How to Vote Catholic

Here's one of the most concise Catholic voter guides we've seen yet. For those who don't have a lot of time to do research, it's a great place to start!!! It was created by Deal Hudson.

How to Vote Catholic
A Brief Guide for Voters
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Voting
Catholics are obliged to participate in politics by voting.
Legislators are elected to serve and protect the common good, human dignity, and rights of human persons.
Voters should have a clear understanding of the principles of Catholic moral and social teaching.
The life issues are dominant in the hierarchy of issues for the Catholic voter.
Prudential Judgment
Prudential judgment is the application of principle to concrete situations.
Catholic principles apply to all political issues but in many cases do not lead prudentially to one acceptable Catholic position.
The bishops' teachings on faith and morals are binding; their prudential judgments on policy guide us but do not bind us.
Public Witness
The Christian Faith cannot be restricted to oneself and one's family, making it impossible to "love one's neighbor."
The principle of subsidiarity teaches that Catholics should first address social problems at the local level before asking the government to intervene.
Politics and government need the public witness of what faith teaches about the common good, human rights, and human dignity.
Abortion
Abortion is the dominant political issue.
Being pro-abortion disqualifies a candidate from a Catholic vote.
Catholics can justly support politicians who advocate incremental means toward eliminating abortion.
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
The ban against euthanasia and assisted suicide admits of no exception.
Removing extraordinary means of supporting life is allowable as a prudential judgment.
The growing acceptance of euthanasia and assisted suicide rests on the misguided assumption that pain detracts from the value of life.
Bioethics
Since science serves human ends, not its own, scientific research must always respect the moral law.
Science must respect the inherent dignity of the human person.
Unused and unwanted embryos must be treated with the respect afforded to other human beings.
Ending human life cannot be justified in the name of therapeutic (i.e., medical) benefits to other persons.
Population
Population policy must not include abortion and sterilization as methods of slowing population growth.
The use of contraception in population policy undermines marriage and ignores the moral issues of promiscuity and disease.
Catholic institutions should not be required to support contraception or abortion through mandated insurance coverage.
The right to abortion should not be allowed to enter international law under the rubric of women's "reproductive health" or fears of overpopulation.
The Death Penalty
The Church teaches that the death penalty is acceptable in principle but should be avoided in practice.
The responsibility of elected officials is to ensure that penal systems and sentencing policies do in fact protect society from known aggressors.
The practical elimination of the death penalty is based upon the strength of the penal system and the commensurateness of the sentencing procedures.
War
States have the right to engage in war in self-defense but should first exhaust all peaceful solutions.
Just war is waged within defined moral boundaries in regard to its targets, goals, and outcomes.
Political leadership must have both the inclination toward peace and the capacity for decisive action if war is just and necessary.
Defense and Terrorism
Nations have a duty to protect their citizens from legitimate threats.
Nations should build their capacity for defense in light of just-war theory.
Terrorism—the injury and murder of innocent civilians—is never justified.
Defending a nation combines the military, international diplomacy, and a compassionate foreign policy.
Judicial Issues
Judges should be evaluated according to their judicial records and commitment to the limited judicial role, not attacked for their privately held religious views.
Those who would nominate and confirm judicial activists disenfranchise the faithful Catholic voter.
Catholic leaders have a duty to respect their constituents and their Church's commitment to natural law tradition when considering judicial appointees.
Marriage and the Family
Marriage was instituted prior to the state and should be recognized by the state as something inviolate and necessary to the common good.
Prudential judgments about law and public policy should always seek to strengthen marriage and families.
So-called same-sex marriages cannot be recognized by the Catholic Church, and civil unions are likely to undermine marriage and damage its foundational role in society.
Education
Parents—not the state—have the right to educate their children.
Catholic parents have the right to have their children educated in a curriculum consonant with Catholic values.
Governments should provide financial support to families for the education they desire for their children.
Economic Issues
Work is a matter of human dignity and is necessary to the common good.
Government should create the conditions that support business and industry development.
Corporate responsibility is critical in helping to maintain economic success.
Taxation
Taxes should be fairly based upon one's ability to pay.
Tax policy should not penalize marriage or the raising of children.
Corporate taxes should not threaten the capacity to create and sustain jobs.
Poverty
The preferential option for the poor requires that authorities first provide assistance to the poor and oppressed.
The poor must have access to the education and job training necessary to compete in today's job market.
Strong families that remain intact keep their members from falling into poverty.
Health Care
Health-care needs should be met by a combination of personal and corporate insurance, philanthropy, and government programs.
Catholic health-care organizations must be free to perform their work with clear consciences.
Abstinence and fidelity should be the foundation of sexually transmitted disease—education and prevention.
Religious Liberty
Religious expression is a human right that should be recognized by the state.
States that enforce secularism in social services and education are violating religious liberty.
Political debate naturally involves religious concepts since law and public policy directly affect the common good.
Immigration
A nation should seek to accommodate the immigrant who, for just reasons, seeks greater access to the basic goods of life.
Political leaders and citizens should recognize the reality of human interdependence that crosses all borders and all national identities.
The immigrant is a person who deserves the same protection of law and social benefits afforded to citizens.
The Environment
From creation, human beings are given special responsibility as stewards of the earth.
As part of its duty to the common good, the government should prevent unnecessary harm to natural resources.
Government should also use creative and technological skill, in concert with global cooperation, to reverse existing environmental damage.

