I want to know how "I vote like a Catholic" turned into "I vote against abortion." Because do you know what that equivalency got us, you guys? It got us Donald Trump. It got us a political culture in which if you choose your buzzwords wisely, you can get 60% of white Catholics to vote for you -- even if you admit to being a serial adulterer who thinks it's NBD to grab women's genitals without their consent. This state of affairs does not align with any plausible definition of a culture of life. And yet if you are a Catholic spending time with other Catholics, you doubtless heard that your faith required you to vote for Trump. A vote for Clinton was a mortal sin, they said; a vote for a third-party candidate was a vote for Clinton. QED, they said. Arwen opened up a Facebook discussion in which she invited Trump voters to talk to her about their reasoning, and in it she was told categorically that there was no possible way she could have cast an ethical vote for Clinton.
You guys, we've got to get it less wrong next time around.
Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016
Today our president-elect proposed that protected speech should be grounds for stripping away citizenship. I am aghast: the soon-to-be leader of the free world is suggesting that dissidents should be deprived of citizenship. Let's talk about CCC 1902 ("Authority...must not behave in a despotic manner") and CCC 1903 ("If rulers...enact unjust laws or take measures contrary to the moral order,...'authority breaks down completely and results in shameful abuse'") and CCC 1917 ("It is incumbent on those who exercise authority to strengthen the values that inspire the confidence of the members of the group"). And let's not forget CCC 1915: "One must pay tribute to those nations whose systems permit the largest possible number of citizens to take part in public life in a climate of genuine freedom."
I believe in the unique and unrepeatable nature of each unborn life. That belief compels me to express vehement opposition to the nomination of Tom Price, who would work to diminish access to prenatal care for pregnant women as well as medical care for their already-born babies and children. I believe that I am called to preferential love for the poor as described in CCC 2448-- not just tolerance coupled with admonitions to take some personal responsibility already, but preferential love. And based on the first three weeks of Trump as PEOTUS, I have to say I'm not seeing much in the preferential-love-for-the-poor department.
Tonight after Evening Prayer I asked the kids if they wanted to write postcards with me. Some of today's ire was directed at state officials; some was aimed at Trump. In my little stack of outgoing mail I'm telling them about CCC 1935 and about CCC 2240. I didn't get to CCC 2211 tonight, but it's next on my list. In the 51 days before the intemperate and inexperienced Donald Trump is given command of our drone army and our nuclear weapons, I plan to make a lot of noise. And in all of the noise I make I'll be telling my elected officials to watch out for 2018, when I'll be voting Catholic.
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