The Washington Post published an op-ed recently that resonates deeply. It is written by a husband and wife, a former Commonweal contributor and current doctoral candidate at Catholic University (Liz McCloskey), and the former general counsel of the Catholic Health Association (Peter Leibold). They lament the choices for Catholics in this particular political season, with the Democratic Party’s abortion absolutism and the Republican party’s hardening on culture of death issues. They write:
“When we were born in the early 1960s, it was possible to be both a Democrat and a Catholic without any agonizing pangs of conscience. John F. Kennedy was president; John Courtney Murray was a public theologian; Pope John XXIII was opening a window to the world at the Second Vatican Council. But as we came of age politically, we felt orphaned by the Democratic Party, whose pro-life positions on war, poverty and the environment did not extend to the life of the most weak and vulnerable, those not yet born.
While the moderate wing of the Republican Party provided us a foster home when we worked on the Senate staff of John C. Danforth (R-Mo.), with the likes of former senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.) and others, the Grand Old Party’s move to the right, including its hardening, dominant positions on the Iraq war, access to guns and the death penalty, among other issues, have made it an inhospitable place for us to dwell permanently.
During many elections we find ourselves facing the same dilemma: Which of our values must take a back seat when we go to the voting booth? Do we let our moral concern for peaceful resolutions of conflict, the environment, addressing poverty and aggressive enforcement of civil rights guide our choices? Or do we stand firm on another important issue of conscience and signal our hope for an end to abortion? Often, both choices leave a bad taste in our mouths.
Another option is to simply forget the moral questions and vote our pocketbooks. The two of us have slightly different perspectives on the wisest economic policies to be followed by the federal government, neither of which is embodied perfectly by the dominant political parties. But adopting a moral blindness in the voting booth is simply not an option for those of us who hold religious values dear.
Today’s March for Life in Washington brings home this problem. The assumption of abortion opponents is that anyone serious about his or her desire to see an end to abortion will vote for the “pro-life” candidate. Yet there is rarely a candidate, and certainly not a political party, that embodies the consistent ethic of life that would make casting a truly pro-life vote a simple or straightforward choice. If the Democratic Party could adopt a much less disdainful, more welcoming, perhaps even “pro-choice” stance toward those under its tent who have conscientious objections to abortion, we would be much less squeamish about supporting its candidates, and we know that we are not alone in that conviction. “
This is indeed the dilemma, elegantly and thoughtfully put.
(Hat tip: Fr. Joseph Komonchak).
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