http://www.catholicity.com/vote/guide.html

Conservative Leaders React

The commentary below contrasts recently announced V.P candidate Sarah Palina's pro-life record against Barrack Obama's strongly anti-life position. Obama has even been quoted as saying that "the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act" which would reverse the ban on the gruesome procedure of Partial-Birth Abortion procedure. How any civilized person could condone this heinous act which equates to infanticide is beyond understanding. If you are unfamiliar with the procedure, you can read about it on Wikipedia on the link below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partial_birth_abortion#.22Partial-birth_abortion.22

Interestingly, the article highlights the stark difference between Obama's beliefs about abortion and Palin's recent decision to give birth to her down syndrome infant son, against her doctors recommendations. She was quoted on the Laura Ingram radio program as saying that she saw "perfection" the first time she looked into his eyes.

Now that's a leader who truly understands the dignity of the human person. Read below and see what you think...

Conservative leaders react to McCain’s VP choice of pro-life Gov. Sarah Palin
Dayton, Aug 29, 2008 / 12:55 pm (CNA).- Sen. John McCain’s pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin won praise from many commentators within the ambit of the Republican Party, but especially among pro-lifers. Praising Palin as “strongly pro-life,” speakers remarked that Palin’s decision to carry her Down’s syndrome child to term was an especially sharp contrast with Sen. Barack Obama’s opposition to legislation that would protect infants who survive abortions.
Sen. McCain announced the choice of Palin at a rally in Dayton, Ohio on Friday. McCain introduced her as someone "who can best help me shake up Washington and make it start working again for the people who are counting on us."

Palin was born in Idaho on February 11, 1964. According to a biography on Alaska’s official web site, Palin moved to Alaska with her family later that year. Her husband, Todd, is a production operator for BP and a champion snow machine racer. They have five children, with Palin recently having given birth to a son with Down’s syndrome in April.

She has also served as city councilman and mayor of Wasilla, a south-central Alaska town with a population of reportedly more than 6,000 people, and served as chair of the Alaska Conservation Commission, which regulates the state’s oil and gas resources.
Speaking in a phone press conference, several expert panelists with Republican sympathies praised the pick.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of the Susan B. Anthony List, lauded the decision.
"Sarah Palin is the whole package. There couldn't be a better vice-presidential pick," said Dannenfelser. "Women voters are electrified,” she continued, describing Palin as a “reform-minded woman” who is “truly in sync with the way real women think.” She will “give all Americans, born and unborn, the authentic leadership they deserve," she said.

Father Frank Pavone, President of Priests for Life, called Palin “strongly pro-life.”
Asked how the selection will be received by pro-life Catholics in particular, Father Pavone added, “It will no doubt be received very well.”

He noted that the pro-life community already was somewhat familiar with Palin because she recently gave birth to a baby with Down’s syndrome.

