An Informed Conscience

The Catholic Church encourages everyone who can vote to vote.  The Church does not say for whom to vote but it does tell us how.

How are we to vote?  Unlike some Congregational Churches that are handing out sample ballots marked with the candidates they suggest you vote for, the church calls us to use an informed conscience.  We are called to look past the flyers that are in our mailboxes each morning and the ads that fill our television hours in the evening.  We are called to read and research, listen and think, and to make up our own minds. 

We are a nation founded on "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but the right to life itself is not fully protected, not for the unborn, not for the elderly, not for prisoners. We are called to be peacemakers in a nation at war. We are a country pledged to pursue "liberty and justice for all," but we are too often divided across lines of race, ethnicity, and economic inequality. We are a nation of immigrants, struggling to address the challenges of many new immigrants in our midst. We are a society built on the strength of our families, called to defend marriage and offer moral and economic supports for family life. We are a powerful nation in a violent world, confronting terror and trying to build a safer, more just, more peaceful world. We are an affluent society where too many live in poverty and lack health care and other necessities of life. We are part of a global community facing urgent threats to the environment that must sustain not only us but also the generations to follow.

These challenges are at the heart of the pursuit of the common good.  And these are the challenges that we face when we begin to consider how to use our vote.

Our faith teaches that we have an obligation to participate in shaping the moral character of our society.  We are our brothers’ keepers, and our neighbor is everyone we encounter. 

Some may question whether it is appropriate for the Church to play a role in political life.  But the obligation to teach about moral values that shape our lives, including our public lives, is central to the mission given us by Jesus Christ.

Inform your conscience.  Cast your vote.  Make a difference.