So I got to thinking about how politicians are supposed to act. Now I am pro life so don ‘t get me wrong in what I am going to say. The majority of Americans support some for of abortion rights this is fact. It is also a fact that abortion has been legal in this Country since 1974. So how is a politician supposed to act?
During the election season we try and find candidates that have the same thoughts and beliefs that we do, or at least most of the time, and that is the person we vote for. Now a person is elected to represent all of the people in a given area that they represent be that local, state, or federal. The person takes an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States which includes the body of law that has come down since the Constitution was written.
So I ask again how is a politician supposed to vote? Do you vote the way your faith teaches or do you vote the way the people of your district want you to vote? Now I will say if you call yourself something, in this example Roman Catholic, then you say you believe what the church teaches. Some people believe that they can pick and choose what they want to believe and what they do not want to believe. As I have often said religion is not a buffet you cannot just pick somethings and not the others it is a package deal. If you do not like what the church teaches, then find a church that believes what you do, or do what many people are doing now, start your own church! The other part of this is the church does not run it’s theology by opinion polls and the church is not a democracy.
So how to we vote and how should religion and politics play a role? The question for the day, let the comments begin.
Father, bless!
Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ said to ‘render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and render unto God that which is God’s’. Because all that is secular is necessarily less important than the things of God, then the things of God ought to take precedence over secular, worldly values even in the political sphere. This is most often not the case, but a defense of life as the foundational right of all people must not take a back seat to the demands of some misguided and mistaken, yet very vocal, voters.
In other words, Roman Catholic politicians have a duty to God to vote for life that supersedes their duty to follow the demands of constituents who do not share this view.
Fr. Peter-Michael,
Interesting post and thoughtful.
I would add that the pro-live ethic needs to have full integrity. By that I mean, that it is more than just an abortion issue. The choosing of life extends to preemptive war, capital punishment, and issues of social and economic justice.
To believe that anyone politician’s voting record on all of these issues is going to be perfect is unrealistic if not impossible. The sinful nature of humans to make dubious choices is a reality that God is about redeeming.
I guess what I’m saying is that we work to get close enough to the heart of God as we can with God’s help and then trust grace to bridge the gap.
–Padre Warren
Fr. Warren,
Thanks for your comments. I should have explaind what you mention in the post and I agree that we need to create a culture of life and all that that means. If you look through the blog you will see that I have written about this in the past so yes I agree with you.
It all depends on why you were running for public office in the first place.If it was because you held certain beliefs then those beliefs,like pro life,would make you faithful to your position and people voting for you would understand where you stood on subjects and how you would be likely to vote on issues.If they did not agree with your philosophies they would not vote you into office.But if on the other hand, your only concern was to be elected then you will go with what ever is popular and vote in those regard.linda