Father Pavone suggested Palin will bring more into play the “pro-life increment.” He explained that for the one-third or more of the electorate who consider the abortion issue in their votes, there is a two to one margin in favor of pro-life candidates.

Jill Stanek, a conservative journalist and blogger, asked the panel to contrast Palin’s decision to deliver her Down’s syndrome baby with Sen. Barack Obama’s opposition to legislation that would protect infants who survive abortion.

Father Pavone replied, “the contrast between those two facts about the candidates is going to come out… we’re going to make sure that it comes out, it’s a very striking contrast.”
Dannenfelser quoted Palin’s own comments when she discovered her unborn baby had Down’s syndrome: “We feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift.”

Dannenfelser remarked: “Contrast that with Sen. Obama’s approach to leaving born-alive babies left sitting there for dead, and also making the comment, if his daughter got pregnant, he would not ‘punish her with a baby.’

“It’s ‘punishment’ versus ‘privilege,’ that’s the contrast,” Dannenfelser asserted.
CNA asked the panel whether the Palin pick was a tacit acknowledgment of McCain’s weakness among pro-lifers.

Dannenfelser said that she believed people think McCain has genuine pro-life convictions, but suggested that anyone skeptical should see the Palin choice as a “perfect complement,” not as the filling of a weakness.

Father Pavone agreed, adding that the selection of Palin eliminates any concern about a possible pro-choice vice-presidential nominee.

“I think this will help us know he really does embrace this issue in political practice as well as in his voting record,” he stated.

Ken Blackwell, Vice-Chairman of the Republican National Committee’s platform committee, added his own comments.

He remarked that, as someone who guided the platform committee to the “most significant pro-life platform in the Republican Party’s history,” he thought John McCain’s “full embrace of the platform” is shown in the ticket. “This team does not reflect one iota of weakness. It is the strongest pro-life team with a pro-life platform in the history of the Republican Party.”

When CNA asked how McCain could be described as such a strong supporter of the platform in light of his endorsement of federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, Blackwell noted that McCain’s campaign has worked with the platform committee on the relevant language. Blackwell said he thought that McCain, if he recognizes that there have been breakthroughs in research that do not involve the destruction of embryos, “that [recognition] will make this argument… a non-starter.”

Leaders of other interest groups in the GOP also praised McCain’s vice-presidential pick.
Sandra Froman, former National Rifle Association (NRA) president and current board member, called Palin, an NRA member, an “outstanding pick” who would “energize the gun rights community.”

“How can you go wrong with a moose burger-eating, fishing governor?” she asked in a delighted tone.

Grover Norquist, a prominent fiscal conservative who is president of Americans for Tax Reform, praised Palin as a “reformer” who improved government transparency by putting government financial records online.

Several panelists suggested that the pick would also appeal to Hillary Clinton supporters disaffected by an Obama candidacy and the prospect of a victorious Obama’s control of the Democratic Party. They also thought the choice courts “Reagan Democrats” who voted against Obama in the primaries.

Panelists argued that the choice of Palin, Alaska’s governor for only two years, would not eliminate Republican charges that Obama is inexperienced.

“When you compare her experience to Barack Obama’s experience, her executive experience, her experience as mayor, her experience as assistant governor, her experience as a reformer, her experience as an environmental activist,” Blackwell argued, “she is more prepared, more experienced to be president than the top of their ticket.”

Elsewhere, social conservatives were enthusiastic about the Palin choice.
“What a remarkable pick,” Austin Ruse of C-FAM told CNA in a statement. “Social conservatives are dancing in the streets. This is smart and dare I say sexy pick. My wife Cathy and I are gushing.”

Michelle Obama: Barack's abortion stand respects ‘sacred responsibility of parenthood’

Look at the clear choice we get now with Barack and Michelle, Pro-Death or McCain and Palin, Pro-Life!  Read the whole story with the following link or part of it below

Michelle Obama: Barack's abortion stand respects ‘sacred responsibility of parenthood’

Michelle Obama

Denver, Aug 29, 2008 / 10:02 am (CNA).- Michelle Obama, wife of proposed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, joined other Democratic leaders at the Women’s Caucus of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, pledging to support female candidates, advocate policies in women’s interest, and preserve the legal status quo of permissive abortion laws. The speakers all backed Barack Obama, whom one called a “steadfast supporter of women’s right to choose.”

