Catholics, Conscience & ObamaTo have a well-formed conscience as defined by the Catholic Bishops, a Catholic must know not only the facts about a candidate, but also the commitments the candidate has made. Obama and the Democrats have made it clear that, with President Obama in the White House, they will together - all three branches of government - use all their power to promote abortion; to fund abortions with taxpayer money; to outlaw any restrictions on the court-created right to abortion; and they will see to it that those appointed to the Supreme Court will find everything they do constitutional. As Archbishop Burke has recently said: “the Democratic Party risks transforming itself definitely into a 'party of death'”. No longer can a Catholic with a well-formed conscience say: "Yes, I am voting for Obama, but I do not intend to support abortion by doing so." As the Bishops have stated: "A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter's intent is to support that position. In such cases a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil." Obama is wrong on many of the issues that always involve intrinsically evil actions: he is pro-abortion; pro-infanticide; pro human cloning; pro embryonic stem cell research; and pro-euthanasia; and he is on record as being against freedom of conscience for health care workers regarding the provision of abortion. Based on what Obama and the Democrats have said, it is clear that a Catholic voter can no longer divorce his or her intent from what both Obama and the Democrats promise they will do. In other words, today a Catholic voter who has learned the facts and the commitments Obama has made, and who votes for Obama, necessarily has the intent to support abortion and infanticide. A Catholic who votes for Obama will formally cooperate in grave evil. No doubt Catholic Bishops and pastors will soon be issuing a public statement telling the faithful explicitly and clearly that a Catholic with a well-formed conscience cannot vote for Obama. - Guy McClung, J.D., Ph.D.
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