The Politics of Love

By Tom Quiner

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Jeremiah 1:5

Upon this ancient scripture hangs the fate of our presidential election.

You may say that pocket book issues, like the economy, are going to trump all other issues.  Of course, they are important.  But love will trump jobs for many swing voters of faith.  These voters, so many of whom are Catholic, believe human life begins at conception.  That is the position of the Church.  Interestingly, it is the position held by the two Roman Catholic vice presidential nominees.

Vice President Joe Biden, though, does not believe he can impose this immutable truth on others.  Our laws impose just principle on others all the time. For example, we have laws that prevent the beating of children even though some feel it is their right to do so. If the child in the womb is a live person, our Catholic and American values require us to protect her.

The Obama administration does believe, though, that they can impose their pro human-abortion views on all Catholics.

They use our tax dollars, along with money borrowed from China, to export human abortion to other countries.

They use it to pay for human abortion here in the United States through a variety of schemes foisted on us by Obamacare.

They send $1.34 Million per day to Planned Parenthood, ostensibly for mammogram screening.  Planned Parenthood has now publicly ‘fessed up that they don’t have mammogram equipment.  So where is all that money going?

In other words, Mr. Biden is quite comfortable imposing the values from his party’s religion, Secular Humanism, on everyone else, but he won’t impose Catholic principles.  Incidentally, Catholic principles very much align with the American Creed of immutable, God-given rights of Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Why is this an issue to Catholics and so many of our Protestant brothers and sisters?  Because we believe you are special, because God made you.  You were special at the instant of conception.

You, at conception, became my neighbor, and Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield (IL) clarified the issue:

“… people should apply the Golden Rule by placing themselves in the shoes of the people who are going to be killed by abortions. Would these voters really think it is more “just” to vote for the “pro-choice” candidate if they or their own children or their brothers and sisters were going to be deliberately killed — along with 1.3 million others? Not very likely, is it?”

Christianity is built upon the beautiful Theology of Agape’(sacrificial) Love.  Christ died on the cross so we might live.  We, too, are called to live sacrificially for our neighbors, even if they are preborn.  Barack Obama’s Theology of Abortion is built upon self-centeredness.  It pits the well-being of one person against the well-being of his or her child.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that …

“the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.”

The Politics of Love goes beyond a thirst to protect human life after conception.  That’s why Mr. Obama’s HHS Mandate is peeling away Catholic votes this re-election campaign.  The Mandate forces Catholic employers and organizations to provide abortifacients (morning-after pills), contraception, and sterilization to their employees in their health insurance plans, activity Catholic principle deems immoral.

Every single bishop has come out against it for two reasons.  It is a violation of religious freedoms.  And it forces Catholics to cooperate with immorality. Thirty-seven lawsuits have been filed.

No one is trying to take away women’s right to contracept.  Just don’t make Catholic employers pay for something that their faith considers immoral.

Nine of the last ten presidential winners won the Catholic vote.  In light of the HHS Mandate and Barack Obama’s militant Theology of Abortion, the Catholic vote is a question mark for the president this election cycle.

The Politics of Love may surprise us all.

[Be sure to read the companion piece to today’s posting, “The Politics of Hate.”]

4 Comments

  1. Shawn Pavlik on October 31, 2012 at 11:01 am

    This (life) seems like such a central issue to the Catholic faith, and the Jewish faith as well. I am amazed that Jews and Catholics often vote overwhelmingly for candidates who are unapologetic in their support for abortion on demand. Can you explain why this is, Tom?



    • quinersdiner on October 31, 2012 at 11:13 am

      Here’s my take on it, Shawn. We had a huge influx of Catholic immigrants in the 19th century and a huge influx of Jews in the early 20th century. The Democratic Party was justly considered the party of the little guy. In the 70s and 80s, the party was hijacked by the Marxist feminist movement that pushed women’s reproductive issues to the top burner, imposing decidedly un-Catholic and un-Jewish values upon the Democratic Party. Many, many Catholic and Jews are cultural Democrats and will vote Democratic out of deeply engrained tradition.



      • Shawn Pavlik on October 31, 2012 at 1:56 pm

        Interesting….I’ve never considered “Catholic” as a minority group.

        I suppose the same could be said of African-Americans, though Lincoln was a Republican, and Civil Rights Act could never have been passed without strong support from the Republicans. With our high unemployment, especially among blacks, one would think they would see the writing on the wall and see it is time to change ships.



        • quinersdiner on October 31, 2012 at 2:31 pm

          We aren’t today, but were earlier in our country’s history.