Doug Kmeic and others can say what they want. Many pulpits in America are thundering the real truth – as Catholics we must stand for life when we vote.
Advertisement
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) – Sunday our pastor finished his homily to the sound of applause from the congregation gathered. It didn’t just happen in one Mass, either. Basically, Father William Saunders just preached the truth and presented the clear teaching of the Church concerning the issues of life and the issues of the election. Some were uneasy, I’m sure; but the truth had been proclaimed and the enthusiasm was electric. He had touched a major chord in our hearts.
Standing on the shoulders of so many courageous Catholics across the centuries, we, as the Church, are called to stand for the truth and represent the faith that we are called to affirm when we exercise our citizenship. We are challenged to stand for life.Frankly, I am weary to the point of disgust with all the finger pointing currently taking place, that so-and-so is not standing strong enough for truth. Accusations concerning perceived sins of omission are easy to pontificate.
Could we be doing more? Absolutely! I know of no one who can say that they are doing all that could be done to affirm the stand for life in this election. Certainly some a more bold, while others appear timid or silent. There are even some whose actions may cause some to turn away from our message of life.Could more bishops and other clergy speak up about these issues with greater courage and fortitude? Certainly! Would that every one of their voices proclaimed it from the housetops. Nothing breeds hope in the heart like a courageous message from our diocesan and parish leaders.
Still, as Catholics, we must celebrate the boldness of our Church regarding the issues of life in this Presidential election. Let’s affirm the prophetic voices that have been speaking loud and long, trying to wake up the frog that is starting to boil in the kettle. Without these voices, the cries of the unborn and the infirm may never have been heard at all.
Throughout the entire campaign process voices for life have been heard everywhere, in both parties. Whether it was a Giuliani, a Biden, or an Obama, the warnings were coming from the very beginning.As the field narrowed, the issue of life was certainly a major point of division between the two parties both in platform and presidential candidates.
During the conventions this past summer the voices became stronger. A number of bishops condemned “Catholic” politicians who were mutilating the Magisterium. It was an immediate correction, loud and strong.
Right now, nothing separates our two presidential candidates more than the issue of life. While there are many other important differences between the two, when we view each through the lens of our Churches teachings, this position stands out significantly.
As momentum continues to gather toward Election Day in November, Catholic voices are thundering even more loudly. The voices are coming from across the entire tapestry of the Church. Bishops, like Martino, Finn, and Chaput are calling upon the faithful to be faithful.
In Texas, Bishops Kevin Farrell of Dallas and Kevin Vann of Fort Worth said that they seek to "dispel any confusion or misunderstanding that may be present among you concerning the teaching contained in" the U.S. bishops document on faithful citizenship.
"As Catholics we are morally obligated to pray, to act and to vote to abolish the evil of abortion in America, limiting it as much as we can until it is finally abolished."
Bishop Gracida has recorded and made available a radio ad, declaring that Catholics must vote for Life and cannot vote for a Pro-Abortion Candidate. He then stated that Barack Obama was a Pro-abortion candidate.
Further, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (AU) has now singled out Bishop Serratelli, of the Diocese of Paterson (NJ), as their newest target. They have requested an investigation by the IRS for his vocal opposition to the Freedom of Choice Act and his staunch defense of Catholic Teaching on Life with regard to the election.
Randall Terry, a recent convert and founder of Operation Rescue – the leading voice in the Pro-life movement for the past three decades, observed, “Like millions of the faithful, I have been thrilled by the sudden and forceful rise of various Bishops’ voices against the errors decimating the hearts of the Faithful in this election cycle.”
Fr. Saunders is only one of countless priests in all our dioceses that are proclaiming the truth from their pulpits and teaching their parishioners what the church means regarding a properly formed conscience. Deacons, like Catholic Online’s Deacon Keith Fournier, are declaring a message of life when they teach, preach, and minister in their parishes.
The Church has also empowered a massive choir of prolife voices among the laity. From veteran Pro-life leaders like Randall Terry to brothers and sisters in ...
If funny when prolifers take on the role of the person having an abortion, they make it seem as little an issue as deciding what flavor ice cream to order. Have you ever spent time at Planned Parenthood in poverty stricken areas to actually LISTEN to what is going on with this kids? Do you think people WANT to have abortions because it's convenient?
And let's talk about war...lets talk about all the men and women who VOLUNTEER to protect our country.....now do you think they wanted an idiot president to make up a fake war and put their lives in danger when they signed up? No, they are doing their duty because they are honorable...and they are leaving it up to the people who have control over their safety to make the right choices, not pretend like they're playing a board game using soldiers as their pieces. Our soldiers have honor, our government does not. And the people who volunteered for National Guard aren't even supposed to leave the country, thus the name, but again, the people who volunteered did so with the confidence that the government wouldn't send them into harms way without exhausting all options, and they also expect the American people to be their sounding board...which we will be, in three days.