Michelle Obama

Speaking of her husband, Michelle Obama said: “He’ll protect a woman’s freedom of choice, because government should have no say in whether or when a woman embraces the sacred responsibility of parenthood.”

When her speech began, Democratic protesters who support Sen. Hillary Clinton disrupted the event, standing before the Colorado Convention Center ballroom’s stage and carrying signs which called Clinton a “Smart Choice.”

Feigning unawareness of the protesters, who were belatedly escorted from the room, Michelle Obama said Hillary’s candidacy had made her husband a stronger candidate. Towards the end of the speech, she pledged that the Democrats would not “take women’s votes for granted” and could not “assume that women know where Barack stands.”

About half an hour before Michelle Obama’s speech, other protestors made an appearance following the speech of another Women’s Caucus speaker. The group consisted of a half-dozen women of various ages hurrying to the stage and displaying their shirts, which read “I regret my abortion.” As the displeased audience shouted “Obama, Obama,” security personnel quickly escorted the protesters out of the room.

They had disrupted the caucus just before California Sen. Barbara Boxer was scheduled to speak.

Sen. Barbara Boxer

Boxer, who was introduced as the “leading defender of the right to choose,” responded to the removed protesters by saying they have a right to an opinion, but “all we want is our right to choose.”

“They can choose what they want to choose, and we can choose what we want to choose... That’s America! That’s what Democracy means, that’s what freedom means, that’s what individual rights mean,” Boxer asserted to audience applause.

“We believe in the right to choose for our personal health, and we know the right choice to protect that right to choose: it is President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden,” she said.

Attacking presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Boxer said that McCain has a rating of zero percent from NARAL and zero from Planned Parenthood.

“Now you have to be pretty radical to have a zero rating,” she claimed.

Boxer, like other caucus speakers, noted McCain’s vote against requiring insurance companies to provide contraceptives. This lack of coverage was presented as an inequality and compared to insurance provided impotence medicine.

The California Senator then attacked McCain’s pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices similar to Justices John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who are considered hostile to Roe v. Wade.

“They want to, essentially, make it illegal for us to have a right to choose, and to make us criminals, and to make doctors criminals!” she exclaimed.

Noting Barack Obama’s 100 percent rating from pro-abortion groups NARAL and Planned Parenthood, Boxer emphasized the slogan “He’s a hero, John McCain’s a zero!”

She received a standing ovation for the remark.

Boxer also claimed that McCain had voted against a program to help children who witness domestic violence.

Later in the caucus meeting, New York U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter warned the audience “we are in as much danger today… as we were almost when we first started here. There is so much at stake for women on this one issue, and it’s critical that we elect Barack Obama.”

Calling Obama a “steadfast supporter of women’s right to choose,” she noted Obama’s vote to repeal the Mexico City Policy and his co-sponsorship of the Prevention First Act. She characterized his other votes as being against policies that would “restrict women’s health care.”

Again CNA provides us a great leader of our Faith, read below and use the link

Denver archbishop slams Pelosi on Church teachings and abortion

Rep. Nancy Pelosi / Archbishop Chaput

Denver, Aug 25, 2008 / 03:27 pm (CNA).- In a statement eloquently titled “On the Separation of Sense and State,” the Archbishop of Denver, Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., and his Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley harshly criticized Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, for giving a confusing view of the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion, during a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“Catholic public leaders inconvenienced by the abortion debate” –says the statement- “tend to take a hard line in talking about the ‘separation of Church and state.’  But their idea of separation often seems to work one way.” 

“In fact, some officials also seem comfortable in the role of theologian.  And that warrants some interest, not as a ‘political’ issue, but as a matter of accuracy and justice.” 

Archbishop Chaput’s statement recognizes Pelosi as “a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills” but adds that “regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.”

During the Meet the Press interview on August 24, Pelosi responded to a question about when human life begins by saying that “as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time.  And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition . . . St. Augustine said at three months.  We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose.”

The Archdiocese of Denver argues that since Speaker Pelosi claims to have studied the issue “for a long time,” “she must know very well one of the premier works on the subject, Jesuit John Connery’s Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective (Loyola, 1977).

