Will the Catholic Vote Be the Difference This November?

It very well could be. With Obama picking a Catholic, Biden, as VP I get the feeling he is trying to sway Catholic voters to vote for him. It could be a decision that backfires on Obama, because his positions are often in conflict with the Catholic position on many issues - most notably on abortion. If there is discussion about these issues, there could be a major backlash from Catholics. There are some prominent Catholic politicians that are trying to defend their Pro-Choice position, but their argument is not very convincing. Nancy Pelosi in particular is getting some bad publicity for her defense of abortion. You can read the story HERE

I’m glad that a couple of bishops are speaking up on this issue. I read through this article and it sickens me! I did not know Nancy Pelosi was a Catholic before reading this article… her positions on the issues (especially abortion) are even more sickening to me. It is just embarrassing to be honest. The Catholic position on abortion couldn’t be clearer and the fact that she is touting her faith and saying she has done much research on her faith is laughable. If she truly researched the Catholic position on abortion, there is no possible way she could be Pro-Choice. She obviously had an opinion on the issue first and then tried to find justification for her opinion as opposed to discovering the Church's position to help her form an opinion. She wouldn't have to do much research to find that the Church has always and always will be against abortion.Nancy Pelosi is a perfect example of why there are such a large number of Catholics who leave the Church and why there are currently over 30,000 Christian denominations. Many people do not trust that the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit to help preserve the Truth. They form opinions based on a lack of knowledge or false assumptions and break away from Church teaching. They then form a new church and make themselves a "pope" or they stay in the Catholic church and try to justify their opinion despite it's obvious contradiction with Catholic teaching. Either way these people are deceiving themselves.

Jesus formed one Church and Jesus is the Truth. There is only one Truth. There are some who do not follow the truth. Some knowingly ignore the Truth and several are simply ignorant of the Truth. It is our responsibility to continually practice and study our faith and through our strength and knowledge in our faith we might be able to educate and evangelize those people who don't know or who may have lost their faith.

Unfortunately many Catholics are not practicing Catholics and even some who say they are, are completely ignorant of their faith. If all Catholics truly understood their faith and participated in the election this November, it is my opinion that McCain would win in a landslide. Why? Simply because of the abortion issue? No. Although the abortion issue is the most important issue for Catholic voters, Obama is on the wrong side of most of the issues. Catholics are a major population in the US and if they would only do some basic research on the candidates and work to understand the Catholic Church teaching, McCain is the next president. Honestly, if Catholics regularly go to Church, listened to the word of God and deeply reflected on their participation in the Eucharist, several of these political issues would become very clear. These “catholic” politicians who distort Church teachings sicken me. There are some good ones like Sam Brownback, but the media is quick to term him and the like as “too radical”. How is a guy like Brownback "radical" and a guy like Obama who has socialistic, Pro-Choice positions not radical? I hope to see more condemnation from the clergy about misleading comments like those made by Nancy Pelosi. Politicians are very influential people, and they often play on the general public's ignorance. The fear is that those people who do not understand the Church's position on important issues may be swayed by these politicians who misrepresent Church teachings. Generally the clergy doesn't speak out on political issues, but in this case I think they hold a responsibility to speak out and clarify the true teachings of the Catholic Church. The Church is responsible for preserving the Truth and the Truth will help clear up issues such as abortion. This is not a problem that is limited to politics. We must always work to preserve and preach the Truth. Every Sunday we say that we will keep the word of God on our mind, on our mouth and in our heart. Go out and spread the word of God. Don't sit by idly. Those who do nothing against evil or the ignorant are actually participating through their inaction. When examining the issues, we MUST MUST MUST prayerfully and responsibly form our opinions. God bless!