By your logic, we can wage lies of wars all over the world, lets bomb this place, lets nuke this place...and let's call is 'protecting ourselves' and lets call the deaths 'casualties' so that we dont' have to face the truth, that we are murdering innocent civilians AND innocent soldiers to feed our need for power and destruction.
If you kill without reason it's murder, fair and simple...if you declare war on Hawaii, go in their guns blazing and they shoot back at you then you call it self defense and shoot back and are without sin...really, is that the way it works?
Again...no one wants the unborn to die, and no one wants the born to die either...or do they? Because if you vote for war-mongers, you are voting for the born to die...and by calling them 'volunteers' and 'casualties of war' you are removing yourself from the problem.
Let's stop aborting the children in the womb, let's stop killing the children outside the womb, let's vote for the candidate who will ACTUALLY do both, and if we know USING OUR BRAINS that one candidate is going to stop a b.s. war and not stop abortion, and the other is going to add more war...and yes, not stop abortion, then what choice do we have than to put the one in office that will at least see SOME life as sacred, rather than just say anything to get into office.
Maybe someday YOU'LL understand the sanctity of LIFE means all life, living and unborn...or is that just more of that 'material' stuff that us liberals keep spouting off? If you want to stop abortion...guess what, so does everybody else, but we understand that it's not a government issue...its an educational, community, moral issue...and until you attack the root of the problem, which is Americans are hurting morally, economically and educationally, you're not really addressing the problem.
And if you are so willing to give the government CONTROL OVER OUR BODIES...are you going to dutifully obey when they tell you that abortion is being mandated like in China? because that's what you're doing...you are giving them control of our bodies, and if it swings one way, sister, it can swing the other...so we're not only voting to protect our rights, we're voting to protect YOURS.
Obama will win in three days...vote how you need to...I'll have a better world and you'll have saved your soul..it's a win/win. It's funny that a doctor would have so much respect for the unborn and so little for the living...
nice | 11/1/2008
In repsonse to "nice":
Abortion is murder, you are right, but to compare abortion to war is unitelligent.
First, abortion is a choice to kill an unborn child who is alive in your body. Conception = human life. Women abort mainly out on inconvienence. You don't play with the possibly of human life, then decide, heck, I don't want responsibility for this child - let's abort, and then I can get on with my life and do this once again. Very rarely is the mother's health in danger, and if it is, medical intervention can promote a healthy and safe pregnancy. I'm a doctor, I know.
As for the war, it is not fake. It is real, and the threat of terror is real. Our military made the choice to put themselves in harms way for the good of their country. They know the inherent risks with military life and they accept it. Nobody is forced into the military, it is a choice. To kill is wrong, but self defense is much different then killing an unborn baby for the sake of convienence. Nobody wants to see innocent people, but do you honestly think our military singled out whom they were going to kill? No. Our military is protecting us from those who want to kill us.
I'm not sure if you are a mother, but once you have a child, you can not imagine life without them. They are a gift from God. How can a person kill a part of them? It is sickening and morally irresponsible.
Maybe one day you will understand the sanctity of human life when you have a child of your own and will do anything, even give your own life, to protect him/her.
Vote McCain~!
Cate | 10/30/2008
Abortion is murder plain and simple.....hmm, so what's murder? You know, faking a war and killing millions of innocent Iraqi's??? and sending American's to their death???
oh wait...that's Casualties of War right?
Oh wait....the Bible says Thou Shall Not Kill...
hmm...wonder if KILL means murder? wonder if it counts in fake wars?
guess not...I guess we should actually be trying to get Bush back into office again....he's prolife, heck, he even talks to God according to him....so some people died for a fake war....it was only a few hundred thousand or maybe a million or more...that's only a million in like 8 years...that doesn't stand up to the MILLIONs of babies that died the last eight years...oh wait, he was voted in office to help stop that too....wow, you know, technically, abortions continued AND he killed a million extra people....that's interesting...seems we lost MORE of God's children that way....oh well, lets try again with McCain, he's TOTALLY different from Bush right...sure he is....so, McCain in 08...even if we don't end abortion, we'll only kill a million or so of God's OTHER children...but those are casualties of war...so I guess they don't count.
Too bad for them....hopefully God has a nice conselation prize for them when they get to heaven....maybe he can tell them, so you were killed for no apparent reason based on lies and deceit...at least you weren't Aborted!!!
Comments that include profanity, personal attacks, antisocial behavior such as "spamming" and "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will not be posted on Catholic Online. Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of service. While Catholic Online invites robust discussion, we maintain the right to not print material that is patently false in its claims concerning the teaching of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, overtly anti-Catholic or which, in the opinion of the moderator, are intended to mislead readers as to what the Catholic Church teaches. Comments DO NOT necessarily reflect the opinion or views of Catholic Online.
RSS | Make Catholic Online Your Homepage
