Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap., Denver
Excerpts from Archbishop Chaput’s Address to ENDOW
(Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women) on October 17:
“Professor Kmiec argues that there are defensible motives to support Senator Obama. Speaking for myself, I do not know any proportionate reason that could outweigh more than 40 million unborn children killed by abortion and the many millions of women deeply wounded by the loss and regret abortion creates.”
“To suggest – as some Catholics do – that Senator Obama is this year’s ”real” prolife candidate requires a peculiar kind of self-hypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse. To portray the 2008 Democratic Party presidential ticket as the preferred ”prolife” option is to subvert what the word ”prolife” means.”
“And here’s the irony. None of the Catholic arguments advanced in favor of Senator Obama are new. They’ve been around, in one form or another, for more than 25 years. All of them seek to ”get beyond” abortion, or economically reduce the number of abortions, or create a better society where abortion won’t be necessary. All of them involve a misuse of the seamless garment imagery in Catholic social teaching. And all of them, in practice, seek to contextualize, demote and then counterbalance the evil of abortion with other important but less foundational social issues.”
“Meanwhile, the basic human rights violation at the heart of abortion – the intentional destruction of an innocent, developing human life – is wordsmithed away as a terrible crime that just can’t be fixed by the law. I don’t believe that. I think that argument is a fraud. And I don’t think any serious believer can accept that argument without damaging his or her credibility. We still have more than a million abortions a year, and we can’t blame them all on Republican social policies. After all, it was a Democratic president, not a Republican, who vetoed the partial birth abortion ban – twice.”
The truth is that for some Catholics, the abortion issue has never been a comfortable cause. It’s embarrassing. It’s not the kind of social justice they like to talk about. It interferes with their natural political alliances. And because the homicides involved in abortion are ”little murders” – the kind of private, legally protected murders that kill conveniently unseen lives – it’s easy to look the other way.”
When the Catholic populous stop thinking it’s a two party race and starts supporting people who will actually try to rid this country of abortion and such then we’ll get some where. Not to get all politcal rah rah here but the following is from Chuck Balwin’s (Constitution Party) site.
Seven Principles of the Constitution Party are:
1. Life: For all human beings, from conception to natural death;
2. Liberty: Freedom of conscience and actions for the self-governed individual;
3. Family: One husband and one wife with their children as divinely instituted;
4. Property: Each individual’s right to own and steward personal property without government burden;
5. Constitution: and Bill of Rights interpreted according to the actual intent of the Founding Fathers;
6. States’ Rights: Everything not specifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government is reserved for the state and local jurisdictions;
7. American Sovereignty: American government committed to the protection of the borders, trade, and common defense of Americans, and not entangled in foreign alliances.
And before I am met with “oh you’re just throwing your vote away” ask yourself one question, what would happen is all Catholics finally said enough is enough and voted third party? With our numbers we could finally get some real change. Will it happen, doubt it. But I keep praying my rosary every day that some day people will wake up.
So for the rant but as you can tell this is a touchy one for me. 😉
This bishop continues to capture news. No practicing Catholic can say they are ‘uninformed’ as to the intrinsic evils hanging over our heads.
God bless this shepherd and the others who are speaking up and letting the Truth be known.
Ave Maria!
Mark,
I agree we need another party but the system is set for two parties due to the electoral college. Get rid of that and I think we have something.
Even still, looking at the stance of the Constitution Party, voting for a third party is looking more and more like a good option. But should a third party win the presidency while the electoral college still in place, then one of the established parties (Democrats or Republicans) would disappear, as happened to the Whig party when the Republicans had their candidate Abraham Lincoln elected in 1860 and so became the chief opposition to the Democrats. The electoral college virtually guarantees a two party system.
It is interesting to note that the Whigs had their demise due to internal strife as to whether to oppose slavery. The Abolitionists, not finding a strong support with the Whigs, formed their own party, the Republicans. Today 140 years later we are fighting another battle over the rights of the underclass, this time the unborn. And the Republicans are not showing a very strong or unified Pro-life opposition against the vehemently pro-abort Democrats. Will this precipitate the rise of a new party with the resulting demise of the Republicans … and resulting Second Civil War?!!
Apostolate,
I never knew that about the Whigs and Republicans … I’m sure I learned it at one point in my life, but … I doubt that it will happen this time, though. There’s not enough ‘advertisement’ out about this third party person, though I like more of what he stands for than what McCain stands for. I wish I could in good conscience vote for him without fearing that I’m really throwing a vote to Obama. I think the reality is just that … Obama would get the vote.