I don't know if this is happening in the States, but it certainly is in Canada. We only need to look at Justin Trudeau's decision to bar pro-life candidates from the Liberal party to see this clearly. This means that two out of three political parties have now turfed out practicing Catholics. (The NDP did this before the Liberals.) Given that Catholics have traditionally found a home in these centre-left parties, it leads one to wonder if they will follow their pro-life convictions and vote for the Conservative Party or whether their historic political allegiances will trump their faith. I know that as a Catholic priest, I now find it impossible to support either the Liberals or the NDP since they have slammed the door shut on my pro-life convictions.
Are changes in American culture pushing out Catholics? | Crux
Are changes in American culture pushing out Catholics? | Crux
Fr. Tim,
ReplyDeleteI made this point before: To me, the Conservative Party is quite hypocritical on this issue, allowing members to hold pro-life convictions, but making sure that nothing happens in this respect. Which leads me for one to conclude that that particular topic has no home in any political party in Canada. From which, in turn, I conclude that the topic is not one to use when deciding which parties and policies to support. Or, put differently, the political process at the time seems to not be the best place to change anything here.
Anon: Yes, the Conservatives have been hypocritical. But they are the only major political party that at least permits pro-life members to belong, run as candidates, and argue in favour of the pro-life cause. They are the only party left where at least we can make our case and advocate for legislation that will protect and preserve life from conception to its natural end.
ReplyDeleteThey are indeed far from perfect... but they're (regretfully) the only choice left for Christians who believe in the pro-life agenda.
Fr. Tim
Father Tim, thank you for the reply. My thinking is that this seems to be an issue where -- regrettably -- the political process doesn't get us anywhere anymore. Which, then, means for me that it isn't an issue to base something like voting decisions on either, because one could argue that maybe the conservative party's position on other issues might not always align with Christian values either. In any case, I am not out to convince you or anyone, and I therefore suggest that we agree to disagree on this topic.
DeleteFinally, I suppose I should have signed with my name ...
Georg