Why it is challenging for a practicing Catholic to vote Democrat

By Tom Quiner

The Democratic Party has turned its back on the little guy.

It didn’t use to be so. The Democratic Party for much of the 20th century stood up for the dignity of man. Because of their support for the rights of laborers, minorities, and women, they attracted the Catholic vote.

At its core, Catholicism embraces human dignity as intrinsic. We’re born with dignity. Our worth is defined by God, not our neighbor, nor a political party, nor the government.

Even more, Catholicism believes dignity is intrinsic at conception.

Sadly, the Democratic Party has progressively rejected the notion of human dignity as acknowledged by Catholic teachings and our Founding Fathers (who, interestingly, were decidedly not Catholic).

Even more, the Democratic Party has become hostile to Catholics. A longstanding Democratic state legislator in the state of Washington, Mark Miloscia, is a classic example. Mr. Miloscia served 7 terms in the Washington House as a Democrat. The party eventually forced him out, denying him the nomination after all these years of service, because of his Catholic beliefs.

His pro life and pro traditional marriage views ran afoul of the leftward lurching Democratic Party. Mr. Miloscia lamented:

“While Democrats promote diversity, they actually demand that faithful Catholic, Christian, and other religious believers must ‘evolve’ and change their faith and culture, in order to be allowed into today’s ‘big tent’. In an honest moment, one Party activist told me that unless I changed, they wouldn’t vote for me ‘…for dog catcher, let alone State Auditor.'”

The list of Democratic politicians who professed to be Catholics, but ultimately changed their mind about Church teachings is long: Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden, and Tom Harken immediately come to mind.

Democrats espouse women’s reproductive health; pay equity; civil rights; affordable health care, to name a few of their pet issues. And yet you can’t have reproductive health if you don’t have a life.

You can’t enjoy civil rights if you don’t have a life.

You can’t enjoy affordable health care or pay equity if you’re terminated in the womb.

And yet Democrats insist that every woman has the right to kill the person growing in her womb. I know, you may not believe the object in the womb is a person. But Catholics do, which leads me back to my point.

How can a practicing Catholic, one who honors all of the teachings of the Church, vote for a party that categorically denies human dignity at conception? The Democratic Party believes that human life is conditional. The Catholic Church does not.

A vote for candidates who promote human abortion legislation and oppose pro life regulations on human abortion is a vote for the continuation of evil.

Let us explore another dimension of this issue. Catholics believe that the sacrament of Baptism is necessary for salvation, as stated in the Bible (1 Pet. 3:21; cf. Acts 2:38, 22:16, Rom. 6:3–4, Col. 2:11–12). The Gospel of Mark [16:16] is explicit:

“Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.”

Even the Protestant, Martin Luther, acknowledged that we must be baptized to be saved:

“Baptism is no human plaything but is instituted by God himself. Moreover, it is solemnly and strictly commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. We are not to regard it as an indifferent matter, then, like putting on a new red coat. It is of the greatest importance that we regard baptism as excellent, glorious, and exalted.”

What does this have to do with politics? This: a vote for a Democrat threatens the salvation of the million souls aborted every year in this country who will never have the opportunity to be baptized.

Would God really let an aborted human being go to Hell considering he/she has never sinned? This is a sincere question. It’s a tough one. We know in our Catholic faith that we are each tainted with ‘original sin.’ It is baptism that removes this taint, this obstacle to entry into heaven.

Here’s what the Catholic Catechism has to say about infants who die before being baptized:

1283 With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church invites us to trust in God’s mercy and to pray for their salvation.

The Church simply does not know for sure what is the disposition of the souls of the unbaptized little person.

How can any practicing Catholic vote for candidates whose election ensures the daily continuation of this carnage? Keep in mind, this carnage goes beyond the loss of human life, which by itself is beyond calculation. It may actually impact the very salvation of this army of unbaptized souls.

In this light, a vote for the party of human abortion is a vote for intrinsic evil.