The statement recall’s Connery’s conclusion: “The Christian tradition from the earliest days reveals a firm antiabortion attitude . . . The condemnation of abortion did not depend on and was not limited in any way by theories regarding the time of fetal animation.  Even during the many centuries when Church penal and penitential practice was based on the theory of delayed animation, the condemnation of abortion was never affected by it.  Whatever one would want to hold about the time of animation, or when the fetus became a human being in the strict sense of the term, abortion from the time of conception was considered wrong, and the time of animation was never looked on as a moral dividing line between permissible and impermissible abortion.”

The strongest of arguments lies within: Cardinal Egan joins criticism of Nancy Pelosi’s abortion remarks

Cardinal Egan joins criticism of Nancy Pelosi’s abortion remarks

Cardinal Egan / Rep. Nancy Pelosi

New York, Aug 26, 2008 / 03:37 pm (CNA).- Representative Nancy Pelosi has been a lightning rod for the ire of conservatives for some time, but now she has drawn fire of a different kind. Within the last 24 hours, the archbishops of Denver, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., along with Bishop William Lori have all publicly upbraided the Speaker of the House for her erroneous comments on the Church’s abortion teaching.

In a Meet the Press interview on August 24, Pelosi responded to a question from Tom Brokaw about when human life begins, saying “as an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time.  And what I know is over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition . . . St. Augustine said at three months.  We don't know. The point is, is that it shouldn't have an impact on the woman's right to choose.”

Cardinal Edward Egan of New York became the latest prelate to denounce Ms. Pelosi’s comments when he said on Tuesday, “Like many other citizens of this nation, I was shocked to learn that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America would make the kind of statements that were made to Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC-TV on Sunday, August 24, 2008.”

Not only was Cardinal Egan shocked, but he went on to say that, “What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age.”

The crystal-clear photographs and films that give people the ability to see babies in their pregnant mothers’ wombs make it impossible for anyone with “the slightest measure of integrity or honor” to fail to know what these “marvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smile and wave into the world outside the womb,” Cardinal Egan asserted.

“In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right to live, a right that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is bound to defend at all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons. They are not parts of their mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions of theologians of any faith.”

The head of the Catholic Church in New York closed his statement by saying that anyone who defends abortion is not fit to be a leader in a civilized democracy. “Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being ‘chooses’ to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name.”

Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William E. Lori, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine also issued a statement on Monday evening in which they remarked, “Nancy Pelosi misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion.”

The two prelates then provided a historical recounting of the Church’s teaching on abortion and reaffirmed that “the Church teaches that from the time of conception (fertilization), each member of the human species must be given the full respect due to a human person, beginning with respect for the fundamental right to life.”

Writing in a Monday statement, Archbishop of Washington D.C. Donald Wuerl also criticized Pelosi’s comments. The archbishop emphasized that elected officials have the right to address matters of public policy, but added “the interpretation of Catholic faith has rightfully been entrusted to the Catholic bishops.”

“Given this responsibility to teach, it is important to make this correction for the record,” he continued.

The archbishop then quoted paragraphs 2270 through 2271 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which read:

“Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception…Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.”

The archbishop said the Catechism goes on to quote the Didache, an early Christian treatise from the first century AD, which reads: “You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.”
“From the beginning, the Catholic Church has respected the dignity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death,” Archbishop Wuerl insisted.

On Monday Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Denver, and James D. Conley, Auxiliary Bishop of Denver, also released a statement responding to Pelosi’s comments, saying “ardent, practicing Catholics will quickly learn from the historical record that from apostolic times, the Christian tradition overwhelmingly held that abortion was grievously evil."

ArchBishop Charles Chaput's Interview with Hugh Hewitt

Use the link to go to Hugh Hewitt's podcast website and find the interviews with Arch Bishop Charles Chaput.  It is phenomenal:   http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/talkradio/Show.aspx?RadioShowID=5

Despite losing among Catholics, Obama chooses pro-abortion vice president

Despite losing among Catholics, Obama chooses pro-abortion vice president  This link will take you to yet another telling article  that some of the most intriguing parts follow immediately: 

.....Obama has picked Joe Biden, a self-described strong supporter of Roe v. Wade, as his vice presidential candidate.

