Mixing Religion and Politics

It’s the end of October, and you know what that means: late at night, comfortable at home, you may be startled by the doorbell. As you open your door, you will be confronted by a scary sight: no, not children trick-or-treating for candy, but politicians looking for your vote!

In any given campaign year, we are bombarded with commercials, billboards, radio announcements, internet pop-ups, and signs in our neighbors’ yards telling us to vote for this candidate or that. Even here at our parish, in spite of our pastor’s protests, pamphlets have been placed on cars in the parking lot every Sunday for weeks.

What’s the deal? Shouldn’t we be keeping religion and politics far, far apart? Isn’t there supposed to be a separation of church and state?

A misconception among many Christians is that we must keep our faith life apart from our secular life. In truth, participation in political life on the part of Catholics and all Christians is vital, necessary, and essential. This is the bishops’ message in the document Faithful Citizenship. We are all bound by our baptismal call to go out into the world, preaching Jesus’ message of salvation, love, and compassion.

For Catholics, keeping faith separate from other parts of our lives is impossible. Our faith is an integral part of who we are. We come to Mass every Sunday and are transformed by both the Word of God and the Body and Blood of Christ. That transformation is not something that can be turned off and on, depending on whether you are at church or in the voting booth.

So what is a Catholic voter to do?

As Catholics, we believe that a well-informed conscience is essential in any political decision. We have an obligation to carefully discern the decisions we make about the future of our country. We form our consciences as we listen to and live the Gospel. Each of us, as we grow older and wiser, has the opportunity to develop our own thoughts and opinions on the issues facing our country. We also have an obligation to educate ourselves about the candidates and the impact of proposed statutes. It’s very plain: neither political party represents the fullness of the Church’s teaching of the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. If we simply vote based on party lines or by randomly choosing candidates, we are committing a disservice to our country, to ourselves, and, more importantly, to our faith.

Our vote in any election should be the result of our careful discernment of the issues and candidates. The Catholic Church does not tell you who to vote for, but the Church does offer opportunities in forming your conscience which will help you make good decisions in the voting booth.