November 2, 2020
After weeks, months, even years (literally and figuratively), America has reached the climax of its current election cycle. Soon, it will all be over but the shouting…
…and possibly the shooting; as well as all sorts of potential unrest and litigation as we complete the exercise of voting.
This time, we appear to be having “an election like none other” as the outcome is a “battle for the soul” of the nation. But many other American presidential elections can also claim those titles. In 1824, Andrew Jackson took the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College to John Quincy Adams. In 1860, the election of Abraham Lincoln (whose name wasn’t even on the ballot in some Southern states) split the nation and eventually launched the Civil War. The elections of 2000, 2008, and 2016 were all contentious. And lest you think a global pandemic is skewing the electoral process for the first time, the election of 1920 - one hundred years ago - was marked by the Spanish influenza pandemic that had plagued the world for two years. While we should not overlook these facts, we should not let this lack of uniqueness make us complacent.
I’ve only shared my preferences with a few members of my extended family. They’re split nearly down the middle, too. I don’t participate in exit polls to let some analyst at one of the networks “project” a winner. It’s supposed to be a secret ballot, you see. The only people who need to know who I choose on a ballot are the person counting it, myself; and God, who knows everything anyway. As an ordained minister of the Catholic Church, I’m not supposed to endorse any specific candidate, and I won’t here - not by name, anyway. While I will mention the presidential candidates’ names in what follows, it will be clear that I’m not largely supportive of either of them. Rather, the issues and policies that the candidates represent, coupled with how as a Catholic Christian I should respond to said issues and policies, along with prayer and careful discernment, guide me in my selections in the voting process.
And the results? You may have already guessed.
I must consider the gift of life. Both parties’ platforms fail miserably. One side wants to gut the controversial health care act, drawing fears that whatever stands in its wake will remove protections for preexisting conditions, and cause millions of people to lose health insurance coverage. The other side wants not only to restore that which has already been dismantled in the last four years but expand it. No exemptions on faith or religious beliefs will be allowed.
Some may counter that the present administration also has a callous disregard for the gift of life, in the example of separating the children of refugees from their parents at border crossings. This is indeed placing a low value on the lives of those affected. They can speak up; a child in the womb cannot. We glorify taking a life that cannot defend itself under the guise of “reproductive health care”. Is it any wonder that other atrocities against the human person - including those against the family as God commands it, such as transgender surgeries, same-sex marriages, and euthanasia for those whose quality of life would have to be supported by another - continue to show up like noxious weeds?
Another argument is that the present administration disregards the effects of “climate change”. It shouldn’t be ignored. Why, then, do we allow the doomsayers of the issue to crisscross the planet on jet airplanes, command ridiculous speaking fees, and live high on the hog while others starve and spend cold nights on park benches attempting to sleep? How fair is that? And to the politicians in my home state of Illinois: who honestly believes that a “fair” (progressive) income tax would solve it - or anything else, for that matter?
Once upon a time, it was generally thought that politics was the art of compromise. In so doing, all sides of an issue would make some sort of sacrifice in order to assist those in need. Not anymore. In recent years, it’s more about discrediting the other side in order to obtain the largest allocation of resources, and then misuse them anyway.
While I’m sure a few exist somewhere, I’m finding it extremely difficult to find a truly honest political leader. Both of the major presidential candidates have been caught in blatant lies, even to the point pf bragging about them. What does this say of their leadership qualities? I despise being lied to. Yes, everybody makes mistakes; some make really big ones that have long-lasting side effects for themselves and others. Still, the more insidious the lie, the more infuriated I get.
Donald Trump has lied to the American people, more than once during his tenure as President. So has Joe Biden, in his near half-century as a career politician. The lies are bad enough. The innuendo both candidates carry about them would have at one time kept them from holding elective office. My father told me that he wasn’t likely to accept an offer from either of them to have a drink at the corner bar. I agree with that line of thought.
Donald Trump has demonstrated some sense of disregard for the life of the earth. Still, all of us can do many things to reduce our carbon footprint, and we shouldn’t need a government mandate to do so. Mr. Trump doesn’t necessarily come across as devout or God-fearing; when asked in 2016 he stated that he didn’t see a point in confessing his sins as he believes he’s never done anything wrong. He’s gone on record supporting life, and has issued a few orders that support the pro-life movement; but whether he truly believes that or is posturing for the cameras is questionable. He comes off as brash and crude; some counter that it’s the way many New Yorkers behave; and others are quick to point out that his lack of experience in politics is precisely why he was elected in the first place.
Joe Biden, by contrast, has pledged to uphold his party’s position that holds no regard for the dignity of human life. He’s all over “listening to the science” with regards to the pandemic and to the issues of climate change; will there be anyone left to enjoy any benefit? Mr. Biden professes to be Catholic, but he does not let his personal beliefs affect his political judgement; as if one could simply turn off a switch. (Sadly there are many Christians who largely leave that switch off, turning it on only when a larger-than-life predicament is before them.) In these last weeks of the campaign, Mr. Biden has stated that he has been guided by his Catholic beliefs. Not only does that fly in the face of not letting beliefs get in the way of politics; but by supporting the extremist platform his party has adopted, he’s pledged to implement that agenda and solidify it with legislation. Not only has Mr. Biden lied to the American people; he has betrayed the very beliefs he says guides him, making him a traitor to the Catholic faith.
I realize that writing on this now, on the eve of an election where reportedly the number of people who have cast their votes early is approaching 100 million, that this may be too late to change anybody else’s minds. That I’m not writing an op-ed for a major newspaper or preaching from a pulpit somewhere is sure to cast aspersions of “…and your point is?” among anyone happening to read it. Still, the world is watching us and what will transpire over the next few weeks. I daresay that regardless of who wins the results will be contested in the courts. Regardless of the victor, there will be protests and the potential for rioting and looting in the streets of places that may never have seen such a ghastly spectacle before. We will still be feeling the effects of the worst pandemic in a century. We may be stuck in our divided ways, with no voice of reason to turn us to our knees, praying for deliverance…
…and God, and the eyes of the world, will be watching.
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