A Roman Catholic's Debate: Obama or McCain?

Roman Catholics make up just over 25% of the population of the United States of America, and increasing every year. We're already the most influential voting bloc in the nation, commanding about 1/3 of the vote in key swing states like Pennsylvania and even more in places like Ohio and Florida. Do I even need to mention how many of us there are in California and Texas? Didn't think so.

But as we approach this coming election, our traditional strength as a bloc has drastically diminished as we find ourselves being split over the best candidate for president. Its not an easy choice. John McCain doesn't exactly have "Help the Poor" written all over him, whereas Barack Obama's beliefs about abortion are enough to push many Catholics to his opponent: about half of them, to be precise. So I decided it would be wise if I went through the beliefs of each candidate and compared what they stood for with the Church's doctrine.

Let's start with Senator Obama:

I'll get the obvious one out of the way right now so its not haunting readers while they're reading this: he is against a constitution ban on abortion. He supports Roe v. Wade, and has no intention of attempting to overturn it. He has stated that he personally does not like abortion and sees it as a great tragedy of our nation. Senator Obama believes that we need to have systems in place that give parents other options other than abortion. He believes that adoption is too difficult here, and that we don't have a support system to aid single parents in caring for their young children while working or continuing their education. He's said that the current administration, although claiming to be against Roe v. Wade, has not taken steps to really address the issue of why teen pregnancy has increased the way it has.

The Church is completely and utterly against abortion (for those of you who do not know, Sen Biden is a Roman Catholic but is for abortion rights). According to our doctrine, life begins at conception. It is not acceptable to vote for a candidate that is pro-abortion rights.

That seems like a pretty immovable obstacle, but actually Barack Obama agrees more with the Catholic Church that his opponent, John McCain, does. On issues like the Iraq war, immigration, health care, and even - dare I say it - the reduction of abortion rates Barack Obama walks in step with the Roman Catholic Church. We'll talk about whether that's enough to convince Catholic voters.

Shall we move on to the veteran senator from Arizona?

Senator John McCain, as we have previously stated, agrees with the Pope about abortion. That fact alone has won him more Catholic votes than he really deserves, because apart from that fact, there's not a whole lot about his that makes us say, "Alleluia". His views on poverty and the distribution of wealth in particular go against the grain of the Church. He supports the death penalty and the Iraq War, both of which the Pope is adamantly opposed to. 

So how are we to decide? Unfortunately, Pope Benedict is not running for president. So we're going to have to make due with what we have.

What we're seeing here is a split in the Catholic bloc according to something that run vastly deeper than party politics. 

Allow me to explain. There is a fairly obvious and subtle separation between Catholics in the American Church. Its so subtle that most non-Catholics are incapable of seeing it, because both kinds practice their religion the same way. We all go to Mass, which is fairly generic where ever you go. But its in the subtle application of our faith that there is a difference.

The difference is largely generational. The younger generation and splintered into what we now call progressive Catholics. This group is generally characterized in the following ways:

• Very environmental.
• Very mindful of human rights.
• Believe that salvation can be found in Christian churches outside the Church, but that the Church is the true source of saving grace (this the Church's official statement on the topic, in case you were curious)
• Tend to be more comfortable expressing a belief that diverts from the Church's teaching, but continue to be faithful Catholics.
• Supports increased involvement of the laity in the church.
• Don't always send their kids to Catholic schools.
• Less involved in the debate around gay-rights and abortion.
• tend to vote Democratic, supporting the party's policies of caring for the poor, the distribution of wealth, and government programs.
• vote based on the collective issues rather than a single issue.

Conservative Catholics have a lot in common with progressive Catholics. There are a few very minor differences, however.

• Less interested in the environment.
• Extremely focused on social issues like abortion and gay-rights when thinking about politics.
• Salvation comes through the Church alone.
• March in step with the Church on all issues.
• Supports increased involvement of the laity within the church, but not active in pursuing it.
• Children attend Catholic schools, even if the parents have to taken out a second mortgage.
• Extremely involved in the debate of social issues.
• tend to vote Republican because of social issues.
• Single issue voters.

Looking at the two, one would think that they have nothing in common. You couldn't be more mistaken. They are brought together through their mutual faith in Jesus Christ and the church He himself founded in us so many centuries ago. But you can now easily see how the Catholic vote is split in this election. Its come down a choice between a Pro-Life, Pro-Death Penalty candidate and a Pro-Abortion, Pro-Poor candidate. What are we to do?!

All the candidates - their running mates included - are Christians. Only one is a Catholic, but even he supports abortion rights, so it is unlikely that his name on the ticket will by itself attract many voters. Of course, there are many other issues involved in this election that we haven't talk about because the Church doesn't have an opinion on them, such as foreign policy strategies and taxation. And for those undecided Catholic voters, those issues may be what comes down to.

It is now my time to present my opinions on the subject, and I'm going to assume that since you've read all the way down to this point that you are interested in what I have to say. But that's not what the point of this entry was. Perhaps at another time I'll talk about who I'm voting for, but I don't want to influence anybody right now. Let people make their own decisions, and once they have, let them come and ask me where I stand.

I hope this was useful. Best of luck for the election. Maybe the candidate chosen by God win.

God bless all of you,

Gawane89

PS: If there are any statistical mistakes in this blog please please please post a comment and I will be sure to alter this entry as soon as possible. Just paste in your source and if its legitimate, then I'll make the alteration.

Thanks!