Ben Halverson is a Senior at Gonzaga (A Jesuit Sponsored University, surprise). I would give Ben an F in Moral Theology and an A+ in Moral Equivalence 101 for this nonsense from the Gonzaga Bulletin:
Too often it is the case that the average American Catholic finds himself conflicted between his civic duty to participate in his democracy and his religious duty to abide by the rules of the Church. Catholic teaching does not align as well as we would like at the ballot box. The Democratic Party, officially advocating a pullout from a war that our own pope has decried, also supports a woman’s right to choose and abortion. The Republican Party, while officially advocating an extended stay in Iraq, supports a universal ban on a woman’s right to choose.
Further issues still conflict the Catholic. Human equality issues, especially when it relates to the LGBTQ community and the death penalty in this nation, do not uniformly align in either party. For the Catholic, neither of the two parties has a monopoly on morality.
Monopoly, certainly not. However I think that one can make a good case that one party has a great deal more market share. Ben goes on:
On Election Day, the Catholic finds himself compromising between different stages of life. What is more important to the Catholic? Is it an unborn infant life, or is it an innocent Iraqi besieged by an immoral American occupation?
C’mon Benny. Reasonable people can disagree as to what the best Iraq policy is right now. One can make a very good case that immediate pullout might very result in more carnage than if we continue to stay. I don’t pretend to have the answers, but I do know the people of good will and Catholics in good standing can reasonably disagree on this issue. However no good Catholic can come down on the side of abortion on demand, the only sacrament the democrat party of today respects. To try to equate the two in terms of official Catholic teaching is utter nonsense.
It always amazes me to see the mental and moral back flips people will do to justify what they know to be wrong. Young Ben just attempted and half-gainer and landed right on his face. That has gotta hurt.
October 20, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Ahh… but you have to look at the total platform.
Which parties policies will result in fewer abortions?
After all, the evil republicans want to ban abortion.
The holy democrats want to socialize medicine so that abortions are paid for by the government… which will cause fewer people to have abortions because they’ll be paying higher taxes!
Or something like that, according to my “voting pro-choice is more pro-life than voting pro-life” acquaintances……
October 20, 2007 at 6:45 pm
ps. sorry about the poor typing… I’m one-handed for at least the next 4 weeks…. Silly baby– demanding food and love……=)
December 2, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Thanks for pointing out the defiencies in a “Jesuit” education system.
December 25, 2007 at 7:13 am
no jesuit would ever condone that position of being pro-choice, but if one really wants to adhere to the requests of our holy pope, then how can he turn a blind eye to the loss of life in iraq?
the thing that jesuits advocate above all else is the image of jesus as the lesser among us. we see jesus in all the downtrodden, impoverished people on this planet. this is essentially their message, and frankly if one knows the new testament, it is also the undisputed message of jesus.
perhaps equally important, though, is that freedom of conscience is important. an unexamined faith is not worth having, in my mind, and for all of you terminator-like catholics out there, i will be glad to continue spreading the good word of intellectual freedom. i’ll see you all in heaven.