I voted “no” simply because I look at the integrity of the person running and their ability to do the job, not just the issues they endorse or oppose. I do however, vote Pro-Life as a first indicator of the integrity of said candidates. By that I mean if a man (or woman for that matter) does not consider life in the womb worth defending, then I can see them finding other “reasons” to compromise life in its other states, whether that is in the elderly, the poor, the disabled, the middle classes, the students, etc…. and that means all areas of life as well, economic, educational, medical, etc…. If a person doesn’t honor God in his life, then why would I consider him for the highest office in this land? When the voting is between a Pro-Life candidtate and a Pro-Death candidate, I will vote for the Pro-Lifer no matter what other issues are on his plate at the time of the election. I refuse to be pidgeon-holed into believing that makes me a single-issue voter; I’m not and I really can’t stand those who would for the sake of the argument, place those words in my mouth.

If a candidate isn’t pro-life, I’m not interested in hearing anything else he stands for

[quote:eba9y3ec]But why does abortion have more weight than say the death penalty or kids living on the street?[/quote:eba9y3ec]

We have had about 920 executions since Gary Gilmore. An average size town has had more abortions so far this year. At least kids living on the street are still alive. Things can be done for them by people and organizations.

Jon- you raise some interesting points. I would think these would be points we all would consider and pray about. (sorry I still don’t know how to hilight from one post to the next)

At times I wish we would have a moral obligation not to vote for either party based on the very same issues you discuss.

I can discuss 2. The first—-I believe in all the social programs(well except for those against the church, abortion, same-sex marriage, stem cell(embryonic )research. that the democrats and Kerry speak about in their speeches. It is just that over the years I have not personally seen any of their programs work in social welfare matters. (specifically education and health, and welfare). Its my belief that creating laws and throwing even more money at a problem does not work all that great.

Both parties have good plans, and both certainly have their flaws.

Second, why vote based on one issue—abortion? (actually that has increased to the others mentioned above—marriage and ethical science research). I don’t think that I am the only non-democrat voter who has struggled with war and justice (death penalty). I was going to say I GUESS but I am changing that to [i:3e8w5k2q]I know[/i:3e8w5k2q] that candidates, who do not have the moral conviction that life starts in the womb,may not have conviction to place [i:3e8w5k2q]right vs. wrong[/i:3e8w5k2q] in other areas of their administration.

Jon—I definitely see your points….and struggle with the same issues as a voter—-perhaps the posts here could continue as the election approaches.

Back to another question—would we have the moral obligation NOT TO VOTE??? I was listening to Relevant Radio discuss this and I do not recall what resources they quoted.

[quote:1148bakn]

I would like to know what programs are removed that people can’t live without.
Every country thought there were WMD.
I did not know that this was the Democratic Convention.

“There are so many more things to consider about a candidate than his or her stance on abortion that I think it is foolish to consider or not consider a candidate on that criterion alone. ” title=”Neutral” />

There is nothing else to consider unless both candidates have the same abortion views. The number of victims war, death penalty etc are no where near the number of abortions. All of American war dead from the Revolution until now is about 7 months of abortions. If you use worldwide numbers I think China alone would pass those.

I won’t be back here. I thought this was a message board on Catholicism and not a place to rationalize being a Democrat.[/quote:1148bakn]

I am sorry jeratboy is leaving, I find myself agreeing with him about the democrats. Although I do not agree that this website promotes one party or the other.