Catholic Church and Obama

The Catholic Church is coming down hard on their Democratic parishioners this year. If you are Catholic, you know what I’m talking about. Every homily I’ve heard for the past six weeks has centered on abortion. You would think there was nothing else going on in the world. The Church has even gone so far as to say that voting for the pro-choice candidate is tantamount to a mortal sin. That’s a big POW. Catholic? Voting for Barack Obama? Get ready for a drop kick down the fluted chute to hell.

This presents a perplexing and soul-wrenching decision for some of us. I am perfectly aligned with candidate Barack Obama in terms of his education, energy, environmental, fiscal and foreign policies. On the other hand when I look at John McCain all I see is a bombastic angry little man. I remember my father, who worked with him briefly, saying that he was a live wire. None of his battle cries resonate for me: I’m appalled by the idea of taking a “hatchet” to government agencies and favor the “scalpel” approach so that those who are in need will not be left stranded. I cringe every time I hear: “Drill baby drill.” On every issue save one I am diametrically opposed to John McCain.
“Evil” is a word that is used over and over again in connection with abortion and yet evil, to my mind, is insidious. What is evil? According to the London Telegraph, the United States is considered an evil nation by a large portion of the world. Just 16 per cent of those surveyed thought the United States a force for good in the world, compared with 56 percent who considered it a force for evil. In fact, according to the Telegraph, the Kremlin usually preferred to see a Republican in the White House. “Conservatives were more straightforward to deal with because they acted from self-interest and were less concerned with human rights than their Democratic rivals.”
The other day in a parochial school lunchroom a little boy came over to me and said: “You better vote for McCain if you want more toys.” Funny, I always thought the worst thing about me—the greatest evil I perpetrate—is that I continue to amass more and more “toys” while people living not two miles from my house go hungry. What’s to be made of a statement like that coming from a Christian child? I thought Jesus said: “Take care to guard against all greed…He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.”
If we are to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves then why wouldn’t we vote for someone who wants to end the war, who is concerned about our relationship with our global neighbors, the state of the environment and the pursuit of social justice? If that weren’t enough to convince me, I felt further vindicated in the last debate when John McCain unequivocally stated that he will not “use a litmus test” in selecting a Supreme Court nominee thereby rendering him essentially useless in the war against abortion. He’s not even going to ask whether the nominee is pro-life! Obama certainly won’t overturn Roe v. Wade but neither did George Bush during his eight years in office. Instead we went to war and even more lives were lost. And then there’s the whole matter of whether making abortion illegal would actually stop it. According to About.com, some nations that outlaw abortions have more abortions than some nations in which abortion is legal. The rate of abortion in Latin America is 31 (per 1,000 women 15-44) and 19 in Western Europe where most nations have made abortion legal. Many pro-life Catholics who are considering voting for the Democratic candidate would be heartened by the Democratic platform which states the belief that though a woman has the right to choose, their hope is that “improved health care and education will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions.”
The Catholic Church should allow that it's members have good sense and are upstanding citizens capable of making moral decisions based on any number of issues. Being open to diverse viewpoints allows for the possibility that my world view will rub off on someone else or there’s may affect me. The church's approach only pits one camp against another.
We can’t all make the same decisions. What would be the point of holding elections if we did? This is a big country and there are lots of issues on the table. Instead of pointing fingers at people with opposing outlooks, perhaps we should all turn to our own moral compasses come Election Day. If the path we choose toward life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is different than our neighbors across the aisle or the street well then, thank God!
Kelly Fordon is the daughter of former Republican Congressman John William Stanton of the 11th District in Ohio.