Catholics care about many issues. However, because of our faith and our belief in human dignity, certain issues take precedence. There are some good guides to the most important issues out there. I particularly respect the Voter’s Guide For Serious Catholics from Catholic Answers. Here are a few issues I think are important for serious Catholics to consider when they cast their vote.

Respect for Life

Respect for life is a foundational part of Catholic thought & belief. Catholics must stand against abortion, embryonic stem cell research that destroys embryos, therapeutic cloning, and euthanasia.

War

War can be a life issue if the war is unjust or unjustly fought, and if a world leader is acting like a tyrant that leader should indeed be removed. Good Catholics disagree about whether or not the war in Iraq fully meets the criteria for a just war. However, even those who oppose the war rarely accuse the U.S. of tyranny or indiscriminate killing. Their main opposition is the fact that Americans are dying in the war. If we were murdering, raping and pillaging innocent civilians, then immediate action would need to be taken. Certainly having our soldiers sacrifice themselves for an unjust cause is a valid concern. However, the fact that war is sometimes morally acceptable and even sometimes morally compulsory along with the fact that the justness of the war in Iraq is validly debatable means that the war issue is not on par with other life issues.

Subsidiarity

The principle of subsidiarity is key to Catholic social teaching. It states that social decision making power should occur at the lowest possible level of social organization. Higher levels of social organization should do what is necessary to empower the lower levels without interfering until it becomes absolutely necessary. Neither of the major political parties seems to truly embrace subsidiarity. Democrats, traditionally the “big government” party, tend to seek solutions to social problems at the highest level of social organization first, and to take recourse to more local organizations as a last resort. Republicans, with their reliance on the free market, also do not seek ways to empower lower levels of social organization. This makes it difficult to choose which party is most in line with Catholic social teaching.

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