Can a Catholic Vote for Bernie Sanders?

If you jump over to the Republicans maybe you would agree with a candidate’s stance on life and family issues, but hold your nose when he starts talking about increasing capital punishment, “carpet bombing Syria, invading Iraq again, torturing people, and gearing up America’s vast war machine. You’d agree with his stance on life and family issues, but turn up your nose on his hard line against poor immigrants, low wage earners and his being cozy with the crooks of big business and international cartels.

All of this so far, is a question of personal opinions and preferences, but for the Catholic the issue of abortion really is a major factor, and not one simply of personal opinion. The Catholic Church’s teaching is clear–to vote for a candidate who actively supports abortion is a serious sin.

This Catholic voter’s guide explains why: Abortion is not an issue like capital punishment or feeding the hungry. It is such a basic crime against human life that there is no loophole for Catholics. Lots of Catholics might be attracted to Bernie Sanders’ Democratic socialism, but his promotion of abortion disqualifies him from receiving their vote. To put it simply:

If a political candidate supported abortion, or any other moral evil, such as assisted suicide and euthanasia, for that matter, it would not be morally permissible for you to vote for that person. This is because, in voting for such a person, you would become an accomplice in the moral evil at issue. For this reason, moral evils such as abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are examples of a “disqualifying issue.” A disqualifying issue is one which is of such gravity and importance that it allows for no political maneuvering. It is an issue that strikes at the heart of the human person and is non-negotiable. A disqualifying issue is one of such enormity that by itself renders a candidate for office unacceptable regardless of his position on other matters. You must sacrifice your feelings on other issues because you know that you cannot participate in any way in an approval of a violent and evil violation of basic human rights. A candidate for office who supports abortion rights or any other moral evil has disqualified himself as a person that you can vote for. You do not have to vote for a person because he is pro-life. But you may not vote for any candidate who supports abortion rights.

So as long as the Democrats have such a pro-abortion platform, and any candidate is pro-abortion you can’t vote for them.

Hang on. Is there any way you could vote for Bernie Sanders if you like him, but can’t because of his support of abortion?

Maybe. As Mark Shea explains here, if someone even worse than Sanders were his opponent–someone who supported abortion AND torture AND indiscriminate bombing of civilians AND indiscriminate deportation of immigrants– (like Trump) then a vote for Sanders could be the lesser of two evils.

Go here to read Catholic Vote’s clear, concise and devastating answer to any Catholic–and Christian who thinks they might vote for Trump.

Make Sure you read the First Page of this article too.

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