Don't Ask Me
Don’t ask me who to vote for on Nov. 8.
If you are looking for this paper to endorse any candidate, you will be disappointed. If you are looking for this paper to tell you who NOT to vote for, you will be disappointed.
You have to ask yourself what you believe and what you stand for. You must vote your conscience … YOUR conscience.
Many people have contacted The Message in recent weeks demanding that it publish this or that about one candidate or another. Some of them even live within the boundaries of the Diocese of Evansville. Most do not; they are emailing every Catholic media outlet they can find in an attempt to advance their own agendas.
Voting one’s conscience isn’t about advancing anyone’s agenda; it’s about casting a ballot for the person (or in some cases, the ballot question) that stands to achieve the most for the common good within the teaching of the Church. Wait … let me clarify; that’s what it’s about for me and my conscience. I can’t speak for you or anyone else.
And that, friends, is the point.
The U.S. Bishops provide us with a document called “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” and that is what we must do. Faithful citizens are informed citizens. They are formed in the gospel, the teachings of the Church and the issues we face. Speaking of which, faithful citizens must focus on the issues – not on candidates and/or political parties.
Do you want to know how you should vote on Nov. 8? Here’s a suggestion: Be totally, brutally honest with yourself about what you believe and what you stand for.
Is life important? Is respect for the dignity of all human beings, regardless of where they were born or how they arrived at this place at this time, important? Are the freedoms of speech and religion important? Is the Bill of Rights important? Is the teaching of the Catholic Church important?
I – nobody! – can answer those questions for you except … you. Pray about them. Ask God to help you find that sense of peace that comes with knowing that, “Yes … this is what I believe, and this is what I stand for.”
A regular reader of this paper recently delivered a personal letter to its editor. In it, the writer expressed disappointment “that no strong position was taken in support of pro-life” so close to the election. The writer immediately went on to name candidates. I respect the right of that person to express an opinion, and to challenge me – the editor of The Message – about a perceived omission from its pages in recent weeks. But it makes me sad.
I find myself embarrassed to tell people I have a college degree in journalism. This election cycle has seen the media use every opportunity to turn candidate against candidate; to dig up dirt; to focus on everything EXCEPT the issues.
For the past 14 months (I go back as far as the first televised debate involving any of the candidates), the media has sought to do nothing more than swell ratings and sell papers by serving as a catalyst for contentious interaction. I won’t be part of that.
I urge you to read or re-read Bishop Thompson’s column from the Oct. 14 all-diocesan issue of The Message. If you’re disappointed because this paper hasn’t “taken a stand,” you won’t like what he says because he issues the same challenges I make in this column.
“Let us take time to study the issues, familiarize ourselves with the positions of the candidates, pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and cast our vote when the time comes to stand up and be counted,” he said in that column.
Listen to him. You still have time to get that done.
Use this shortened link to download Bishop Thompson’s column, “Every vote counts,” as published in the Oct. 14 issue of The Message: https://goo.gl/wuRmx8
Use this shortened link to download a copy of “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” from the USCCB: https://goo.gl/bXDAa1
