I am a Roman Catholic seeking to be faithful. The past year has been a tremendous one in my quest to understand the politics of our Nation. It began with the perplexing ambiguity of the rationale for increasing vast amounts of money, new agencies and legislation for security after 9/11 while at the same time leaving our southern border with Mexico wide open! From there I discovered a powerful body of writings that argue for the return to a Constitutional Government that would be much smaller and correspondingly less costly. I also came to the thoughts and writings of Alan Keyes, Ron Paul, Will Grigg, Murray Rothbard and more recently Chuck Baldwin during this time. Many issues have been of concern to me including the unnecessarily large federal government and most of its agencies and departments, astronomical deficit spending, government regulation of the free market, bailouts everywhere we turn — and at our expense — nation building, our global military presence, the drastically increased invasion of our privacy, moves towards a police state, the marginalization of religion from the public arena and always, always, the issue of abortion and all the life issues — issues in which I see both parties as being duplicitous in perpetuating problems and blocking real solutions.
Two men of outstanding integrity and solid Catholic morality have written recently about our duty to vote in keeping with the teachings of Christ: Archbishop Chaput in the book, Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life and Dr. Alan Keyes in the tract, 2-Party System: No Choice but Evil. I believe Dr. Keyes’ tract complements and fills out the thoughts of Archbishop Chaput. I was also impressed by Archbishop Burke, The Prefect of the Apostolic Signature, who recently stated that “pro-choice” politicians should not receive communion.
If you have not read them, I strongly encourage you to do so. What becomes obvious is that we Catholics, and all Christians, have a morally grave responsibility to vote in keeping with our Faith — especially when it comes to the issue of life. George Weigel’s article gives an excellent overview of Archbishop Chaput’s book. Dr. Keyes’ tract can be found here.
Points 4 and 5 of Archbishop Chaput’s book, as described in Weigel’s piece, resonate strongly with points made in Keyes’ tract. Dr. Keyes reminds us that our Declaration of Independence makes it clear that our rule of law and form of government is based on Natural Law, Natures’ God and our Creator. The Constitution could not have been written without this foundation. Another very important point is the one Keyes makes in showing that the blessings the Constitution is supposed to secure for us are also for “our posterity.” From the moment of conception every single human being in the womb is a citizen of the United States and granted the rights and protection of our Constitution — the supreme law of the land. I believe Dr. Keyes’ most powerful contribution is his rationale for making abortion a Federal, not a State, issue. This is a singular distinction and departure from pro-life Libertarians, one which I hope sparks some reevaluation in that camp. He points to Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, which requires the federal government to guarantee a republican form of government in all of the states. In other words, since a child from the moment of conception is a real human being, he is protected under the Constitution. The States must uphold the highest law of the land, which is the Constitution. If they don’t, it is the Federal government’s responsibility to intervene so that a republican form of government — the rule of law — is maintained.
In light of these foundational thoughts we come back to the moral imperative to protect life. That there is a responsibility to hold all life sacred as a matter of principle not expediency or calculation, hence the overriding concern that our elected officials must be individuals of strong moral and ethical conviction. Their flip flopping, taking positions to gain votes, or making excuses for immorality should sound an alarm in every voter. In supporting a candidate we make ourselves an accomplice and accountable for their immoral actions. We should also remember that we are just as responsible for failing to do good by not supporting a good candidate. I believe that this applies even if that candidate is “unelectable.”
In looking at the candidates with a sharply focused and clear moral vision it becomes obvious that the Republican and Democratic candidates cannot be supported. The case regarding Senator Obama is clear for many of us. However the reasons for not supporting Senator McCain may not be as clear. Dr. Keyes’ basic argument for not supporting Senator McCain is that Senator McCain’s position on abortion is one of expediency and calculation, not principle! This is pointed out with painstaking clarity by Dr. Keyes. McCain’s support for embryonic stem cell research shows that his pro-life position is not fully integrated. It is not one of principle. If it were, the Senator would realize that all innocent life — and I mean all — must be protected under the law. He would also not have blocked Bush’s judicial appointees or failed to support pro-life groups.
Embryonic stem cell research does not elicit the same emotional response that a partial birth abortion does. Keyes uses this to illustrate McCain’s use of calculation instead of principle. Destroying embryos for research is just as intrinsically evil as partial-birth abortion. This position of expediency and calculation (to win votes) betrays true moral integration and a lack of principle, making him unacceptable to a Catholic voter. Senator Obama’s positions are known all too clearly. Due to these realities neither candidate is a viable option for a serious Christian.
The conclusion is obvious. Candidates from the two major parties are not acceptable. For most Americans this is unheard of and extremely hard to accept. Nonetheless, I believe we are forced to this conclusion when being honest about the political realities of this election cycle. This leaves an alternative that is a radical departure for most of us, which is to vote for a third party candidate or a write-in. Accepting this as the only option that keeps intact our integrity as Catholics has become clear for a few, but needs to be understood by many more.
There are two ideas or arguments out there that are cunningly deceptive and dangerous. They are, in my opinion, harmful and evil deceptions. These two ideas rob us of our moral strength, integrity and any real possibility for substantial change. I beg you to reject the “lesser of two evils” argument. Nor should you fall prey to the “you’re throwing your vote away” argument. The simple reason is they are not true.
Now is the time to act to bring about real change that will break the stranglehold our two party system has over us. Presenting such low-caliber, unacceptable candidates should be met with the outrage it deserves. As one pundit puts it, there should be a third choice “none of the above!” This position expresses the deep dissatisfaction many voters have with the “choices” presented thus far. If you’re one of them, please do not dismiss your dissatisfaction. So many times in life we ignore that gut feeling. There always seems to be an argument or some reasoning convincing us we aren’t right, that we’re being to idealistic or impractical, that our protest won’t make a difference. There are lots of them out there; you probably know them better than I. I suggest we ignore them.
Where does that leave us? With a third party candidate or a write in. Voting for an alternative candidate sends a much louder message than most realize. Both parties are deathly afraid of having their base “siphoned” off and with good reason.
One possibility is to register with one of the alternative parties, Constitution or Libertarian, or with Alan Keyes. Send them a little money if you can. Just having their enrollments going up will send a message. Put some fear into the two-party system today. You’ll feel good about yourself.
The Church does not want to tell us who to vote for and with good reason. Her guidelines however make it clear to this Catholic what my options are. I cannot support a candidate who encourages, supports or allows abortions or the destruction of embryos — both are murder. That eliminates both mainstream candidates for me. And while many are enamored of the first woman VP pick by the Republican candidate for President it should be remembered that you are not voting for her presidency, but his. She has also made it very clear that when she differs with him on key policy issues she will defer to him as president.
This two-party system is dealing death. I say, let’s vote for real change.
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