd grown increasingly dissatisfied with the direction the school was taking and suspended my financial support for the institution some time ago.

In Ave Maria, I've found a Catholic college that's worthy of support.

Best of luck to your daughter (great strategy by the way - having her start at a small school & take Chem in juco...I might go further and say finish your undergrad at a small school and look at state schools/large colleges only for advanced degrees.)

[bitt]

apple might be right - we have sent our three men to colleges, big, small, Jebbie, private, and state - altho the Jebbie was fun, it was expensive and no more helpful in today's grad market than the smaller, safer, more personal experiences in the other schools we have experience with.

look for the majors, the expenses and the distance from home. 1.5 hours away is far enough, IMO.

[SuziQ]

It's funny, but folks around here( the Northeast) don't like to send their kids too far away to college. I've never understood that sentiment. If the school that's best for your kid is a ways away, so be it! Our oldest went to UMass Amherst only because they offered him a full ride! He's a smart kid, and knew a good deal when he saw it! He finished school with no debt, and is now in his 2nd year at Cornell Law School. He had also considered Claremont McKenna, but their scholarship offer paled in comparison. If their offer had been sufficient, I would not have hesitated at all letting him go there.

Our #2 son knew that he wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon because he considered it the BEST in the country for Computer Science, so that's where he went.

Our daughter doesn't want to go to a huge school, and is not interested in coed dorms and the like. I showed her the info about Ave Maria, and she's interested, even though they're not offering the majors in which she's interested. She knows that she can transfer anywhere she likes after the first couple of years, and will have received a great base from which to move into the higher levels and the major she prefers. It would be nice if Ave offered a major in Psychology; we need more folks in that profession who are grounded in morality!

[no more apples]

Idiot doesn't know hoo-ha about Catholics.