Strengthen Your Brethren, Catholic Voting - October 15, 2006
As a little boy I loved to accompany my dad on errands outside the home. Sometimes that meant a trip within the city of Marshfield, other times a jaunt into the countryside, still other occasions a journey to another city. It did not matter where we were going or what the task was. I was with dad and that was what counted. It was always an adventure for me, going into the world with dad. There are many fun and interesting things I remember from those ventures. One of the stranger details that got seared into my memory was the rather common vision of mounds of garbage that people had dumped along the roads, cascading down the embankments and hills. And I recall my bewilderment at why anyone would ever do such a thing. It seemed such a terrible contrast, the beautiful lush green Wisconsin countryside frequently gashed by the ugly, rusting, rotting trash. As a little boy I also remember the often-run television ads and the special programs in school exhorting us not to pollute. This was something important, and I got the message. Throughout the intervening years, enjoying the incomparable Wisconsin outdoors, I have been filled with wonder at the remarkable progress we made in this area. The sight of such piles of rubbish truly has become a rarity. I often think of the fact that we had the will, the resolve, to accomplish this. If by such firm conviction and determination we were able achieve so much with regard to the environment, what about other matters, matters of more weighty consequence?
Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. Beyond the stories and images – the reality – of violence, war, and hatred that bombard us daily in the news, who has not been shaken in recent weeks by 15-year-old Eric Hainstock murdering his principal, John Klang, in the tiny high school in Cazenovia? Or Charles Roberts slaughtering the little Pennsylvania Amish girls Naomi, Marian, Mary Liz, Lena, and Anna Mae? Yet, should such horrors really catch us completely by surprise? This is the culture that we have created, a culture of death on an unprecedented scale – the murder every year in the womb of millions of our most innocent and defenseless fellow citizens, the propagation of hatred and violence in the name of God on a global scale, the extermination under the guise of mercy of the infirm and aged and handicapped, the abject and inhuman material and spiritual poverty in which so many of our brothers and sisters live, the proposal of violence as the default response to problems and disputes at every level of human interaction. Although it may be tempting to do so, not one of us can so easily absolve himself of his responsibility for bringing about this state of affairs. Do we – do I – have the will to change this culture from one of death to that of life? Do we – do I – have the resolve to transform this civilization into one of love? Do we – do I – have the courage and conviction to promote and live the profound truth about the human person?
As always, this November affords us the opportunity to fulfill an important aspect of our civic responsibility by casting our ballots on several issues and for various candidates for public office. Through our vote we Catholics can – and must – contribute to the transformation of society through the promotion of an authentic understanding of the human person and the family, a respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the most defenseless. Two issues of grave importance will appear on the Wisconsin ballot this year: (1) a proposed amendment to the state Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman; and (2) an advisory referendum on the restoration of the death penalty. There is a lot of misinformation and plain old lies being peddled by various interest groups with regard to these issues. Do not be fooled! In order to help you to inform your conscience and political judgment according to our faith – especially in what pertains to the natural moral order established by God in creation – please carefully consult this bulletin in the coming weeks and watch for the special inserts provided for us by our Bishops of Wisconsin.
Saint Peter, pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!
Father Kevin Louis
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