Does the Catholic church recommend candidates for public office
The answer is Yes, Catholic bishops and pastors recommend their parishioners vote for the candidates who identify themselves as prolife candidates regardless of that candidate's stand on other issues. Because of their stand on other issues these candidates after becoming public officials have brought unwarranted hardship upon law abiding immigrants and finically disadvantaged Americans. Here are a few examples.
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On the border: The unconscionable practice of taking minor children from their parents after their family has crossed the border into the United States most certainly causes irreparable phycological trauma to these children. This practice as well as the other practices listed here are not the work of 2 or 3 public officials. This could not be accomplished without the authority and support of an entire political party. The officials of this party are the same officials who identity themselves as Prolife Candidates. These officials and candidates enjoy the full support of the Catholic church. The practices listed here clearly violate the first and most important commandment of Christianity - the commandment to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. The Bible tells us this commandment is the foundation of all Christianity and no commandment is greater.
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Government officials have places razor sharp wire at specific locations along our southern border known to be crossing points for immigrants. Men, Women, and Children have received severe cuts crawling through such wire. The wire has no strategic value in protecting our border, but would seem to be deployed for the purpose of cruelty only. By recommending these officials the Catholic church is seen as supporting this cruel and inhumane practice.
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Deportation: The United States has deported immigrants with no criminal record to prisons outside of the United States where they will be incarcerated for the rest of their life's For having done nothing illegal. Government officials have intentionally selected prisons where inmates are abused and tortured. These same officials have refused to return immigrants who were transported to those prisons by mistake. These officials have sought internment camps where inmates would be exposed to attacks by alligators or sharks. Some of these practices have been temporarily stopped due to public outcry but will likely continue in the future.
For the past 20 years or more immigrants have been informally invited to enter the united states without documentation by offers of employment combined with laws which allow them to remain and work in the United States indefinitely, yet they are treated inhumanly by elected officials who claim to be Prolife. The entire mass incarceration and deportation effort is basically unnecessary at any rate, since the same goals can be accomplished by preventing employers from employing undocumented workers and imposing stiff penalties if they do. Almost all undocumented immigrants present in United States are here for the purpose of employment.
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Poverty: The same political party that identifies itself as Prolife has caused the closure of many rural hospitals and cut off life saving medical care to thousands of American citizens living in poverty.
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Revenge: All Christians know that vengeance is for the Lord and for the Lord only. This same political party has allowed its members to take revenge against other political leaders simply for being a political opponent or for criticizing official actions. Governors, Judges, Mayors, members of Congress, election officials and even School board members have had their physical safety and their political careers threatened.
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Democracy: Political leaders who have well founded knowledge in these matters tell us there is a movement taking shape in the United States to transform our democracy into a strong arm oligarchy. A military backed oligarchy would bring tremendous hardship to the lives of millions of Americans and may be impossible to break out of for generations to come. Americans will expect Churches of every denomination to do what they can to prevent such hardship from falling upon American citizens.
By encouraging its members to be single issue voters the catholic church finds itself inadvertently giving support to inhumane practices which are the opposite of the kind of work that the church wants to accomplish. Pope Francis has told Catholics not to be single issue voters. This practice leads to a violation of the greatest of all commandments. A Catholic voter is faced with a moral judgment as to whether vote for a candidate who identifies himself as a prolife candidate and thereby protect a declaration of faith made by mortal man, or to vote for different candidate who position protects a living and breathing human being made in the imagine and likeness of God thereby protecting our democratic way of life.
Should Your Christians Neighbor ask the Catholic church to discontinue its practice of recommending candidates for public office? We will ask our members.
Is Abortion Murder?
The Answer is NO
although many Christians have been told that abortion is murder. To find out why abortion is not murder we need only to look to Christian doctrine, that is the teaching given to us by Christ himself while he was here on earth, the entire body of which can be found in the Holy Bible. Even though we know abortion was practiced at the time of Christ the Bible does not condemn abortion. The Bible does not say abortion is murder. The Bible does not say that abortion is sinful or morally wrong in any way.
A passage from the Old Testament, Book of Numbers provides that if a husband so much as suspects his wife became pregnant as a result of out of wedlock intercourse, he should bring her to the priest and the priest will give her a solution to drink called "bitter water" which will cause her abdomen to painfully swell, her womb to miscarry and bring a curse upon her if she has in fact become pregnant as a result of out of wedlock intercourse. If the woman has not made herself impure she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children. - Old Testament, Numbers 5, New International Version. The Old Testament was part of Christ's spiritual life as a man and part of his teaching while he was here on Earth.
There are other versions of this same passage which vary widely, but non of them condemn abortion. This passage gives us insight into the Old Testaments attitude toward abortion. The passage leaves the determination as to whether the woman was unfaithful to her husband up to the Lord, but leaves no doubt as to whether inducing a miscarriage is a proper and morally acceptable way of resolving the problem of an unwanted pregnancy. No thought what-so-ever is given to the possibility that destroying a human embryo might be considered murder.
The Christian church was established by Christ himself. You will recall Christ appointed apostle Peter to head up his church and when he declared Peter was the rock upon which he will build his church, it appears, he was telling us that his teaching is rock solid and he didn't want future generations of Christians to change his teaching. Indeed if each future generations made changes in Christ teaching eventually there would be no Christian doctrine, and it stands to reason that mere mortals should not make fundamental additions to the teaching that Christ himself has given us. Over the years the Christian church has grown into many denominations, with the Catholic church being the largest.
