A few weeks ago, the 20-year-old son of a family friend committed suicide. We attended his Catholic funeral. Two days ago, a friend sent me a video that said Catholics cannot be Democrats (not the video below).

I reached out to the priest from the funeral (I haven't been a Catholic for several years) and asked him his thoughts. I was very surprised by the video he sent me (below), which is from a homily to his congregation. I have friends that are Democrats that attend his church.




He said, "In short, you cannot be truly Catholic and for abortion."

This video didn't go over well with my Catholic brother, who is a Democrat, when I asked for his thoughts.

Any thoughts?

Show him this one.

God bless Fr. Altman.

Between abortion and religious freedom issues, I don't know why a Catholic would even consider voting for a Dem.

Fr. Altman is absolutely correct.

More importantly, I sincerely hope and pray that you come back home to the Church.

Short answer is Yes. There's nothing identity-wise that precludes one from being a Democrat and a Catholic.

Long answer: there are certainly issues that either party may take a position on that one must weigh against one's faith. Abortion is the major one that flys in the face of this.

We would much better off with a stratification of Democrats and Republicans having opposing views on issues that don't necessary strike at the core of the party's overall strategy for the country. (like abortion)

I think the better question is "Can a faithful Catholic support the platform of the Democrat Party?" The answer to that is absolutely not.

The next question is "Are you a Democrat if you don't support the platform of the Democrat Party?"

The next question is can a faithful Catholic vote for a Democrat that supports the portions of the Democrat Platform that are contrary to Church teaching?" The answer seems to be no.

I don't think Christians should have political loyalty to any politician or party. We are aliens and sojourners here.

BamaAggies said:

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A few weeks ago, the 20-year-old son of a family friend committed suicide. We attended his Catholic funeral. Two days ago, a friend sent me a video that said Catholics cannot be Democrats (not the video below).

I reached out to the priest from the funeral (I haven't been a Catholic for several years) and asked him his thoughts. I was very surprised by the video he sent me (below), which is from a homily to his congregation. I have friends that are Democrats that attend his church.




He said, "In short, you cannot be truly Catholic and for abortion."

This video didn't go over well with my Catholic brother, who is a Democrat, when I asked for his thoughts.

Any thoughts?

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Well it is easy. Abortion is the murder of babies which is against scripture. You have to be really deceived to vote for any candidate regardless of political party that supports the murder of babies.

This should apply to all Christians.

craigernaught said:

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I don't think Christians should have political loyalty to any politician or party. We are aliens and sojourners here.

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Exactly. Both parties are at odds with the Kingdom. Love your enemy. Turn the other cheek. Give freely. Love your neighbor. Swords into plowshares. Love mercy. Seek justice (restorative). Walk humbly. We are missionaries of the Kingdom here in a foreign land.

DevilDriver said:

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Can someone please explain why Christians care so much about abortion? Where in the bible is abortion denounced?

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Do you expect to see the word abortion in the Bible?

Fifth commandment. "You shall not kill." This commandment demands respect for human life and is more accurately translated as "thou shalt not murder."

Christians care about abortions because the scriptures teach that human beings are unique persons at the time of conception, known by God. Because of this, killing a baby in the womb is equivalent to murder. And whats more, the murder of an innocent, which is particularly condemned in the scriptures. This is hated by God and an abomination (Proverbs 6:16-19). This has been a consistent and explicit teaching of the Christian faith for as long back as we have records.

For example, the Didache says "you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is begotten." Athenagoras of Athens writes that Christians regard the fetus in the womb as a created being and that abortion is viewed as murder. These are from the first and second century. Since that time, it has always been strictly held that abortion is equivalent to murder by the Church. It is an apostolic teaching.

Going further back the Law of Moses protects pregnant women from a violence-induced abortion (Ex 21:22). As is normal in the law, the innocents are protected more than those who can defend themselves - manslaughter did not carry life for life punishment as an accidental abortion (cf Num 35:9-15).

The Old Testament denounces the murder and sacrifice of children which was practiced by other peoples (Lev 20:2, Jeremiah 32:35). Further, several passages of scripture ascribe features and personhood to people at conception or in the womb (Ps 50, St John the Forerunner in Elizabeth's womb).

The Carthaginians and Ammonites and Moabites sacrificed their children to Moloch or Baal to gain some kind of benefit, the way most pagan sacrificial rites worked. Today, women sacrifice their children for education, or their career, or financial benefit. It is no different, and just as abhorrent.

Yes you are. God does not sanction wanton murder. War? Yes. Death penalty? Also yes. Not wanton murder.

And while the word "abortion" does not appear in Holy Scripture, this is why we have the teaching magisterium of the Church promulgated by the Holy See.

Abortion is one of the gravest sins one can commit. Not only do you deprive a child of life, you deprive Heaven of a soul. It cries out to Heaven for vengeance. There can be no compromise.

DevilDriver said:

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Am I supposed to take that seriously? God sanctions murder too many times to count in the Bible.

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Yes, you should. There is a difference between a just killing and murder. Abortion is the taking a innocent life, plain and simple.

Sins that Cry to Heaven

• The "blood of Abel": homicide, abortion, infanticide, fratricide, patricide, and matricide
• The "sin of the Sodomites": Non procreative sexual acts (sodomy). (cf. Jude 1:7).
• Oppression of the poor
• The "injustice to the wage earner": taking advantage of and defrauding workers (cf. James 5:4).[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sins_that_cry_to_Heaven_for_Vengeance#cite_note-6][6][/url][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sins_that_cry_to_Heaven_for_Vengeance#cite_note-Hoopes2019-2][2][/url]

For the first, show me a society in the ancient world which didn't practice slavery. Forget it, you can't, because it doesn't exist. Next, you can learn how Israel forbade hereditary and chattel slavery making it the most progressive society in antiquity. After that, you can come to understand that modern views on slavery and the sanctity of life spring directly from this along with Christian moral teaching.

For the second, I think you either need to show your work or understand that war != murder.

For bonus work, you should research ancient views on exposure of infants and then try to justify your views of infanticide without appealing to a Christian moral framework. I wish you luck.

Can you define slavery please?

If we wanted to examine every wrong argument put forward in history we'll be here quite a while. It's difficult enough answering the ones you're using in this thread. Let's focus in on those.

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Please explain where you think the parties fall short other than abortion. Or at least some examples.

Turn the other cheek?

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I think both parties struggle with being known by love, addressing the poor, ensuring equitable access to resources, serving the military-industrial complex, worshiping at the altar of the economy, etc.

Now, I am sure others will rush over and say "well, the goals of a political party and our goals are different". And I would agree...which is exactly why we should act differently.

Most Catholics are democrat if I were a betting man...because they're not really obedient to their chosen faith.

jrico2727 said:

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This seems like a highly informed opinion.

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How do Catholics reconcile abortion with the democrats view and platform? Catholics don't even approve of birth control. Simple question, only one answer.