The election of Donald Trump was not really a victory for conservative Catholics. We are now in one of weakest negotiating positions: our principles have been compromised and we have nowhere to run. No longer does a candidate even have to put on a facade of the most basic moral decency; he only needs to say he is opposed to abortion, and some of our bishops hint that we must vote for him under threats of excommunication and eternal damnation. One wonders how far this could actually go; would a future candidate running on a platform of overturning Roe v Wade, the re-establishment of African slavery, and the expulsion of Jews be guaranteed the Catholic vote under threat of damnation and excommunication? One wonders.
The strongest negotiating position is the ability to walk away and not look back. By spiritually coercing Catholics to vote for certain lesser-of-two-evils candidates, bishops take this powerful negotiating position off the table. No Republican candidate has any real pressure to outlaw abortion. What are we going to do, vote for Elizabeth Warren instead?
I think Catholic bishops and leaders should use these next few years to our maximum advantage. With a Republican/conservative presidency, legislature, and soon-to-be Supreme Court, there will be no excuse why real changes in the area of abortion cannot get passed. And perhaps the hard-liner bishops should be saying: any Catholic who votes for a candidate who promised to abolish abortion and had the opportunity but didn't follow through is under the threat of excommunication and eternal damnation. And when Republicans see that we can and we will walk away - and they will lose elections because of it - then our voices will really be heard.
No comments:
Post a Comment