Biden’s voting record includes a 2004 vote against penalties for someone attacking a pregnant woman and harming her unborn child while committing a separate crime, a vote in 2000 against maintaining a ban on abortions on military bases and a 2006 vote against notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.

In contrast to these votes is a statement made by Sen. Biden on Meet the Press in April 2007 when he was asked about when life begins. “Look, I'm a practicing Catholic, and it is the biggest dilemma for me in terms of comporting my religious and cultural views with my political responsibility.” … “I am prepared to accept my church's view. I think it's a tough one. I have to accept that on faith.”  

When it comes to embryonic stem cell research and cloning, Joe Biden has voted in favor of expanding embryonic research efforts and against a ban on cloning.

In an April 2007 Democratic primary debate, Sen. Biden also explained his stance on a litmus test question about Roe v. Wade for Supreme Court judicial nominees. “I strongly support Roe v. Wade. I wouldn't have a specific question but I would make sure that the people I sent to be nominated for the Supreme Court shared my values---to that I would add, of what value are you talking when you wish to codify into American Law the right to murder babies in the womb?

Catholic group denounces Obama's pick of Biden for V.P.

Catholic group denounces Obama's pick of Biden for V.P.

The evidence is insurmountable and our nation clearly deserves so much better.  Catholics can not support Barrack Obama!  Check out this link to go to a OneNewsNow.com article.

Again from CNA --Obama worried BAIPA would be too burdensome on abortionists, 2002 transcript shows

Obama worried BAIPA would be too burdensome on abortionists, 2002 transcript shows

Really people, if your heart still pumps warm blood, there is not even one reason you could still be in Barrack Obama's  corner for the Presidency.  Read this article and weep with me for his soul.

Catholics who support abortion should not receive Communion, says Archbishop Burke

Catholics who support abortion should not receive Communion, says Archbishop Burke

You must read this CNA article! Use the link!
Read the comments, they are interesting!

Orlando bishop refutes article, reaffirms that the ‘destruction of innocent human life’ is always wrong

For all you christians that just keep your ears closed to the message of love in Christ, read Bishop Wenski's affirmation of our role in the defense of life as Christians.

Use this link to read Bishop Wenski's published response to the Democrat's ruse at this years Democratic National Convention.

A clarion call to Christians, Barrack must not become President

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama and John McCain, in back-to-back appearances before one of the nation's biggest evangelical churches, disagreed over abortion and Supreme Court justices while supporting letting the states decide gay marriage.

`I am pro-choice,'' Obama said tonight in response to questions from Rick Warren, author of ``The Purpose Driven Life,'' pastor of the 20,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. ``I don't think women make these decisions casually.''
McCain, appearing later, said life begins ``at the moment of conception,'' and said he has opposed abortion rights for 25 years. ``I will be a pro-life president,'' he said.
Democrat Obama and Republican presidential rival McCain, an Arizona senator, are courting evangelicals, who make up more than one-quarter of the U.S. population. They are more numerous than Catholics or mainline Protestants, according to the Washington-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The two candidates embraced briefly at the end of Obama's hour-long interview and at the start of McCain's on the nationally televised forum. The meeting came after weeks of skirmishing over the two candidates' energy and tax plans.
Both candidates spoke of their Christian faith, with Obama saying he believes ``that Jesus Christ died for my sins,'' and McCain, who has been reluctant to discuss his religious beliefs, talked about his personal experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
Both Obama, an Illinois senator, and McCain said marriage is between a man and a woman, while supporting gay unions and leaving it up to the states to decide gay marriage.
Supreme Court
On the question of Supreme Court justices, Obama said he wouldn't have picked Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia or John Roberts. McCain, asked the same question, said he wouldn't have picked Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, David Souter or John Paul Stevens.
McCain said he would only pick justices with a ``proven record of strictly adhering to the Constitution.'' Obama expressed concern about ``the encroachment of the executive branch on the power of the other branches.''
McCain soft pedaled his support for embryonic stem-cell research, which many evangelicals oppose, saying the issue has been a ``terrible dilemma'' that he's had a ``great struggle'' to solve.
Obama said stem-cell research on embryos that are ``about to be discarded'' is a ``legitimate moral approach to take.''
Evangelicals have backed Republicans for decades, with almost four out of five backing President George W. Bush in the 2004 election. McCain leads Obama among such voters 68 percent to 24 percent, according to a Pew poll released earlier this week

This pretty much spells it out; we Catholics need to do our homework for elections!

