2238 Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God, who has made them stewards of his gifts:43 \u201cBe subject for the Lord\u2019s sake to every human institution. . . . Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God.\u201d44 Their loyal collaboration includes the right, and at times the duty, to voice their just criticisms of that which seems harmful to the dignity of persons and to the good of the community. <\/p>\n
2239 It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom. The love and service of one\u2019s country follow from the duty of gratitude and belong to the order of charity. Submission to legitimate authorities and service of the common good require citizens to fulfill their roles in the life of the political community. <\/p>\n
2240 Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one\u2019s country: <\/p>\n
Pay to all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.45
\n[Christians] reside in their own nations, but as resident aliens. They participate in all things as citizens and endure all things as foreigners. . . . They obey the established laws and their way of life surpasses the laws. . . . So noble is the position to which God has assigned them that they are not allowed to desert it.46 <\/p>\n
The Apostle exhorts us to offer prayers and thanksgiving for kings and all who exercise authority, \u201cthat we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Quite obviously, what the catechism envisions is the duty of citizens to participate in the political process as free human beings subject to the law of God. It does not have in mind a brainless rule that says, \u201cvote no matter what, even if it\u2019s stupid\u201d just as it does not have in mind a brainless rule that \u201ceverybody has to pay taxes even if they have no income above the poverty line\u201d or \u201ceverybody has to serve in the army even if they are 4F\u201d. The duty to vote is mitigated by CCC 2242. <\/p>\n
The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community. \u201cRender therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar\u2019s, and to God the things that are God\u2019s.\u201d48 \u201cWe must obey God rather than men\u201d:49<\/p>\n
When citizens are under the oppression of a public authority which oversteps its competence, they should still not refuse to give or to do what is objectively demanded of them by the common good; but it is legitimate for them to defend their own rights and those of their fellow citizens against the abuse of this authority within the limits of the natural law and the Law of the Gospel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We are not bound to support anything (or anybody) who we believe will act in some way contrary to the law of God. Per Cdl. Ratzinger, we may <\/em>do so if we think we have some proportional reason for doing so. But we do not *have* to do so. I think the best way I can participate in the political process for the common good is a) to vote my conscience by refusing to support pols who promise to do grave evil and supporting pols who refuse to do grave evil and b) to do much much more with my pen than my vote. Doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t vote at all. There are still lots of people and items on the ballot that I vote on. Just not pols who promise to do grave evil.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2026on Voting as a Moral Act. And, by the way, about this business that we *have* to vote even when two candidates both advocate grave intrinsic evil. It comes from a very selective reading of CCC 2240. Let\u2019s look at it in context: 2238 Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
A Final (I think) Few Remarks...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"...on Voting as a Moral Act. And, by the way, about this business that we *have* to vote even when two candidates both advocate grave intrinsic evil. It\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Final (I think) Few Remarks...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"...on Voting as a Moral Act. And, by the way, about this business that we *have* to vote even when two candidates both advocate grave intrinsic evil. It\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-16T15:12:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-31T02:15:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html\",\"name\":\"A Final (I think) Few Remarks...\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-16T15:12:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-31T02:15:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"...on Voting as a Moral Act. And, by the way, about this business that we *have* to vote even when two candidates both advocate grave intrinsic evil. It\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Final (I think) Few Remarks…\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Final (I think) Few Remarks...","description":"...on Voting as a Moral Act. And, by the way, about this business that we *have* to vote even when two candidates both advocate grave intrinsic evil. It","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Final (I think) Few Remarks...","og_description":"...on Voting as a Moral Act. And, by the way, about this business that we *have* to vote even when two candidates both advocate grave intrinsic evil. It","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2011-12-16T15:12:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-12-31T02:15:40+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html","name":"A Final (I think) Few Remarks...","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-12-16T15:12:08+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-31T02:15:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"...on Voting as a Moral Act. And, by the way, about this business that we *have* to vote even when two candidates both advocate grave intrinsic evil. It","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2011\/12\/a-final-i-think-few-remarks.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Final (I think) Few Remarks…"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}