Faith in the public arena - election time

We’re back! After completing our review of the legislative session last Spring, the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) indicated that we would offer some guidance to Catholic voters in preparation for our national and state elections on November 7. Hopefully, our readers do not view voting as an option, but an integral part of civic responsibility. Voting responsibly is also work; it calls us to some knowledge of candidates, their positions on issues, and a vision for our society.

In addition to electing a president and vice-president, Minnesota voters will elect one United States Senator and eight members to the US House of Representatives. All 201 seats in the Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives are up for election this year. With the primary election behind us, we now know who our candidates are for all of the national and state offices, and the campaigns are in full swing.

Each presidential election year, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops prepare a thoughtful statement to assist Catholics in selecting those candidates who best represent the Catholic vision for a just society. The MCC will rely heavily on this year’s document, Faithful Citizenship in our columns during the coming weeks.

Let’s begin with a somewhat radical thought. The term radical, of course, comes to us from the Latin radix, meaning root. Going back to the roots of our governmental system in the United States, we find a careful selection of checks and balances to insure that government serves the common good. All states have followed the federal pattern in establishing Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches with the latter composed of two bodies, a Senate and a House of Representatives.

It really isn’t all about sending people to Washington or St. Paul to see what they can "get" for the home town, but sending our best to bring their (our) contribution to the upbuilding of the whole. All too often in recent years, special interests and local concerns dominate the debate. We end up with competition and partisanship marring the cooperative effort to form a just society.

The Bishops write: "The next millennium requires a new kind of politics, focused more on moral principles than on the latest polls, more on the needs of the poor and vulnerable than the contributions of the rich and powerful, more on the pursuit of the common good than the demands of special interests.

"Politics is about more than our own pocketbooks or economic interests. Catholics, other believers, and men and women of good will raise different questions for ourselves and for those who would serve us."

In coming weeks, we will present some of the church’s social teachings and offer questions that we might ask of candidates seeking election. These same teachings and questions provide a framework through which we can filter the written and spoken messages coming to us from the various candidates who seek to lead. Who will we choose?

"We must challenge all parties and every candidate to defend human life and dignity, to pursue greater justice and peace, to uphold family life, and to advance the common good."