Giving Every Man a Vote Has no more Made Men Wise and Free than Christianity Has Made Them Good

I read a post on St. Louis Review Online by Bishop Robert J. Hermann that reinforced my belief that religion is a great personal moral barometer, but has no place in politics. Bishop Hermann wrote, "Judgment Day is on its way. When my time comes, I will be measured by my Savior for the decisions I have made. I will either be acknowledged by Jesus or denied by Him in the presence of our heavenly Father. The question I need to ask myself is this: What kind of witness will I give to Him when I go into the voting booth this election day?"

Bishop Hermann went on to write, in essence, that he cannot support a candidate with better economic answers or worldview policies if he does not fall on his side, and presumably his church's side, on the abortion issue. I cannot believe that the Bishop, worried about the judgment of his Savior, can be so narrow-minded, naive and selfish. Does his God not care that President Bush sent men and women to die for absolutely no reason in a foreign land? Is that acceptable because President Bush is anti-abortion? And what did he accomplish with his political stance? As far as I know, abortion is still legal and upheld by the Constitution of the United States.

Other religious people have a better understanding of this issue in comparison with the overall tenor and importance of this election. In an exclusive post for Newsweek, three Catholic authors backed up their case for endorsing Barack Obama. "In the closing weeks of this election, abortion is among the crucial issues for Catholic voters, but promoting a culture of life is necessarily interconnected with a family wage, universal health care and, yes, better parenting and education of our youth. This greater appreciation for the totality of Catholic teaching is at the very heart of the Obama campaign; it is scarcely a McCain footnote."

For my family, fringe Catholics if you will, it comes down to the above argument. Saying that you are anti-abortion (is anybody really for abortions?) is just drawing a line in the sand on a beach where no one is playing. Not one person who has ever occupied the White House has ever asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. It's just a convenient political stance to take in order to pick up votes.

It is a shame to waste your vote on a single issue. It's an even bigger shame to give your vote to a candidate that is against you on every other thing you stand for but one.