Karl Keating's E-Letter of Sept 14

KARL KEATING'S E-LETTER

September 14, 2004

TOPICS:

VOTER'S GUIDE VIDEO
VOTER'S GUIDE FLAK
VOTER'S GUIDE COMPETITION
AN IMPOSSIBLE QUIZ

Dear Friend of Catholic Answers:

"Goofy." I think that's the proper word for it.

The National Coalition of American Nuns, a group that claims only 500 members, has called for the resignation of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. NCAN says Ratzinger should be replaced with a "feminist woman."

The Vatican should grant more decision-making power to women, says NCAN, and women should be included in the election of the next pope. As an aside, the group said the Church should endorse same-sex marriage.

VIDEO VERSION OF VOTER'S GUIDE

This is an early heads-up. A friend of our apostolate is making an online video out of our "Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics." We have the scripting done, and next comes a professional voice-over, followed by matching the visuals to the voice.

Our plan is to upload the video to our web site and to send the link to it to you and to thousands more via e-mail. The short video--about nine minutes long--will be available in several file formats and will be viewable by those with either high-speed or dial-up connections.

THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN

Our voter's guide has received lots of praise and some opposition. Why the opposition? The voter's guide does nothing more than repeat Church teaching. Well, okay, it does more than that. It says Catholics ought to follow Church teaching, even when in the voting booth. Is this so radical? Some people seem to think so.

It's not that they have come out against the teaching contained in the voter's guide. None of its opponents has said, "Vote for those who support abortion, euthanasia, fetal stem cell research, human cloning, and homosexual 'marriage.'" Nothing that crass. What opponents have said is that
lots of other issues should be taken into account.

If they meant that the five non-negotiables should be handled first, and then the Catholic voter should factor in other, lesser issues, that would be fine. That's just what our voter's guide says anyway. But that's not what opponents really are doing. They're giving the impression that other issues, on which Catholics are permitted a range of opinions, should be given the same weight as the five non-negotiables.

What is the Catholic position on the minimum wage? Actually, there isn't one. You can be a good Catholic and think that the minimum wage should remain as it is or that it should be increased--or even that it should be eliminated. (Many economists argue that the minimum wage, while well-intentioned, actually ends up hurting the poor, by throwing many of them out of work.)

I'm not interested in discussing what to do about the minimum wage (so please don't write to me about it), but, no matter where you find yourself on the issue, one thing you must admit: Other Catholics legitimately may differ from you, and they still will be counted as good Catholics.

You can't say the same thing about those who support the five non-negotiables.

IF YOU CAN'T INGORE US, COMPETE

The Catholic Voting Project was started in response to the success of Catholic Answers' "Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics." The organizers, several of whom are students and many of whom have been active in left-wing politics (there seems to be no political moderate or conservative associated with the group), have been described in a newspaper article as "nonpartisan," but their web site has a clear bias in favor of John Kerry. See for yourself at http://www.votingcatholic.org/

The spokesman for the Catholic Voting Project is Chris Korzen, who also is the site's webmaster. He is a student at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The web site has a discussion forum, which has 30 registered members. (As a comparison, Catholic Answers' discussion forum has more than 11,000 registered members.) One person posted this message on the Catholic Voting Project discussion forum:

"In your 'Why a Catholic Voter Guide?' statement, you claim, 'There are many other voter guides for the 2004 elections that claim to be "Catholic," yet they focus on only a handful of issues, depending largely on the ideology of the sponsor.' Name one. It is clear you are referring to Karl Keating's 'Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics.' I believe it would serve you better to just be honest."

Korzen responded by saying, "We feel there is an important place for the Catholic Answers voting guide in the broader public debate surrounding the Catholic vote in this election. However, we could find no definitive magisterial statement to substantiate the claim that the five issues laid
out in the CA guide are the only ones Catholics should consider when making their voting decisions."

Of course the five non-negotiables aren't the only issues Catholics should consider. The "Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics" says precisely that--after it says that these five issues are so important that they should be used to narrow down the field of acceptable candidates. The Catholic voter first should eliminate candidates who are wrong on the non-negotiables, and then he should look at where candidates stand on other issues. This means other issues aren't ignored, but they are secondary.

ANSWER ME THIS

The Catholic Voting Project web site features a quiz designed to tell you "how your own beliefs compare to the positions of the U.S. Catholic bishops and the two major presidential candidates." The quiz is divided into eleven sections, each with three statements about which you are asked to agree or disagree. The bias of the organizers is found in the odd phrasing of the statements.

Consider the topic of abortion. Here are the three statements you are asked to agree or disagree with:
1. "I oppose abortion except when the life of the mother is threatened or in cases of rape or incest, but I support anti-abortion legislation that makes no exception for the health of the mother."

2. "I oppose abortion in all circumstances, except for when the life of the mother is threatened."

3. "I oppose abortion in my personal life but publicly support the right of women to choose abortion."

Which of these, if answered "agree," states the Catholic position? None, of course, since each statement allows for abortions.

Which of these, if answered "disagree," states the Catholic position? Again, none, although this might be a little harder to see.

If you disagree with statement 1, does it mean you oppose anti-abortion "legislation that makes no exception for the health of the mother"? If so, you support some abortions.

If you disagree with statement 2, does it mean you approve generally of abortion?

If you disagree with statement 3, does it mean you "support the right of women to choose abortion" but not publicly--that is, that you keep your opinion to yourself?

The ten other sections of the quiz are similarly confused. False choices are given and false implications are made. Beyond that, one is left with the impression that such things as the minimum wage are morally on the same level as abortion and that immigration regulations are as important as
euthanasia.

Oh, wait a minute. The quiz doesn't even mention euthanasia. And it doesn't mention human cloning. It entirely leaves out two of the five non-negotiables. But it does wonder who should benefit most from tax cuts.

Until next time,
Karl

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To learn more about the Catholic faith and about Catholic Answers, visit us
at http://www.catholic.com/.
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The content of this E-Letter is copyright 2004 by Karl Keating.