Editorial

Voters in the 2004 elections named "moral values" as their #1 concern in selecting a candidate for president. This fact seemed to puzzle the political commentators, but it should come as no surprise to Catholics and other people of faith.

The television election analysts couldn't understand how citizens were basing their vote on moral values! What is happening to this country? Are we being taken over by people of faith?

All-encompassing. Although the exit poll interviews made a special category for "moral values," I believe moral values lie at the foundation of most - if not all - of our voting decisions. Of course, moral values help determine our beliefs on such issues as abortion, stem cell research, and marriage. But they also form the basis of our views on education, the economy, health care, capital punishment, and war.

Catholic social teaching encompasses all of these issues. We don't divide them into "religious" issues and "political" issues. They are all part and parcel of our Catholic faith, which forms our moral values.

Don't fit political categories. One difficulty is that Catholic social teaching may not easily fit into political categories. Some elements of our teaching may be part of the Democratic, Green, or Republican Party platforms - but no one party has it all.

When the Catholic Church tries to teach about moral values, however, the secular media and political pundits try to politicize our teaching. And perhaps that is why the church was criticized for seeming to "endorse" certain parties or candidates.

Some - including Catholics themselves - would like the church and its bishops to keep quiet. They want the bishops to tend to their "own" matters, as if church and state are totally separate.

Church and state. But we cannot separate church and state. We cannot put up a tall, impenetrable wall between the two. Our moral values - based on our faith - should help shape our laws. In turn, the state should work with our churches in our efforts to promote the common good.

The 2004 election has brought about a good dialogue about church-state issues. This is not going to go away, nor should it. We need to continue to talk about moral values, based upon our religious convictions, and how they impact our society and our government.

Moral conscience of our nation. We must hold our elected officials to the promises they made during the campaign. We must be alert to how proposed laws will affect ALL people in our society, especially the poor and the vulnerable. As Catholics we must be concerned about the full spectrum of life issues and promote a consistent ethic of life for all people: the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, the sick, the imprisoned, the hungry.

Sometimes these concerns for life may supersede our membership in a political party or our support for an elected official. We need to be the moral conscience of our nation, calling our country to be the best it can be.

The founder of our country, George Washington, was very spiritual. "He prayed every day," says Janice T. Connell, author of Faith of Our Founding Father: The Spiritual Journey of George Washington. She believes Americans of today can learn from Washington's deep religious beliefs. "We should discuss the roles of religion and spirituality in politics and government. The Declaration of Independence itself refers to our Creator," Connell noted. "The future of our country may depend upon it."

Mary C. Uhler, editor

Mailbag

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Church should not intrude

To the editor:

I followed the presidential campaign very closely. I was surprised at what I felt was the inappropriate intrusion of some Catholic bishops and clergy into partisan politics. This was done by inferring who Catholics should vote for and by threatening sanctions such as withholding the sacraments from some candidates who did not measure up to the bishops' view of the political universe.

In addition the editorials and the guest columnists in the Catholic Herald in recent months seemed to favor the Republican candidates' point of view. The church appeared to be fixated on abortion, and all other issues, i.e., fighting what appears to be an unjust war in Iraq, millions of children without health insurance, lack of a living wage for heads of families, and CEOs of large corporations destroying long time employees' health and retirement benefits by their criminal misconduct seemed to be of lesser concern.

As I read of the out of court settlements by various dioceses because of sexual abuse of minors and others by the clergy, I am dismayed. I very respectfully suggest that the bishops and clergy should devote their attention to managing the day to day affairs of the church. This would include being more open and transparent in sorting out and punishing clergy judged guilty of sexual abuse.

I have always been taught that one of America's strengths is the separation of church and state. The church's hierarchy by injecting itself into partisan politics calls into question its objectivity and gives reasonable people pause to wonder if it is appropriate.

As a former soldier who served in Korea and has misgivings about the Iraq war, I am quite capable of forming my own judgment on voting for the person who is the best alternative for me, my family, and my country.

Anthony Testolin, Sun Prairie

Troubled by one issue voting

To the editor:

I am very troubled and angered by your encouragement of "one issue" voting by Catholics. I consider myself to be a good Christian and I do not think that anyone should base their vote solely on where the candidate stands on abortion.

I agree that abortion is terrible and do not condone it, but I do not think the government should regulate people's bodies. Women who want to terminate their pregnancy are going to find a way, whether it is legal or not. That is something they will have to answer to Jesus for, when judgement comes. The fact that I chose to vote for John Kerry does not make me complicit in someone having an abortion.

One of your letters commented about issues such as poverty, education, and healthcare being important, but do not equate to abortion. I agree. Look at it like a logical, intelligent, compassionate, and caring Christian. With less poverty and better education and healthcare for everyone comes a better world and hopefully less abortions.

What I find hypocritical is that people support George W. Bush and other right-wing Republicans because they are pro-life, even though they condone the invasion of a sovereign nation (Iraq) with no legal or ethical justification, support capital punishment, and think that anyone has the right to buy an assault weapon without background checks.

If I follow the logic of most of your readers' letters and "Voting my Conscience," by Marlen F. Junck, M.D., a Catholic should vote for Joseph Stalin or Adolph Hitler, provided they are opposed to abortion, but should never vote for FDR or Winston Churchill, if they happened to be pro-choice. These may seem like extreme examples, but history is full of zealots that came to power by manipulating the issues in their favor. Democracy comes with great responsibility, which I will never take lightly.

The church, as a tax exempt entity, should not be making political statements and telling its members how to vote. Or have we forgotten that separation of church and state goes both ways?! I don't disagree with a priest or church official encouraging people to examine the morality of political issues and candidates, but they cross the line when they are on the altar telling people who they should vote for.

Joe Quandt, Madison

Economy influences abortion

To the editor:

Each of the responses [see Oct. 7, Oct. 14 and Oct. 21 letters] you've published to our letter ("Take all moral issues into account when voting," Catholic Herald Mailbag, Sept. 23) has focused on church directives about abortion.

In teaching theology in a Catholic high school and parenting to teen mothers in South Chicago and among the poor of Madison, I have for years observed the intense conflict of many women over childbearing issues. I am awed by the respect virtually all have for early life, even that resulting from rape. I've met women whose financial, emotional, and social resources are so stretched they fear another child would prevent them from providing for those children already born; I am aware of the sorrow and guilt that haunt many women who have abortions.

I too desire to reduce the number of abortions in this country. In fact, abortion was on an accelerating decline in the 1990's, dropping 17.4 percent! Under this administration the rate of abortion has increased - from 2000 to 2003 in Michigan rising 11.3 percent, Kentucky 3.2 percent from 2001-2002, Arizona by 26.4 percent, Texas 3 percent, Wisconsin .6 percent. Of 16 states for which the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life found multi-year statistics, 11 saw the rates increase from 2000-2003; only five posted declines. Thus, 52,000 MORE abortions took place in 2002 than expected. WHY? Two-thirds of women stated they could not afford another child; many lacked health care.

Economic reality is closely linked to the rate of abortion; the jobs lost in the past four years have consequences. To focus on the religious angle in this issue while disregarding the economic evidence is morally myopic.

Patricia La Cross, Madison