Monday 1 September 2008

INTERMISSION: THE SKILLED USE OF BLUNT OBJECTS

The Catechism ensures us that "The Church, because of her commission and competence, is not to be confused in any way with the political community. She is both the sign and the safeguard of the transcendent character of the human person. "The Church respects and encourages the political freedom and responsibility of the citizen." In short, we are encouraged to vote our (well formed) consciences.

But, as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops reminds us in the document Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, that doesn't give us free reign "There are some things we must never do, as individuals or as a society, because they are always incompatible with love of God and neighbor. These intrinsically evil acts must always be rejected and never supported. A preeminent example is the intentional taking of human life through abortion. It is always morally wrong to destroy innocent human beings. A legal system that allows the right to life to be violated on the grounds of choice is fundamentally flawed... As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate’s position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter’s support. Yet a candidate’s position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support."

Based on that guideline, our choices this election season, well... they aren't so great are they? Still, I think it's fair to say that the Democrats sound the more loony on this single issue right now what with Pelosi's moronic statements on Meet The Press and Obama's history of rabid defense of abortion of any kind. And there's nothing more we like here at the B-Movie Catechism than taking pot-shots at loony stuff. So with a little help from 1977's American Raspberry, we give you a glimpse into the future Obama style. (Profanity warnings in alert for those who want to avoid that kind of stuff.)