Opinions Expressed in "Rants" while informed by Catholic doctrine, are merely the opinions of the author.
Obama’s Election Isn’t a Bad Thing, You Know!
I was disheartened upon hearing that some Bishops and Archbishops in the U.S. had been all but openly encouraging Catholics not to vote for Barack Obama. And when he was elected, as the nation rejoiced over this landmark, historical day, a day of unity, optimism, and hope – many Catholic groups showed their disconnection from the life of the people, calling it a sad and even tragic day for the U.S.
Of course their problem is that, apparently, Barack Obama is a pro-choice advocate, supporting a woman’s right to an abortion. And this IS a problem, of course; abortion is a huge problem – that problem stemming from the fact that many don’t RECOGNIZE that the fertilized embryo or fetus IS a human with a right to live – and the argument that some Catholic liberal politicians use, that they have no right to impose their religious beliefs on others, doesn’t really wash – because when you think about it, just about ALL of our laws find someone’s religious belief as their foundation – without religion, its kinda hard to define ANYTHING as right or wrong. I’ll expand on this more at a later date.
So Obama’s being pro-choice – yes, this is a problem.
But my problem is with anyone who chooses to reduce this vastly complicated election, or any election for that matter, to ONE issue, even if it may be the most important one. It’s about a lot of issues: such as the pre-emptive, unjustified war in Iraq (which the Vatican has protested), and an attitude of non-cooperation with the rest of the world – that the U.S. can do whatever it wants. It’s about taking care of the poor and the underprivileged of society (as Jesus calls us to – was Jesus as socialist?) rather than letting material selfishness be the motivation for a nation’s economic policies. And mainly, it’s about whose ideas and qualifications make a leader the best choice for President.
So, should a Catholic vote against Barack Obama, just because he’s pro-choice? Well, should people have voted for George W. Bush, arguably the worst President in U.S. history, just because he’s pro-life? We can see how that turned out. AND, despite his being the pro-life President for eight years, abortion is still legal across the nation.
The Vatican has a different view of the election result – read about it HERE. The Vatican, of course, isn’t IN the U.S., so it has the perspective of seeing the U.S. the way the rest of the world sees it.
One thing I KNOW is that Obama has a lot more potential for open-mindedness than his predecessor, on ANY issue. I think us pro-lifers have room to maneuver with Obama, and for this reason I am optimistic, and glad to see the U.S. take a different direction in this election.
There’s a lot wrong with the way a lot of American’s interpret what it means to be a Christian. I’ll talk about that more at a later date. In the meantime, we should pray for the new President of the United States, Barack Obama, and also pray that American Catholic leaders will recognize his election to be the GOOD THING that it is.