Real Change ("Catholics don’t stop being Catholic at the voting booth.")

National Review Online ^ | August 19, 2008 | Carl A. Anderson

[kellynla]

In eight of the last nine presidential elections, the crucial “Catholic vote” has picked the winner. And in what is shaping up to be another close election, America’s 69 million Catholics are again likely to hold the key not only to the White House, but to a great number of other races as well.

However, before we can settle the question “How did Catholics vote in November?” Catholics must decide “How should we vote in November?”

The bishops of the United States recently stated, “The Church’s obligation to participate in shaping the moral character of society is a requirement of our faith.”

“As Catholics,” they said, “we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group.” And at the top of the list of Catholic moral convictions, the bishops put “defending the inviolable sanctity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death.”

Once again the bishops of the United States have provided important guidance through their statement on Faithful Citizenship. This is especially important since Catholics often confront a dilemma in deciding how to vote: Can we support a candidate who may be attractive for many reasons but who supports abortion rights? Some partisan advocates have sought to excuse support for pro-abortion rights candidates through a complex balancing act. They claim other issues are important enough to offset a candidate’s support for abortion rights.

But the right to abortion mandated in the United States by the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision is not just another political issue; it is in reality a legal regime that has resulted in more than 40 million deaths.

[Salvation]

[Salvation]

That’s not going to happen. He trial balloon on that burst.