Check out this story from the Catholic News Agency, it is a book review and you can read the entire article if you use the link from the title.  Then do the research and read all of the important papal writings regarding our social roles in the civic arenas.

Book Review

'Render Unto Caesar' answers crucial questions about intersection of faith and politics

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

Rome, Aug 11, 2008 / 11:20 am (CNA).- On August 12, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver will release his latest book, which focuses on a question of undeniable importance for Catholics in the U.S. but also around the world: What is the role of faith in the public square? Fr. Robert Imbelli, a Boston College associate professor of Theology, gives readers an insightful and well-written review of the archbishop’s book, which will be published in L’Osservatore Romano.

By Fr. Robert Imbelli

This new book by the Archbishop of Denver, Colorado, though addressed primarily to his fellow Catholics, will also serve to foster a much-needed conversation both within and outside the Church. Moreover, it appears at a particularly significant time: the eve of one of the most important presidential elections in recent American history.

One can read the book on several levels, each illuminating the other. The first level is indicated by the book’s subtitle: “serving the nation by living our Catholic beliefs in political life.”

Central to the author’s position is that faith, though intensely and constitutively personal, is never private. Relationship with God through Jesus Christ is inseparably relationship with others in Jesus Christ, as the great judgment scene in chapter twenty-five of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew makes abundantly clear.

But, even beyond this, biblical faith always has social and even political implications. Anyone who takes seriously the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament readily acknowledges this. And the fulfillment of revelation in Jesus Christ only intensifies the believer’s vocation to foster the coming of the Kingdom in every dimension of human life.

Could Obama strike down all state pro-life laws?

Could Obama strike down all state pro-life laws?

Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 8/12/2008 7:00:00 AM

The editor of a pro-life news service says a draft copy of the proposed Democratic Party platform that will be approved later this month in Denver continues the party's historic pro-abortion stance and mirrors Barack Obama's extreme support for abortion.

 

The proposed Democratic Party platform announces unequivocal support for Roe v. Wade and direct taxpayer funding of abortions.  Steven Ertelt, editor of LifeNews.com, obtained the draft platform from a pro-life group that is urging the Democratic Party to moderate its stance on abortion.
 
Ertelt says the platform draft also expresses support for the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" -- a bill Senator Obama promised Planned Parenthood last summer would be the first piece of legislation he signs as president. According to Ertelt, the measure would overturn all of the pro-life laws nationwide.
 
"In other words, that piece of legislation would overturn any laws that any state legislature has passed -- for example, prohibiting taxpayer funding of abortion, allowing parents a right to know when their teenage daughters are considering having an abortion, a right to know or informed consent, or any other common-sense limits like partial-abortion bans that we've put on the books. That would overturn all of those laws," he states bluntly.

The Devil's Deception to Skew the Upcoming Elections

Bishop refutes inaccurate article on Catholics voting with their conscience

Bishop John M. Smith

Trenton, Aug 12, 2008 / 11:48 am (CNA).- The Bishop of Trenton, New Jersey, has responded to an article in the Times of Trenton entitled, “U.S. bishops: Vote your conscience.”  In his response, Bishop Smith states that the article trivialized “the issues and voting choices facing Catholics this year,” and failed to provide the readers with an adequate understanding of the U.S. bishops’ document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”

The July 30 issue of the Times of Trenton published an article summarizing the bishop’s statement, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” However, Bishop Smith writes that, the article “failed to provide readers with an adequate understanding of this program and misrepresented the very spirit of the document.”

Explaining that the Times’ summary “is a serious oversimplification,” and that it “undermines the core message of their statement,” Bishop Smith writes “that Catholics are called to form their consciences in order to exercise faithful citizenship.”