Catholic church doctrine can be found in an encyclical published by the Catholic church in 1974 on the subject of procured abortion. The encyclical does not declare that abortion is murder. The 1974 encyclical makes a clear distinction between declarations of religious belief and biological science. The encyclical declares that a fertilized unborn human egg becomes a human being upon the moment of fertilization, while recognizing that an unborn fertilized human egg is not a human being as a matter of biological science. Human being is definded as a person. The encyclical does not say that a fertilized human egg IS a person but, essentially says that the church would like its members to believe that a fertilized human egg is a person. This is a declaration of religious belief. A Fertilized human egg is not a person in much the same way that an acorn is not a tree, except that here a potentional human life is involved which brings in moral issues. No Christian believes that an acorn is a tree, and the Catholic church does not claim that an unborn fertilized human egg is a person as a matter of biological reality.
Some Catholics find it impossible to believe that a fertilized human egg is a person at the same time they know that it is not a person as a matter of biological science. The encyclical provides no sanction of any kind for those Catholics who cannot believe that an unborn human egg is a person.
Previous Catholic church doctrine provides that a human soul enters the body of an unborn human embryo at the time of quickening. Quickening usually occurs during the forth or fifth months of pregnancy. Procuring an abortion prior to quickening was considered a minor offence, calling for a minimal penance. Procuring an abortion after quickening was considered a grave offense calling for serious sanctions. All sanctions were of an ecclesiastical nature. Today the Catholic church makes no declaration as to when a human soul enters the body of a human being. At the present time in the United States 94% of all abortions are preformed during the first five months of pregnancy. A good number of the remaining 6% are due to medical emergencies.
The declaration that an unborn fertilized human egg is a human being is obviously meant to reduce the number of woman seeking an abortion but it seems to have been misunderstood by millions of Christians to be a foundation for enacting civil legislation prohibiting abortion and providing severe penalties for violation thereof.
The 1974 encyclical doesn't withdrawal previous Catholic doctrine on the issue of abortion except for the declaration as to when a human soul enters the body of a human being. Previous Catholic doctrine provides only ecclesiastical sanctions and says nothing whatsoever about civil law or civil penalty. Therefore it is a mistake for Christians to assume that Catholic church doctrine provides a foundation for imposing civil penalties for procuring or preforming an abortion. In fact neither Catholic church doctrine nor Christian doctrine mention any application of civil law whatsoever. The use of the declaration that an unborn fertilized human egg is a human being upon the moment of fertilization as if it brings about biological changes in any unborn human embryo is clearly wrong and is not supported by biological science because that declaration is a declaration of religious belief and can have no biological effect upon any unborn fertilized human egg.
It has been suggested that perhaps Jesus forgot to tell us that abortion is murder. This is a ridiculous argument because Jesus is the Son of God and we all know God doesn't forget. If Jesus had wanted to tell us that abortion is murder he certainly would have done so. Approximately 77 Countries in the world including predominantly catholic countries such as Italy, France, Ireland, and Spain, to name a few, do allow abortion. Approximately 22 countries prohibit abortion.
The Bible tells us that the commandment to love God and love your neighbor as yourself is the first and most important of Gods commandments. Where as the encyclical is a man made religious declaration. The encyclical does not say Catholics are required to believe the declaration, nor does it say that Catholics should believe it, where as we all know Christians must obey gods commandments
1. Would not forcing a woman with an unwanted pregnancy to bring that pregnancy to term and care for that child be a violation of Gods first and foremost commandment? Would you want that forced upon yourself? Would you not want to make that decision yourself when you know that a fertilized human egg is not a person as of a matter of biological science. Forcing a woman to bring a pregnancy to term can cause the break up of an already financially and psychologically overburdened family with the children going into the care of strangers. Psychologists have reported that people who have committed serious crimes such as mass killings have traced the root cause of their crime back to having been told that they were unwanted during their childhood.
2. Would not depriving a pregnant woman of the right to control her own body be a violation of Gods first and most important commandment? Would you want that forced upon yourself? Would you not want to make that decision yourself when your religion would like you to believe that an unborn fertilized human egg is a person?
3. Would not forcing a pregnant woman to follow the tenants of another persons religion be a violation of Gods first and most important commandment? Would you want that forced upon yourself?
4. Would not imposing severe civil punishment appropriate for the crime of murder upon a pregnant woman for procuring an abortion be a violation of Gods first and most important commandment? Would you want that forced upon yourself if you believed that an unborn fertilized human egg is not a person.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS DO NOT KNOW THAT
1. NEITHER CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OR THE CATHOILC ENCYCLICAL ON ABORTION SAYS THAT ABORTION IS MURDER.
2. NEITHER OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH OR CATHOLIC FAITH CAN BE USED AS A FOUNDATION FOR AUTHORIZING OR SUPPORTING CIVIL PUNISHMENT FOR ABORTION.
3. OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH DOES NOT CONDEMN ABORTION OR SAY THAT IT IS SINFUL OR MORALLY WRONG.
We know that the vast majority of Christians everywhere are good and God loving people who just want to do the right thing. We can all pray for the wisdom to follow the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ.