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Friday, October 7, 2011

Priests for Life comparison of the Democratic and Republican party platforms

So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "How can I, unless some one guides me?"
 – Acts 8:30-31
I don't think it is a coincidence that Father Frank Pavone has been silenced by Bishop Zurek at the same time that the bishops have released their woeful "Faithful Citizenship" guide for Catholic voters for the 2012 elections.

For the 2008 elections Priests for Life issued its own voters guide titled "A Comparison of the 2008 Republican and Democratic platforms". If only the bishops elaborate 45 page guide were as honest and straightforward as this simple 2 page guide. The Priests for Life document highlights the differences between the parties on ten key issues which are highly relevant to Catholic Voters.
  • Abortion
  • Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Abroad, Including Forced Abortion in China
  • Judges
  • Embryonic Stem Cell Research
  • Gay Marriage
  • Immigration
  • Iraq
  • Sex Education
  • Equal Rights for Women
  • Euthanasia / Assisted Suicide
This two page guide to the issues is available as two PDFs at:
http://www.priestsforlife.org/elections/comparison_side1.pdf
http://www.priestsforlife.org/elections/comparison_side2.pdf

I have provided images below to show the clear format of this guide. Please see the PDFs for the full sized documents.



As an example, I highlight the information provided on the abortion issue below:

Democrat's position on abortion:


Republican's position on abortion:


Now that's what I call an effective voter's guide. As you can see, it simply gives the party's position on the issues as provided in their own party platform.

If the bishops really wanted to provide effective guidance to Catholic voters in the upcoming 2012 elections, then they don't have to reinvent the wheel. Priests for Life has already done all the work for them. The fact that the bishops refuse to provide clear guidance to Catholics on their moral duty to vote in a way that upholds Catholic teaching is a scandal.

Allow me to give one more example. We have seen how much the cause of "homosexual marriage" has been advanced under the Obama administration. And yet the bishops act as if this caught them off guard. Well here is the way the issue was presented in the 2008 Priests for Life guide on the issues.

Democrat's position on gay marriage:


Republican's postion on gay marriage:


Any questions? I didn't think so.

If Democrats want faithful Catholics to vote for their party, then they need to change their positions on abortion and "homosexual marriage". Otherwise, Catholics should boycott the Democrats. It's as simple as that. And until that happens, we will continue to see the types of virulent attacks on the Church that have occurred under Obama.

No one is saying that the Republican positions are in total conformity with Catholic teachings, but at this point in time the choice is clear. The Catholic Church must oppose the Democratic party, or very soon there won't be a Roman Catholic Church in America anymore. We will be like China with an "American Catholic Church" which is a puppet of the government and does not respect the authority of the Pope in Rome.

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