Video
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed
THE QUESTION
Voting spiritual or political?
Pope Benedict XVI and Catholic Cardinal-designate Raymond Burke both recently characterized voting as a moral act with spiritual consequences.
The pope said that "decriminalizing abortion is a betrayal to democracy," since he believes the procedure denies rights to the unborn, and recently said that Catholics should use their vote "for the promotion of the common good." Burke called voting a "serious moral obligation" and added that Catholics "can never vote for someone who favors absolutely what's called the 'right to choice.'"
If Catholics largely disregard the church's teaching (the 2008 Catholic vote for president went to pro-choice Obama), does what the pope says matter? Is voting a religious act or purely political?
More faith in politics:
"At Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta -- the spiritual home of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr." Rev. Raphael G. Warnock called voting a "sacred obligation."
Posted by
Elizabeth Tenety on November 1, 2010 9:32 AM
FROM THE PANEL
We need deeply religious elections
Because more now than ever our nation requires that we find people with the integrity, judgment and competence to lead our nation, voting must be viewed as a deeply religious responsibility.
Posted by Clayton Christensen, on November 12, 2010 4:54 PM
Elections spiritual and sociopolitical
To choose a candidate for the state is not just one's responsibility, rather it is a moral and spiritual obligation as well. Religious authorities should refrain from interfering in the freedom of choice of an individual.
Posted by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, on November 6, 2010 2:33 PM
Spiritual consciousness should navigate all acts
Pope Benedict, being the single largest religious leader of the world with about 1.17 billion in his flock, carries a big influence on the world and is important. Moreover, he is said to be the successor of St. Peter and the Vicar of Christ upon earth. If one's consciousness believed in something contradictory, one is always free to choose a different path.
Posted by Rajan Zed, on November 5, 2010 4:17 PM
Voting as an act of radical love
Voting is both a religious and a political act.
Posted by Valerie Elverton Dixon, on November 4, 2010 2:37 PM
God is always there, even as we vote
Voting is neither a religious nor a political act. It is a human act, a moral act, and like every moral act it can strengthen or loosen one's connection to God, to light up or darken the truth of human existence.
Posted by Thomas G. Bohlin, on November 2, 2010 5:36 PM
The next most important election ever
Morality cannot be decided by polls.
Posted by John Mark Reynolds, on November 2, 2010 2:25 PM
Voting an American right, a Christian responsibility
Voting is our right as Americans, but it's also our responsibility as followers of Christ. The Bible, after all, calls us to be salt and light to the world. Making informed decisions at the ballot box rooted in our morals and values is a critical opportunity to act on that exhortation, one way we "season" and "brighten" the society we live in.
Posted by Jim Daly, on November 2, 2010 2:02 PM
Young Christians move away from partisan politics
Luckily, younger Christians are abandoning the culture wars that divide so many people of faith across party lines.
Posted by Jonathan Merritt, on November 2, 2010 11:54 AM
Catholics' disregard of teaching does not make it untrue
We have become accustomed in recent decades to divorcing politics from morality and denouncing as a theocrat anyone who suggests that our faith should inform our political views.
Posted by Colleen Carroll Campbell, on November 2, 2010 10:15 AM
Nothing political about my vote
Legalized abortion denies an entire class of human beings the very right to live. It's the "single issue" that matters most. I am proud to belong to a Church led by a pope and bishops who aren't afraid to say so.
Posted by Danielle Bean, on November 2, 2010 10:04 AM
Vote your faith
As Christians, we believe that we were born in the United States for a reason. Unlike Christians throughout history and in some nations today, American Christians have been empowered by God to shape and guide our government.
Posted by Jordan Sekulow, on November 2, 2010 9:38 AM
Voting is a moral and spiritual act
This is the season of Samhain, of Halloween, the time when Witches say the veils between the worlds are thin and the ancestors come close and whisper in our ears. I'll vote tomorrow, remembering what they spoke to me on Samhain night. I heard them say, "Hope is something that must be eternally renewed."
Posted by Starhawk, on November 1, 2010 7:54 PM
Political popery a bad idea
I wish Catholics would ignore the pontiff when he pontificates theologically, but even more so when he pontificates politically.
Posted by Herb Silverman, on November 1, 2010 5:16 PM
Voting is moral duty, not spiritual
If the Constitution requires that religion be left out of the affairs of the state then how can we have religious heads dictating who should or should not be elected? For that matter how can we have anyone bringing their religious beliefs into a political campaign? Can you imagine the chaos that would create?
Posted by Arun Gandhi, on November 1, 2010 3:30 PM
Voting for the Sermon on the Mount
Voting - and engagement in political activity - is an extension of ones religious and spiritual practice.
Posted by Max Carter, on November 1, 2010 3:27 PM
When God enters the voting booth
Religious people need an ethic of voting which both honors their tradition, including its views on specific policies, while also honoring that we live in a country built upon the notion that all people are entitled to the same respect, regardless of the tradition they follow.
Posted by Brad Hirschfield, on November 1, 2010 2:43 PM
Eat. Pray. Vote. *
I don't think voting is a religious act, but I do think it's a moral decision.
Posted by Debra W. Haffner, on November 1, 2010 2:40 PM
The holy act of voting
I live in fear for the day when members of various dominant faith groups start voting lock-step with the pronouncements of their spiritual leaders, because true democracy would soon wither and die in such an environment.
Posted by Jason Pitzl-Waters, on November 1, 2010 2:40 PM
Voting is a privilege
There is nothing in the Bible about voting. There is only an admonition to pray for those in authority.
Posted by Cal Thomas, on November 1, 2010 2:29 PM
Voters, look into your hearts
As a secularist, I believe that democracy is healthier when most voters aren't voting their religious convictions.
Posted by Tom Flynn, on November 1, 2010 1:59 PM
Voting a civic duty, not a religious act
If I were pope, the only statement I'd issue before elections is that it's a positive moral act to vote, because every citizen who is too lazy to go to the polls--who needs to feel "enthusiasm" in order to do his or her civic duty--drains democracy of its meaning and vitality.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on November 1, 2010 11:23 AM
Voting booth is not 'moral free zone'
Put another way, the voting booth is not a "moral free zone." Neither is anyplace else. We can sin there or we can exercise virtue there.
Posted by Fr. Frank Pavone, on November 1, 2010 11:07 AM