To read the rest, use the link below:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13496

Does Barrack really oppose these ridiculous 'same- sex' marriages?

Please read this and see that we Catholics can not support a man who is opposed to the Amendment in this upcoming California election in defense of marriage। The following article was taken from new s ma x . c o m Although it is a bit ambiguous regarding Barrack's position, does anyone doubt that he would support homosexual marriage and disregard God and the will of the majority? The ambiguity comes from Barrack's attempt at having it both ways।

Both Sides Spending Big on California's Same-Sex Marriage Ban
The constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in California has been drawing large contributions from proponents on both sides of the issue.
The amendment, which will appear on the November ballot, was introduced following the California Supreme Court's May 15 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. The amendment states: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
The gay rights group Equity for All and a related organization raised about $2.6 million in the first half of 2008 to fight the amendment, Proposition 8, according to an analysis of campaign fundraising by the San Jose Mercury-News.
That's about $300,000 more than the amount raised by the major backers of the amendment, Protect Marriage and the National Organization for Marriage-California.
The amendment's largest boost before June 30 came from James Dobson's Focus on the Family organization, which gave $250,000 to Protect Marriage.
Focus on the Family spokeswoman Monica Marti told the Mercury-News that Dobson's organization believes the outcome of the vote on Proposition 8 will affect the rest of the country as well. California does not require couples to be residents to marry there.
Donations have continued to pour in since the end of June, and much of the money has been coming from outside California. The Mississippi-based American Family Association gave Protect Marriage $500,000 on July 21.
"The rest of the nation is watching," said Protect Marriage spokeswoman Jennifer Kerns.
Equality for All recently received $1.05 million from a political action committee of the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign, and $250,000 from the Gill Action Fund, a gay rights foundation in Denver.
Both sides believe they can raise between $10 million and $15 million by Election Day.
Back in 2000, a proposition declaring that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" passed with 61 percent of the vote.
The Supreme Court ruling struck down that statue, meaning the constitutional amendment is needed to ban same-sex marriage.
Barack Obama opposes the initiative, calling it "divisive and discriminatory," but he remains opposed to same-sex marriage and supports civil unions and domestic partnerships.
His presidential rival John McCain announced his support for the amendment in June.

Conscience and Catholicism: Vatican II

The church calls all of her children to have well formed and informed consciences.  We Catholics therefore need to know the catechism of the Church and be able to give a defense for our joy when challenged.  

Sadly, many in today's Catholic church are poorly informed, poorly catechized and easily misled.  In addition and even worse, there are some informed Catholics mistaking Vatican II's instructions for the role of conscience in our lives as a license to do whatever one feels is right for one self.  This occurs most frequently in some politically loaded hot button issues.  As this relates to sin in the world today, this misinterpretation has become an instruction that leads to the lethal philosophy of relativism.  It is due to this relativism, under the guise of the 'primacy of conscience', that some of our brothers and sisters whom we still love dearly refuse to call the use of contraception a sin because they feel that by doing this they are condemning their friends that use it.  

The following is what we all need to know.  First, by standing with the church on this issue, no one is so empowered as to be a judge of other souls.  This is the business of God our Father.  No, we who stand with the church and her teachings are not the ones who condemn anyone.  In fact,  by standing with the Church we may serve our friends in a gentle correction for a behavior that is of grave nature to our souls.  

The twist is that by not standing with the church on this matter, we are playing the role of God declaring for ourselves what is good and what is evil. We are free but in our freedom we do not have the power to declare what is good and what is evil.  The nature of our actions whether they are good or evil has been set up by God at the foundation of creation as an outpouring of God's very own nature.   Jesus gave us His Church to be for us these 2000+ years our teachers of this nature guiding us all down the straight and narrow path that leads to righteousness and salvation.

Why is this so important to all of us.  The reason- We may very well be held accountable for the loss of the souls that we should have helped by informing them about the will of God on this very important matter of our Catholic Family.  The following link will take you to an excellent explanation of this very matter.  May you be blessed in reading on the following link.  The most relevant material is found under the heading No Primacy of Conscience.

  Using the following link will take you to a great statement given by By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney on this very matter.  Please use this link  http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/Archbishop/Addresses/200433_853.shtml