{"id":853,"date":"2008-11-03T10:48:19","date_gmt":"2008-11-03T10:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2008\/11\/wrap-it-up.html"},"modified":"2008-11-03T10:48:19","modified_gmt":"2008-11-03T10:48:19","slug":"wrap-it-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/11\/wrap-it-up.html","title":{"rendered":"Wrap it up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The self-identified pro-life case for Obama is subject to scrutiny here – by Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Gergis.<\/a>
\nIt’s tight. It’s one-stop shopping, with links to other supporting pieces.
\nIn addition, John Breen has several posts at MOJ on the subject. Just go here and scroll here and around.<\/a>
\nAnd then this – at HotAir, from Ed Morrissey and The Anchoress (Elizabeth Scalia.)<\/a><\/p>\n

Even beyond this, though, consider why<\/em> the Church supports social-justice issues.\u00a0 Our faith does not emphasize fighting poverty and oppression as mere Boy Scout merit badges, or to give Catholics something to do on the weekends.\u00a0 The emphasis on social justice springs from the foundational belief that all human life is sacred, anointed by God for His purposes, and not ours<\/em>.\u00a0 The need for social justice is for us to recognize the spark of divinity in all of us.
\nWhat does abortion says about human life?\u00a0 It reduces it to commodity, and values it based on convenience.\u00a0 If that is what we think about human life, then that rejects the entire idea that God created humankind at all, let alone for any divine purpose.\u00a0 Without that fundamental understanding of the faith, then all kinds of horrors become possible \u2014 abortion, euthanasia, genocide on massive scales, war for acquisition, and the exploitation of the poor.
\nWhy care about the poor if humans have no divine purpose?\u00a0 If we can kill millions of our offspring without a second thought, why not leave the poor to their own devices?\u00a0\u00a0 Abortion represents the ultimate rejection of God and God\u2019s plan.
\nAnd bear in mind that Barack Obama is no moderate<\/strong> on abortion.\u00a0 The FOCA will federalize the question of abortion with the specific intent of striking down every moderating state law concerning abortion: parental notification, waiting periods, term limitations, and information requirements will end with its passage.\u00a0 It will also re-impose federal subsidies of abortions by repealing the Hyde Amendment, forcing taxpayers \u2014 including Catholics \u2014 to pay for the abortions of others.
\nThe question, then, boils down to one of reason: does your reason tell you that Sen. Barack Obama – a mere human being with a thin resume and a seeming propensity for shutting down<\/a>, punishing<\/a>, intimidating or otherwise harassing<\/a> those who do not fall in line<\/a> (through the force of government<\/a>, if possible) – is going to heal the human heart through his social programs and his redistributionism?
\nMatters of the heart are never resolved through worldly machinations. More importantly, to expect a human man – who because he is human carries within him another broken, imperfect heart – to successfully, righteously and most of all disinterestedly<\/em> resolve issues which have tested mankind for thousands of years is to assign onto him inhuman abilities; this smacks of idolatry and thus flies in the first and most fundamental priority of a believer: to have no gods before the One, the Creator.
\nCatholicism does not reject reason<\/a> for faith but demands integration of the two, and prayerful discernment, before taking any action. <\/em>
\nOne\u2019s vote should come after weighing reason.
\nReason tells us that a human fetus is a human being and as such deserves inclusion into the whole notion of \u201chuman rights.\u201d A candidate with consistent notions of human rights should be able to acknowledge that.
\nReason tells us that an \u201cabortion reduction agenda\u201d is inconsistent with the stated priority of signing into law a sweeping, tax-payer funded abortion-rights legislation.
\nReason insists that an ideology embracing the idea of genocide – whether that means eliminating people conceived with an extra chromosome or of wiping a sovereign nation off the map – is a warped ideology that is inconsistent with a commitment to human rights. Reason wonders why an electorate is not permitted to hear what a presumptive president might say<\/a> to some such ideologues, and reason becomes very uncomfortable.
\nReason tells us that one human man will not eradicate poverty. One human man will not eradicate war. One human man will not distribute justice to the nations. History is pockmarked with the graves of those slaughtered to the ambitions of human men who have tried to perfect and justify the world, according to their lights.
\nBarack Obama – inconsistent though he be – is no Hitler, or a Stalin or a Pol Pot. However, developing a fanciful notion of Obama\u2019s ability to do<\/em> and be<\/em> more than man has ever done or been before – based on nothing more than a bit of charisma and an highly overprotective press – is to surrender, rather than apply, one\u2019s use of reason.
\nTomorrow is Election Day. By all means, each of us must vote for the candidates we believe will best serve the nation. ACORN aside, you only get one vote. Before your pull the lever, take some time to consider whether you have really applied your God-given gift of reason to it. And as Catholics, consider carefully which candidate best fits within our view of human life and God\u2019s purpose for it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Agreed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The self-identified pro-life case for Obama is subject to scrutiny here – by Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Gergis. It’s tight. It’s one-stop shopping, with links to other supporting pieces. In addition, John Breen has several posts at MOJ on the subject. Just go here and scroll here and around. And then this – at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWrap it up - Via Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/11\/wrap-it-up.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wrap it up - Via Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The self-identified pro-life case for Obama is subject to scrutiny here – by Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Gergis. It’s tight. 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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. 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