For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ---Ephesians 6:12


"The age of casual Catholicism is over; the age of heroic Catholicism has begun. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead must be Catholics by CONVICTION." ---Fr. Terrence Henry TOR, Franciscan University of Steubenville

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Election Day in Cook County

I just voted while my two preschoolers were fawned on and given slices of poundcake by the pollworkers. My four year old son gazed all around the place hoping to spot McCain and Obama somewhere in the room, greeting all the voters.

Here in Obama's home state of Illinois, the political winds are blowing in such a way that voting for McCain has about all the effect of voting against Castro. From my small sample of mass going Catholics I've spoken with, I think if McCain wins it'll be by the grace of God that resides in the Protestants. Or maybe that's just the Chicago regional Robocratic hue that stains the Catholics of the Chicago Archdiocese.

In the conversation I had last night with our friend, a mass going Catholic mother of four whose husband is trying to nose into Obama's victory bash in Grant Park without a pass, I brought up the subject of Obama's stance on the Born Alive Infant Protection Act and the promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act.

1.1 million babies are aborted each year here, and this election is a pivotal moment to change that. She replied, "I'm not a one-issue voter," which translates to "I don't give a crap about the 1.1 million babies."

God help us. If He is, I haven't been shown it in my parish.

Update:
When I went to pick up my kids at the parish school this afternoon, an announcement came over the PA with the final count in the mock election, which no doubt correlates with how the children's parents will have voted.

The score: McCain 55, Obama 149. A loud cheer erupted throughout the school. Catholic kids in their uniforms scurried and whooped about the parking lot, cheering and giving each other high fives. I seethed. My two fine sons, raised right, voted for McCain. They know enough about abortion to be against it. The oldest felt sensitive about the defeat on the ride home.

The "Catholic" vote in my home parish is an abrogation of moral responsibility, an abuse of citizenship. God save our country!

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

As an Illinois Catholic, I share your dismay, Kevin. Personally, I believe it's largely a product of years of temporizing and sloppy thinking/teaching by politically liberal, Post-Vatican II priests and prelates here in Illinois (most notably, the late Cardinal Bernardin, who coined the infamous "seamless garment" doctrine--"Sure, abortion is wrong, but so is poverty, discrimination, inequality of wealth, and a host of other social problems. In choosing a candidate you have to weigh all these issues." (To my mind, this was like a 1930's German priest telling his congregation, "Sure, killing Jews is wrong, but so is high national unemployment, the loss of the country's honor and territories, and the lack of a national will and cohesiveness. In voting, you have to weigh all these issues."}

In sum, in the Chicago area at least, we have a large number of poorly-schooled and previously ill-led Catholics, who seemingly have lost the moral ability to distinguish between the mass murder of innocent infants, and the fact that some people are wealthier than others.

As for the mock elections at your kids' parochial school, I'd be mighty interested to know what part, if any, the kids' teachers played in the election results. Sure, the kids bring their parents' prejudices in with them, but didn't any of the teachers try to point out to the kids the candidates' stands on abortion, and what abortion is? (And I can't believe that the teachers said nothing to the kids about the candidates, but simply let them do their own thing.)

In the latest pre-election polls that I saw, McCain was polling higher than Obama among Catholics as a whole, but McCain was doing even better among Evangelical voters, whom seem to have a much clearer perspective on the evils of abortion, God bless them.