There was an extremely powerful and unambiguous statement from the Bishops of Dallas & Fort Worth about the upcoming election. It's a straightforward application of Natural Law reasoning in deciding which candidates one should (or must not) vote for. Some excerpts:
"Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship clearly teaches that not all issues have the same moral equivalence. Some issues involve "intrinsic evils"; that is, they can never under any circumstance or condition be morally justified. Preeminent among these intrinsic evils are legalized abortion, the promotion of same sex unions and "marriages", repression of religious liberty, as well as public policies permitting euthanasia, racial discrimination or destructive human embryonic stem cell research...
"There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. Such actions are so deeply flawed that they are always opposed to the authentic good of persons. These are called ‘intrinsically evil’ actions. They must always be rejected and opposed and must never be supported or condoned. A prime example is the intentional taking of innocent human life, as in abortion and euthanasia. In our nation, ‘abortion and euthanasia have become preeminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself, the most fundamental human good and the condition for all others’ (Living the Gospel of Life, no. 5). It is a mistake with grave moral consequences to treat the destruction of innocent human life merely as a matter of individual choice. A legal system that violates the basic right to life on the grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed....
As Catholics we are faced with a number of issues that are of concern and should be addressed, such as immigration reform, healthcare, the economy and its solvency, care and concern for the poor, and the war on terror. As Catholics we must be concerned about these issues and work to see that just solutions are brought about. There are many possible solutions to these issues and there can be reasonable debate among Catholics on how to best approach and solve them. These are matters of 'prudential judgment.' But let us be clear: issues of prudential judgment are not morally equivalent to issues involving intrinsic evils. No matter how right a given candidate is on any of these issues, it does not outweigh a candidate’s unacceptable position in favor of an intrinsic evil such as abortion or the protection of 'abortion rights.'"
If both candidates running for office support abortion or "abortion rights," a Catholic would be forced to then look at the other important issues and through their vote try to limit the evil done; or, b. If another intrinsic evil outweighs the evil of abortion. While this is sound moral reasoning, there are no "truly grave moral" or "proportionate" reasons, singularly or combined, that could outweigh the millions of innocent human lives that are directly killed by legal abortion each year.
To vote for a candidate who supports the intrinsic evil of abortion or "abortion rights" when there is a morally acceptable alternative would be to cooperate in the evil – and, therefore, morally impermissible."
1 comment:
I was raised catholic and Im Gay and I also support abortion. WOW! look at that. I guess I'm evil? You are preaching just one book. 1! if you actually sat down and educated yourself you would understand that gays didnt just appear or choose to be the way they are. If your God created EVERYONE then he created Gays, he created people to do such things that they do to live and learn. Everything in life is supposedly a test or a part of their life that God has had planned for them. If that is true which I know Catholics preach then Gays were put here for a reason. So were abortions, Blacks, mexicans everyone! Its america! Its suppose to be the land of the free and the brave. Well let me and others that are more open minded to reality and understand more than yourself be free. You yourself need to become a brave man and be more understanding of your surroundings and who is actually out there doing more with their life than "your followers" will ever do. Quit preaching to people who dont understand LIFE, like yourself. You need to educate yourself before posting anything about evils. In reality Christianity is the true evil!
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