Antiabortion vote

The review of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism (NCR, Jan. 26) by Michelle Goldberg reminded me of a religious pamphlet I once read that declared it a mortal sin to vote for a pro-choice presidential candidate and, by extension, demonstrate the hold of conservative candidates on the Catholic vote. Abortion has become a divisive issue. The current administration offers a tradeoff. In exchange for our antiabortion vote, it demands complete submission to its Machiavellian agenda.

With this submission, we acquiesce to a bloody preemptive war, reduction of services to the poor, tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, endangerment of Social Security, giveaways to corporations, wholesale exportation of jobs, inadequate funds for education, disregard for the environment, unprecedented national debt, and estrangement from the international community.

Moreover, our submission emboldens a manipulative atmosphere of fear and threatens to erode the Bill of Rights. In creating international enmity, our submission contributes to a misunderstanding of our identity: We are becoming known as a nation of military might rather than law. While even the Vatican opposes the war and unbridled capitalism, we continue to endorse these policies by our knee-jerk reactions at the polls. The world is racked with multiple humanitarian crises and poised on the brink of global war. Faced with these bleak prospects, might not voters employ the ethical principle of double effect and vote for alternative candidates? Or must American Catholics remain crippled by the parochial imprimatur that demands that we vote for any antiabortion candidate, regardless of a mountain of dire moral consequences?

CHARLES BUTERA

East Northport, N.Y.

COPYRIGHT 2007 National Catholic Reporter
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning