Not Single Issue Voters

From Bishop J. Terry Steib of Memphis:

“Voting with a good conscience is not an easy task. It is much easier to give in to the sound bites and the catchy phrases. It is much easier to go the party line blindly and mindlessly. It is much easier to choose because of personality rather than the content of character. It is easier to say “I just like him or her; he or she is one of us” rather than to ponder, reflect, and pray for our choice prudently.

As we form our conscience, we must be aware of the need for prudence. Prudence is not easy to define, but according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, prudence helps us to “discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it.”

So, when we are presented with candidates whose views do not reflect the full teachings of the Church, what are we to do? The spiritual writer, Father Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, has written in his book Secularity and the Gospel: “In an age of increasing violence, fundamentalism, and the myth that God wishes to cleanse the planet of its sin and immorality by force, perhaps the first witness we must give to our world is a witness to God’s non-violence, a witness to the God revealed by Jesus Christ who opposes violence of all kinds, from war, to revenge, to capital punishment, to abortion, to euthanasia, to the attempt to use force to bring about justice and God’s will in any way.”

What Father Rolheiser says here, as I understand it, is that we cannot be a one issue people. We must recognize that God, through the Church, is calling us to be prophetic in our own day. If our conscience is well formed, then we will make the right choices about candidates who may not support the Church’s position in every case.”