Hudson and Fournier: Catholic Countdown to Election 2102, Day 28. Joy Allen and Morally Coherent Catholics

10/9/2012

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arena. The failure to hear the cry of the child in the womb while mouthing the language of caring for the poor is unbridled hypocrisy.

The same is true for marriage. The same Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Church explained in 2003, "The Church's teaching on marriage and on the complementarity of the sexes reiterates a truth that is evident to right reason and recognized as such by all the major cultures of the world. Marriage is not just any relationship between human beings. It was established by the Creator with its own nature, essential properties and purpose."

"No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman, who by mutual personal gift, proper and exclusive to themselves, tend toward the communion of their persons. In this way, they mutually perfect each other, in order to cooperate with God in the procreation and upbringing of new human lives."

The truth about marriage is also revealed by the Natural Law. To limit marriage to heterosexual couples is not discriminatory now, nor has it ever been. Homosexual couples cannot bring into existence what marriage intends by its very definition. To confer the benefits that have been conferred in the past only to stable married couples and families to homosexual paramours is bad public policy. To state this is not to be "anti-gay". It is to defend marriage.

Civil institutions do not create marriage nor can they create a "right" to marry for those who are incapable of marriage. Government has long regulated marriage for the common good. For example, the ban on polygamy and age requirements were enforced in order to ensure that there was a mature decision at the basis of the Marriage contract. Heterosexual marriage, procreation, and the nurturing of children form the foundation for the family, and the family forms the foundation of civil society.

Morally coherent Catholics acknowledge that there is a Natural Law, "present in the heart of each man and established by reason." This law "is universal in its precepts and its authority extends to all men. It expresses the dignity of the person and determines the basis for his fundamental rights and duties." (Catechism of the Catholic Church# 1956)

Morally coherent Catholics insist that there are moral truths which should inform our life together in every truly just and free society and fundamental human rights which must be recognized as rightfully belonging to all men and women. Catholics are not one more "interest group" which can be pandered to or push called. Morally Coherent Catholic Voters like Joy Allen may soon become the real story of the 2012 US Presidential election.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Joy Allen, Fox news, Obama push calls, anti-Mormon, anti-Catholic, Obama, Biden Romney, Ryan, Social Justice, Religious bigotry, Deal W. Hudson, Keith A. Fournier

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1 - 7 of 7 Comments

Kasoy
7 months ago
A "must" read for all Catholics is the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). If you don't have the CCC book, you can read it at www.vatican.va (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM). Catholics who truly want to learn the teachings of the church should read the the whole CCC. It is not enough to read the Bible and go to Sunday Mass. It's our responsibility to understand our Catholic faith.
mike robertson
7 months ago
There you go again, Catholic democrats. It is socialism led by the evil man you support which has ruined 3rd world economies and is turning us into a basket case like Greece. We need lower taxes, less government spending, leaving Constitutionally-mandated duties to the government like national defense, etc...This will help poor and middle class people like me here and around the world. We at the bottom end need for there to be more millionaires and profitable businesses. And we need those who are better off than us to do better than they are doing now. Get rid of your kindergarten-economics, Catholic democrats, which says that I need for the wealthy to be worse off in order for me to be better off.

Of course the main reasons to vote against the evil man you support is that he favors infanticide against baby girls even after they survive the initial attempt to kill them. He wants the doctors to be free to finish the job. And the evil man you support thinks he knows more about the definition of marriage than God does. If a sodomite union is marriage, so is polygamy, bigamy and incest (among consenting adults-i.e. an 18-year-old woman marrying her 45-year-old father. The bride's high school classmates could serve as maids of honor.

Here's to you, Catholic democrats and your pet social programs-I hope your share is more than thirty pieces of silver.
Tom McGuire
7 months ago
Who is the audience of these articles? I assume the majority who read your articles share your view of marriage, right to life and religious freedom. Those who do not are not convinced by your rational arguments. There are other issues. What about the issue of capitalism that Francis M Holmes raises. What about the impact of globalization on the poor especially in developing countries. Are these not issues to be considered in an election?
Missy
7 months ago
I agree with Frances. I'm getting ready to teach a homeschooling class on Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace. He references many, many bible passages regarding the foolishness of borrowing money. The more you have, the more you can give. Maybe all priests & bishops can take Financial Peace as a quick course on money.
Robert Burford
7 months ago
"How can you support a Mormon who does not believe in Jesus Christ?" That part got me. I am not anti Mormon or anti Muslum. I am pro Jesus Christ and take seriously His mandate to make disciples of all nations and to love one another. You will know them by their works. Not sure if either Presidential candidate is God fearing. Obama with his attacks on religious freedom , life and marriage and Romney who does not have a clue how about working class middle america seeking entitlements and a handout. and both treat immigrants as not human. As in most elections since 1964 the choice is the least of two evils. The last Presidential candidate I liked was Jimmy Carter. He is still one of my favorite presidents because he chose to do the right thing and not the most popular, A president with guts. It cost him a second term but since being president is the most respected of all the presently living expresidents.
Frances M. Holmes
7 months ago
Unfortunately many of our priests and bishops are confused, oppose Paul Ryan's focus on getting our huge deficits in control as though it is a strike against the poor. This deficit spending is dangerous and immoral. If all of us are in the position of Greece, how can that be helpful to the poor? Our priests need training in common sense or basic economics by realizing that the free market is tied into Natural Law (See "Church and the Market" by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. and Rev. Robert Sirico's "Defending the Free Market" which proves that competition and the free market provide for the dignity of man by boosting the economy, providing dignity through work and more taxes by an increase of income to all. Many still are not on board in recognzing Obama's attack on religious liberty and ignored his numerous promises to Planned Parenthood that nothing would stand in the way for providing them unlimited abortions without parental notification and his promise of socialism through redistribution of wealth!! We are in need of good shepherds.
DarthJ
7 months ago
Virgil Goode 2012! Don't vote for the lesser of two evils, vote Goode!

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