Voting Catholic: Where 2016 candidates stand on issues
March 8, 2016
As the presidential election heats up, I feel that some of us Catholic students should consider where the current candidates line up in accordance with Catholic teaching.
We are obliged to promote the common good through the act of voting, as stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2240. Catholic Answers Press published Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics, exhorting Catholics to avoid voting for candidates supporting intrinsically evil laws “to the greatest extent possible.”
It listed five “non-negotiable issues” for Catholics to base their vote on, including abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning and homosexual marriage.
I decided to find where our current mainstream presidential candidates stand on the issues above. For the information, I went to ontheissues.org, a good, but outdated resource to find out where candidates stand. Unfortunately, the website did not report on every issue, so I will report what I could find.
Beginning with the Democrats, Hillary Clinton wants abortion to be “safe, legal and rare,” and holds a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice of America. She voted yes to expanding embryonic stem cell research and recently stated that homosexual marriage should be law.
Bernie Sanders has consistently supported abortion rights and has voted to expand embryonic stem cell research. He opposes defining marriage as being between one man and one woman and supports homosexual adoption.
Now for the Republicans, I will start with Donald Trump. “The Donald” has a very inconsistent record regarding abortion, stating he was pro-choice in 2000.
He then supported banning late-term abortions and called to defund Planned Parenthood in late 2015. Trump has also been inconsistent with the issue of marriage, stating in 2000 that he tolerated diversity, then stating in 2011 that he was opposed to homosexual partnership.
John Kasich has been relatively consistent in the pro-life cause, calling to defund Planned Parenthood. He has stated his opposition to homosexual marriage, but argues that there are more important issues.
Ted Cruz opposes abortion and called for the shutdown and prosecution of Planned Parenthood. Cruz also opposes homosexual marriage, stating the 2015 Supreme Court ruling undermined the Constitution.
Marco Rubio leans pro-life with a 20-week abortion ban and states life begins at conception while opposing funding for embryonic stem cell research. Rubio also opposes homosexual marriage, but respects the Supreme Court ruling and supports the right of states to decide upon it.
I acknowledge there are other important issues not covered in the Voter’s Guide and I intend to take a holistic approach.
I believe in today’s political climate that the issue of homosexual “mirage” pales in comparison to unborn genocide and the threat of ISIS. With my favorite candidate Dr. Ben Carson gone, I am extremely divided now.
If he did not support abortion, I would probably #feelthebern because of student debt. I dislike Trump because he is a highly contradictory bigot who does not know half of what he is saying. I would not be surprised if he brokered a deal with Hillary to ruin the Republican campaign in her favor.
I am not here to tell students who to vote for, though some might argue so-called “Catholics” who support abortion and homosexual “mirage” should be denied the Holy Eucharist, perhaps even excommunicated, until they repent, based on interpretations of Canon 915.
However, I believe we all need to be aware as to where the candidates stand so we can vote carefully in the 2016 election. Either way, go out and vote.
Ron Artzer • Oct 13, 2016 at 2:53 pm
I have been Catholic all my life along with all my ancestors I value my faith. The stand the Church has taken the past elections have me terrible confused. I have been a union worker my whole life making on average less than 50,000 at the time I retired. through those 42 years when a Republican got elected I was laid off. With three sons and a wife doing daycare all insurance was provided by me so two times I had to move out of state and all others I had to find work making my life very stressful how ever I put all my children through catholic grade schools and high school.
Now we have health care so millions can afford, a president that has tried to raise the miminum wage, has pushed for immigration laws and lower taxes on the poor. In school there was something called the Corporal Works of Mercy so apparently in our Church they don’t mean much any more.
Since the Republicans has majority on both sides they have tried to a repeal Health Care but couldn’t and have not tried to reverse Roe vs Wade will not work on immigration laws whan’t to repeal Social Security and don’t believe All Men are Created Equal shown all years women haven’t been paid equally amd the only ones the y want to lower taxes on is themselves
I say vote out all Republican that vote to repeal Health care and find out those holding them back from trying to repeal Roe vs Wade.
I guess my big question is to be a good American I need to vote responsible. To be a good Catholic I have to vote according to church thinking even though those I am supposed to vote for aren’t doing what they should be doing, working together to make our country whole.