Faith and the federal election

Conscience and basic beliefs should affect how we vote

The Shepherd Speaks

By ARCHBISHOP THOMAS COLLINS

The perspective on life that arises from faith is essential to our personal identity, and it allows us to contribute to the political dialogue of our society. The common opinion that religious faith is or should be a private security blanket, of no relevance to the key issues of real life, is misguided. It is to be hoped that persons of all faiths, and of no faith, will find in their deepest beliefs concerning society and the human person the motivation to seek to enter the public arena, and the insight to contribute to the betterment of society.

Certainly the assumptions of the secularist faith presently shape the life of our country. That faith is the state religion of Canada. The voices of more ancient traditions of belief should be heard as well.

It makes no sense to hold that something that is a vital part of the life of citizens should be surgically excluded from public dialogue. Any, whether believer or secularist, who say that their deepest personal values do not influence their public actions are deceiving themselves, or they are claiming that a divided self is praiseworthy.

Personal integrity

It is tragic if a politician, while personally convinced that something is destructive to the dignity of the human person or the good of society, nonetheless feels that he or she should bracket that concern, and hold it irrelevant to the conscientious exercise of political office. Such an approach is misguided.

We have a right to expect that the candidates who seek our votes will reveal to us the stars they steer by. Then we can make our decision concerning the ones we want to entrust with the governance of our country.

Whatever their political opinions, it is imperative that Christians become actively involved in the political life of our country, as voters and politicians, since an active concern for the common good is fundamental to the life of discipleship.

The several political parties offer different proposals for making this a better country. Because Christians faithful to the Gospel of Jesus can hold widely differing views concerning the best solution to social problems, and the best approach to public policy, they legitimately take various positions on the "left to right" spectrum of politics.

But although there are many ways to reach the goal of a more just society, in which a concern for the common good of all citizens guides the leadership and the led, for a Christian with integrity there are fundamental principles which transcend partisan distinctions. I would presume that those of other faith traditions, or of no faith, have their own fundamental principles which they can contribute to enrich the public dialogue.

For a Catholic Christian, here are three non-negotiable values of transcendent importance. Many people of other faiths, or no faith, also cherish these values.

First of all, the common good of our civil society requires that citizens be treated as persons, not as things, and any social policies are unacceptable that reduce people to the status of objects without human dignity. We are not disposable items, at the mercy of economic or political forces.

Secondly, the family pre-exists the state, and is a more fundamental community. It is unacceptable for the dignitaries of the state to presume to redefine the family, or the reality of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman through which the supremely precious gift of human life is created and nurtured. Only in a totalitarian state do its officials claim such absolute authority. Even Henry VIII did not claim the power to change the nature of marriage.

Thirdly, the right to life underlies all other rights. None of us was ever a part of our mother's body, like her finger or toe. Neither she nor anyone else had a right to destroy the hidden guest within her. Every person on the planet was once in the most vulnerable state of that hidden guest, including those who now claim the right to assign the choice of life or death. They would not be here today if their mothers had accepted the specious arguments they now propose.

Single issue voting

The dilemma for a Christian trying to vote in good conscience is that at times "none of the above" might seem the appropriate vote. But a choice must be made, and there is a moral responsibility to vote. We cannot disengage from society.

What to do? There is no easy solution. Each citizen must try to vote in good conscience, in accord with the deepest values which he or she holds.

A Christian, first of all, should pray for wisdom, and I ask that in the days before the election all of the members of our archdiocesan family pray that voters be guided in the decision which they are about to make. I ask that at all Masses on the Sunday before the election, this intercession be included in the Prayer of the Faithful: "That in the election voters be guided by concern for the common good of our country and the dignity of the human person."

We should also raise questions and, now and in the future, become actively engaged in the public debate on the issues that confront our society. We should do this with clarity and charity, always courteously respectful of those who sincerely disagree with us, but not fudging our most profound convictions. As with our fellow citizens, it is only in that way that we can make a contribution to society.

And then we should vote in accord with a conscience formed by concern for the common good and for the dignity of the human person.

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