J.M.J.
CATHOLIC PRINCIPLES TO GUIDE OUR VOTING
"The political community . .
. exists for the common good: This is its full justification and meaning,
and the source of its specific and basic right to exist. The common good
embraces all those conditions of social life which enable individuals, families
and organizations to achieve complete and efficacious fulfillment"
~Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World (Gaudium et
Spes), 74.
Pope Saint John Paul II explains
that the common good, “is not simply the sum total of particular interests;
rather it involves an assessment and integration of those interests on the
basis of a balanced hierarchy of values; ultimately, it demands a correct
understanding of the dignity and the rights of the person.” In other words,
because some issues are foundational, they and can outweigh many other
issues. If we think of the common good for our country as a house, some
issues represent “the crossbeams and
walls of that house,” while
others represent the “house's foundation.” (See USCCB, Forming
Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,
22)
Intrinsic
Evils: Some things are always wrong regardless of the circumstances.
Examples of Intrinsic Evils that attack
the Common Good: Abortion, Euthanasia, Contraception, Homosexual
Marriage, Gender Confusion, Socialism, Racism, Religious Persecution.
Prudential
Judgments: Some issues require a consideration of the circumstances.
Catholics of good conscience can
disagree on these issues. Examples of Prudential Judgment Issues: How to best
care for the poor (entitlements vs. tax incentives for charitable giving); how
to best care for the environment; education (more funding for public schools
vs. offering vouchers for private schools); questions of national defense,
healthcare; how to best grow the economy; how to regulate immigration and protect our bordes, etc.
Foundational
Issues that involve Intrinsic Evils:
Among those issues that concern
intrinsic evils, some issues are foundational, in that failure to defend them
can cause the whole house to collapse. Some evils attack the crossbeams or
walls of the “house” of our society and some attack and destroy the foundation.
The Protection of innocent human life is the
preeminent foundational issue for the common good. Overcoming direct threats against innocent human life
(abortion and Euthanasia) is the “fundamental human rights issue” (USCCB,
Resolution on Abortion). Pope Saint John Paul II: This is “the
most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights”, “the highest priority in our societies”, the right “upon
which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from
which they develop.” “If the right to life is not defended decisively as a
condition for all other rights of the person, all other references to human
rights remain deceitful and illusory."
The intrinsic evil of killing
innocent human life (abortion and euthanasia) is the foundational issue that
outweighs other issues of prudential judgment (how we care for the poor, the
economy, health care, immigration, etc.) and even some other issues regarding
intrinsic evils. This is because life is foundational to every other
issue. Other issues deny someone of PART of his rights as a human person, but
with murder, then someone is denied of ALL of his rights as a human
person.
Practical
implementation of the Catholic Principles concerning voting:
One
can NEVER vote for someone BECAUSE one wants to PROMOTE an intrinsic evil that
a candidate supports.
Examples: It would be gravely sinful
to vote deliberately FOR a candidate BECAUSE the voter wishes to promote
abortion “rights”, homosexual marriage or socialism. If the intention is to
promote, knowingly and willingly, as good something the Church defines as
intrinsically evil, then the voter would be committing mortal sin.
While
Catholics are not “single issue” voters, a single issue CAN disqualify a candidate
if that issue makes the candidate incapable of promoting the common good.
Support for abortion is the prime example of an issue that disqualifies a
candidate.
The reality is that one issue can
outweigh many other issues if those issues are all dependent on this one issue,
namely, LIFE.
It would be hard to imagine an evil
that does greater harm to our society than that of abortion, which has snuffed
out the lives of tens of millions of innocent persons in the United States
alone, many times those killed in the Nazi death camps.
With gratitude to Father Martin
Pitstick for this presentation.
October 18, 2020
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