Guest Opinion: Obama's Declaration of Dependence, Pt. III

A former law student of Professor Doug Kmiec continues his analysis of the US Presidential campaign.

LOS ANGELES, Ca. (Catholic Online) - Today I would like to take a look at what I maintain is Senator Obama's artful manipulation of sentiment to try to move past what many characterize as the "acrimonious" debate surrounding abortion.

Obama told Planned Parenthood that the argument over the right to life is over, that they "can win that argument . . . ." He thinks he can do it by obfuscating the issue, by speaking generally, by "using the bully pulpit to frame the issues in a way that allows us to draw on the best impulses of the American people." He wants to defeat the forces of life; he wants to enshrine the right to kill. His opportunity to do so will never be better. We must refuse to be fooled by him and his manipulations, for the sake of our souls and our country.

Is John McCain the perfect candidate for Catholic citizens? Of course not! But I am not asking my fellow Catholic citizens to hope in McCain or to believe in him, but simply to look at his policy positions and proposals and recognize that they are more in line with Catholic social thought, most importantly with respect to the right to life. In other words, Catholics and McCain may not always be on the same page, but at least we are reading from the same book.

We are a free people. We are not "the masses" and we must rebuke those like Obama, who wish to manipulate us as such by trading on our "impulses." We must teach such politicians a lesson by not voting for them. Pope Pius XII reminded us in an allocution on "Democracy and a Lasting Peace" that as a free people each citizen must act "worthy of the name" of free people rather than act as "the masses." The citizen must "feel within him the consciousness of his personality, of his duties and rights, of his freedom joined to respect for the freedom and dignity of others." We must stand for the human dignity of the unborn and not have our emotions manipulated by "the ambitious hands of one . . . who can impose [his] whims on the better part of the real people" injuring the common interest "seriously, and for a long time." To do otherwise, to be driven by pure emotion with catchphrases like "change," "hope," and "future," would be to reject our proud heritage as an American people and become simply what people like Obama view us as, "the masses," "the capital enemy of true democracy and of its ideal of liberty and equality."

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St. Augustine teaches that a republic like America "exists only when it is well and justly governed . . . by the whole people." If we allow Obama to rule in our name with injustice for the unborn, we would no longer be a people but a mob of tyrants led by a tyrant. We must take care that we do not devolve into a farce of democracy, that we not "retain only the name of republic" but that we actually maintain it and our freedom in reality. We must refuse to turn to Obama to take away the misery and distress we face in this life. We should recall the warning of George Washington: "The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty." As well as his insightful words that "[o]f all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." We must support the morals of our nation, through our personal life and our laws. Therefore, we should reject what I maintain is the deficient patriotism of people like Obama who seek to improve our country while "labor[ing] to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens."

We have arrived at a moment of great import in our young history as a country. We are being asked to choose between the principles of our Founding, a government built on trust in God and a free people, or the appointment of charismatic tyrants who will treat the American people as a blind mass, manipulated for its own good by an elite, with no regard for the individual rights of every single human being. The choice is clear, we must stand firm, we must not yield, our freedom cannot be taken without our consent and we must not give it to the likes of Obama. Catholic Americans have an obligation to restore all things in Christ. We can begin by voting for the one candidate who has a chance to win this election and believes that Americans have a right to life, John McCain.

Will this be enough? Of course not! We must do more, in our parishes, in our communities, in our crisis pregnancy centers, at work and on the national stage. But the work remaining to be done cannot be an excuse to escape doing what we can, which includes voting for a pro-life candidate. We as Catholics must speak clearly and with one voice, that the right to life is not negotiable, that we will not trade our right to life or that of our neighbor, born or unborn, for tax cuts, social programs, health care, carbon credits, or war strategy. After all, no matter what material benefits leaders like Obama offer: "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" Mark 8:36. We must put on the armor of Christ and defeat evil with good. Our division on this fundamental issue is a scandal to our fellow Christians and non-believers. The right to life is recognized by the Church as the first and fundamental principle of any legitimate government and it is the basis of our country's founding. If we are to prosper we must recognize it too.

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If we are truly interested in giving our children a better future, we must first of all promise to give them a future. If we love the Church and our country, we must stand by their principles and precepts. It is my fervent prayer and hope that all American Catholics unite on this issue with all other Americans to protect innocent human life.

Unfortunately, some Catholics argue that despite Obama's stance on abortion that we should vote for him due to his ability to unify and provide hope. However, all Obama offers are the politics of division and despair. More on that next time, in my final installment.

Gunnar Gundersen graduated number one in the Class of 2007 from Pepperdine University School of Law, where he studied Constitutional Law under Professor Douglas W. Kmiec. He is also a former law clerk of Judge O'Scannlain of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

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