A few days ago, we linked to a CNS story on various Catholic voting guides that are out there.
Today at Mirror of Justice, the blog dedicated to Catholic legal theory, Robert Araujo, S.J. takes a look at one of them:
The last point made by the CACG pamphlet meriting comment in this posting concerns the important question, p. 9, “Does voting my conscience mean I can apply my own moral standards?” The initial answer given by the pamphlet is sound: “Our faith teaches that Catholics cannot, in good conscience, disagree with the Church on questions of morality.” However, the pamphlet then backtracks by asserting that “Catholics can disagree in good conscience on the question of how to do the right thing in a practical situation.” (Italics in the original) Not only is there conflict between these two points, but the second one ignores the fact that all decisions, even practical ones, typically involve questions of morality. It seems that the authors of the pamphlet wish to suggest that there is a distinction between the theory of Catholic teaching and its practical application. If this is indeed what the authors suggest, then their reasoning is flawed and the conclusion is false. Doing the “right thing” means making a moral decision in spite of the fact that we live in an imperfect and practical world. The fact that the world is imperfect does not excuse the Catholic from exercising his or her conscience in opposition to the Church’s moral teachings.
Further, said Catholic conservative Michael Novak, author of Free Persons and the Common Good, while the notion of the common good provides a framework for thinking about the role of government, it does not translate easily into specific legislative remedies. He pointed to the welfare reform proposals pushed by conservatives and opposed by liberals in the 1990s that, he argued, alleviated poverty to a greater extent than otherwise would have been the case.
Novak took issue with those who argued that the proposed reduction in the estate tax, recently rejected by the Senate, amounted to an obvious violation of common good philosophy. Asked Novak: Who is to say that the government is more likely to use the revenue generated by the estate tax for good purposes than would the beneficiaries of the inherited wealth?
It is true, said Alexia Kelley, executive director of the newly formed Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, that people of goodwill can come down on different sides of controversial issues. But that doesn’t mean, she quickly added, that the concept of the common good is so elastic as to be useless.
Kelley — a 10-year veteran of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, author of Living the Catholic Social Tradition: Cases and Commentary and, for five weeks in late 2004, religion adviser to John Kerry’s presidential campaign — points to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, released by the Vatican less than two years ago.
“There is a very clear articulation of the role of government in society, which is to uphold the common good and to make sure that the basic conditions are met for people to participate with dignity,” said Kelley.
She continued, “The common good is eroded when basic social and economic conditions are not met. That’s pretty clear — there’s not a lot of ambiguity in Catholic social teaching.”
With an initial annual budget of $500,000-plus, a membership that includes 15 Catholic partner organizations (including the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, and the Franciscan Federation), five full-time staff members in Washington, Boston, and Columbus, Ohio, the alliance plans to have an impact when issues related to the church’s social teaching are debated in the public square. Two key components of that effort: a speaker’s bureau of prominent Catholics prepared to give “rapid response” to television producers and journalists looking for a Catholic perspective, and an outreach effort to parishes and church social justice networks.
Doctinral Note on some questions regarding the participation of Catholics in political life
Read Previous Post
