McCain

Oof, just found another article from election times. Here's my argument about Catholics and the vote.

Most Catholics who plan on voting for Barack Obama have already asked themselves, “Can a Catholic in good conscience vote for a pro-choice candidate?” and answered with a resounding yes. I will briefly offer a couple of arguments to refute this position before turning to the issues which typically draw Catholics to Obama’s camp, such as education, the environment, the economy and the Iraq war.

Although we have no candidate firmly against the death penalty or embryonic stem cell research, we can tell which candidate’s stance better reflects the Catholic view of human dignity by looking at the issue of abortion. McCain has in every case voted against abortion. Obama, on the other hand, has consistently voted against protecting unborn children and even voted four times against legislation that would stop the heinous practice of leaving infants who survive abortion to slowly die of starvation in the side rooms of hospitals in Illinois. When his record was called to the nation’s attention by abortion survivor Gianna Jessen, he responded by attacking her and calling her a liar. He has even gone so far as to call pregnancy a “punishment,” (this in stark contrast to Palin, who has called daughter Bristol’s baby “a blessing.”)

But this we have all heard before. Let’s return to our question. Archbishop Chaput of Denver offers a guideline for Catholics who would like to vote for pro-choice candidates. He writes that Catholics may indeed vote for a pro-choice candidate if they have a “proportionate reason.” By this he means: "the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life -- which we most certainly will. If we're confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed." In the next four years, nearly 5 million children will die from abortion. I cannot conceive of any reason that would spare me from guilt when I face those 5 million and say, “I voted for a man who worked tirelessly to preserve and expand the laws that led to your deaths.”

Despite what Nancy Pelosi thinks, the Church has condemned abortion from its earliest days (see Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective by Fr. John Connery, S.J.’s if you are in any doubt). Recently, Pope Benedict XVI called abortion “non-negotiable.” The same cannot be said about environmental stewardship, education, health care and U.S. foreign policy. The solutions to these problems are hazy, and Cardinals and Bishops alike fall on different sides of the debates.

Since they are up for debate, let’s tackle them one by one. The Iraq War is probably the issue that Catholics are most likely to see as a “proportionate reason” to vote for Obama. But is it? In five years, the Iraq war has left 4,154 U.S. citizens dead . This is less than the number killed by abortion in just two days. Indeed, the number of children killed by abortion since Roe v. Wade (48 million) is over 40 times the number of Americans killed in every war we have ever fought in combined.

Nevertheless, this is 4,154 citizens dead in five years is 4,154 too many. So who is more equipped to craft policies to stem the flow of deaths in Iraq? As Catholics, we are called to care for not only for U.S. citizens, but for all people. Although Obama’s plan to pull out of the war may save American lives, it will not save Iraqis. McCain, who spent over two decades in the military, is better prepared to make foreign policy that will ultimately provide Iraqis with greater stability and safety.

Another issue of great importance to many Catholics is environment and energy policy. Both Obama and McCain believe combating global warming is a top priority, both have worked on legislation to protect the environment and both support cap-and-trade systems. Both also have used the term “good stewardship,” a term also used repeatedly by the Church. McCain has even said that we have “a biblical obligation to care for the planet.”

Time and time again, McCain has made it clear that he will, unlike Bush, pursue conservative fiscal policies, cutting spending and fighting government corruption. If Obama is elected, however, he will preside over the biggest expansion of federal government we have seen in decades, bringing the country closer and closer to a socialized economy. To succumb to socialization, and to not make fighting corruption a top priority would do an injustice to the man who worked tirelessly for most of his life to fight against such corrupt governments, the late Pope John Paul II.

Lastly, let’s look at education. Pope Benedict XVI tells us that Catholic
education “is integral to the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News.” But in the past eight years, Catholic schools have been closing across the nation at an ever-increasing rate. Schools in inner cities are hit the hardest. Obama’s plan to improve education leaves no room for private schools, including Catholic schools, to succeed. McCain’s plan, on the other hand, includes strong support for a voucher system. According to McCain, “public education should be defined as one in which our public support for a child's education follows that child into the school the parent chooses.” Under Obama, this “integral mission of the Church” will continue to flounder, but under McCain it will have another chance to thrive.

McCain’s plans for the Iraq war, for the environment and energy and for education better reflect the teaching and goals of the Catholic Church as found in the works and writings of our current and former Popes. But even if you, as a Catholic, disagree, the abortion issue is different than all other issues. Why? There is a reason why the Founding Fathers put the right to life first before all others in the Declaration of Independence: all other rights flow from it. Having a good education, a clean environment, and a healthy economy only matter to those who have been born. If we continue to kill over twenty percent of our citizens before they are able to enjoy the blessings of this country, none of our other efforts will matter.