Posted by
Jeffrey Lloyd on Sunday, June 15, 2008 10:12:42 PM
- Can Catholic's vote for Barack Obama?
- Is it a sin to vote for Obama?
I get emails with these kind of questions all the time. I reply and tell them I plan on doing an article about it in the future. I've spent the last few days do almost non-stop research and I'm ready to write my article.
Democratic Senator Barack Obama has caused a stir in the political world. He came out of no where and has virtually taken over the Democratic party.He holds rallies where thousands of people show up to cheer on the young Illinois senator. He promises change and a new direction in Washington D.C. However, as responsible Catholic voters we must examine the important issues and see what he would do as President of the United States. Catholic Answers, one of the leading apologetics lay ministries in this country have made a simple list of five non-negotiable issues. If a candidate supports any of these issues, they suggest you may not vote for them. Catholic Answers describe them this way:
"These five current issues concern actions that are intrinsically evil and must never be promoted by the law. Intrinsically evil actions are those that fundamentally conflict with the moral law and can never be deliberately performed under any circumstances. It is a serious sin to deliberately endorse or promote any of these actions, and no candidate who really wants to advance the common good will support any action contrary to the non-negotiable principles involved in these issues."
The issues are 1) abortion 2) euthanasia 3) embryonic stem cell research 4) human cloning and 5) homosexual 'marriage." Senator Barack Obama is at odds with just about every one of them. He is a tad wishy-washy on cloning. He voted against banning it outright, but when asked about he says he does not support human cloning. Which lead Bioethics.net to conclude, "bottom line: Obama might support therapeutic cloning (link.)"
Senator Barack Obama is at odds with these key elements of our Catholic and Christian beliefs. I cannot see how any faithful Catholic in good conscious can support this man. We will look at the teachings of the magisterium and the bible to show why I believe it would be sinful to vote for him. Look at the evidence and decide for yourself.
- Abortion - The Catholic Church says, it is "never licit to obey it, or to take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or to vote for it" (Pope John Paul II, Evangelium vitae 73). The Bible says, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13). Scripture is clear that the unborn are humans. When Mary visited Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the unborn John the Baptist, Elizabeth declared: “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44).
- Senator Barack Obama - Rated 100% from NARAL, a pro-choice defense group. They say, "Senator Obama has a fully pro-choice record." (link)"
- Senator Barack Obama - Rated 0% by the National Right to Life, indicating a pro-choice stance (link).
- Senator Barack Obama - Voted “present” on an Illinois partial-birth abortion ban.
- Senator Barack Obama - Voted against "Induced Infant Liability Act." It later became law and was signed by President Bush as the "Born Alive Infant Protection Act." (Human Events)
- Senator Barack Obama - Supports abstinence and contraception. (2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College Apr 13, 2008).
- Senator Barack Obama - Supports Roe v. Wade. (1998 IL State Legislative National Political Awareness Test Jul 2, 1998)
- Senator Barack Obama - Voted no on defining unborn as a child. (link)
- Senator Barack Obama - Voted no on stopping minors crossing state lines for abortion. (link)
- Senator Barack Obama - Voted no on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions. (link)
- Senator Barack Obama - In his own words on abortion (youtube) (youtube).
- Euthanasia - The Catholic Church says, "Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws; instead there is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection" (Pope John Paul II, Evangelium vitae 73).
- Senator Barack Obama - Stop Terri Schiavo's death was mistake, "I think professionally the biggest mistake that I made was when I first arrived in the Senate. There was a debate about Terri Schiavo, and a lot of us, including me, left the Senate with a bill that allowed Congress to intrude where it shouldn't have." (Link WND)
- Embryonic Stem Cell Research - The Catholic Church says,"Respect for the dignity of the human being excludes all experimental manipulation or exploitation of the human embryo" (Pontifical Council for the Family, Charter of the Rights of the Family, 4b). Catholic Answer's Adds, "Recent scientific advances show that often medical treatments that researchers hope to develop from experimentation on embryonic stem cells can be developed by using adult stem cells instead. Adult stem cells can be obtained without doing harm to the adults from whom they come. Thus there is no valid medical argument in favor of using embryonic stem cells. And even if there were benefits to be had from such experiments, they would not justify destroying innocent embryonic humans."
- Senator Barack Obama - Voted yes on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines (link)
- Senator Barack Obama - Supports use federal funds to support embryonic research (link)
- Senator Barack Obama - In his own words on Stem Cells (youtube).
- Human Cloning - The Catholic Church says, "Attempts... for obtaining a human being without any connection with sexuality through ‘twin fission,’ cloning, or parthenogenesis are to be considered contrary to the moral law, since they are in opposition to the dignity both of human procreation and of the conjugal union" (RHL I:6).
- Senator Barack Obama - Voted no, while in the Illinois Senate on a bill that would have banned cloning (Roll & Text of Bill).
- Senator Barack Obama - Says he is against human cloning in an interview: "While I oppose human cloning. I also oppose federal restrictions on therapeutic stem cell research (link).
- Homosexual "Marriage" - The Catholic Church says, "When legislation in favor of the recognition of homosexual unions is proposed for the first time in a legislative assembly, the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral" (UHP 10).
- Senator Barack Obama - Voted no constitutional ban of same-sex marriage (link).
- Senator Barack Obama - Marriage is not a human right (IL Senate Debate Oct 26, 2004).
- Senator Barack Obama - Oppose gay marriage; supports civil unions (The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.222-3).
- Senator Barack Obama - In his own words on gay marriage (youtube) (youtube).
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