Does it concern anyone else that we have two non-Christian candidates running for President of the United States

Does it concern anyone else that we have two non-Christian candidates running for President of the United States, but well ok two Catholics running for Vice President?

If politics is ultimately about morality, that is, deciding, implemented, and judging what is right and what is wrong for individuals and thus society, isn't it right to consider a candidates faith or lack thereof.  Shouldn't a candidate's faith be considered as one of the criteria used to determine how that person is going to deal with certain issues in the future and thus enter in to the analysis we use to determine the best candidate for the office.  Should faith be as an important a touch stone as party affiliation, voting or past voting or performance.Aren't these characteristics more telling than what a candidate might say during the campaign.  Shouldn't faith or lack thereof be as carefully considered as any other factor we use to determine who is best for the job for which they are campaigning?

So, as Catholics what are the concerns we are presented with in this Presidential election, and do these questions not have concerns for the wider electorate as well.  Is it not our duty as Catholics to evangelize the rest of the electorate with regard to our concerns?

We are after all 25% of the electorate.  We thus hold the power to swing elections nationally and locally.  Also, we are all qualified and in fact duty bound through our faith to speak out.  Are we not all connected to each other through Apostolic succession.

So, this election year we are faced with a choice.  We have two vice-presidential candidates who are Catholic.  Although one can make an argument that Biden well falls short because he is associated with a Presidential candidate who fully supports abortion, and Ryan who well while supporting or is pro-life does not come from a party background that fully supports mothers those in poverty who may choose to keep their children. so, no help here.

 And what of the Presidential candidates themselves?  President Obama fully supports abortion. Romney is pro-life, yet does not seem to support providing for the needs of those in poverty who need help with the children we want them to keep.  They believe in Jesus, they believe in Jesus as a god like we all have this potential, they believe Jesus is the son of God, but they do not believe that Jesus is God.

Obama on the other hand likes to call himself a Christian, but where is the evidence?  He goes to church -- sometimes.  He has Bible verses sent to his or one of his cell phones and says he draws strength and inspiration from them.  But this is as far as he goes and it is a far cry from practicing Christianity and following Jesus all the way.

Is it time for another political party.  One that espouses the pro-life tents of anti-abortion and of taking care of those children and mothers and fathers who we want to have those children, until they can adequately take of themselves and their children. 

Once upon a time the Democratic party reflected such values.  Robert F Kennedy said that where their is wealth poverty is evil, and I believe this.  There were many pro-life Democrats including Kennedy, and tip O'Neil.  where are they now. Biden? Joe Biden hardly represents these values ones of making hard choices based on what is morally right. 

So, what do the candidates say about themselves and the role faith plays in their life of public service?  The National Cathedral Magazine asked both candidates identical questions and printed their responses.

Washington, D.C.—Following a weekend during which presidential candidates President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney marked Sunday by attending respective church services, the candidates discuss their views of faith in public life in unprecedented interviews in the midsummer issue of Cathedral Age magazine, the quarterly flagship publication of Washington National Cathedral. These interviews, in which each candidate answers a set of identical questions about his individual faith and the place of religious beliefs in the political process, are the most transparent look yet into the faith of the two candidates.

http://www.nationalcathedral.org/press/PR-5QLKM-RU000F.shtml.
Excerpts were reprinted by the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/obama-and-romney-answer-q_n_1818290.html

In reading these questions and answers, i was struck by how similar each of these men are with regard to their faith and their  answers to the questions.  It is clear that both men have faith and exercise it to a degree.  it was good to see President Obama reflecting on the first commandment and the golden rule.  it is nice to see Mitt Romney saying nice things about Jesus careful to adhere to his faith in which Jesus is seen as a supreme prophet a holy man a son of god somewhat how we think of the archangels, but not fully human and fully God.  It is always good to see that a man is true to his faith regardless of the consequences.

It  is good to see that each of the men profess faith and think it has values that are worthwhile for the country and on the whole good as long as this faith is respectful of and tolerant of others.  President Obama of course because he is at heart a secular humanist, and Candidate Romney because he is a part of a faith community that does not believe that Jesus Christ is God and a community that has a history of persecution in their country.  Sadly, some things were missing from their answers.

First i did not read anything that would indicate that because of their faith that either of these men rely on on God.  The seen of going to God for answers in crises and for doing all that they can and leaving the results to God.  Although the President alluded to Lincoln, he did not himself that same sort of reliance and anguish that Lincoln had when he prayed during the civil war the sense that Lincoln had in relying on God and that he Lincoln himself could quit possibly have been wrong.  The sort of reliance on God that Eisenhower had even before he became president.  Reading the bible going to services ass a boy as Central  to who he was.  His prayers again prior to D-Day when he knew he was sending so many men to their deaths and that his decision could be wrong and asking indeed being in a position where he needed to plead for God's help in the outcome and in the decisions making.  Clearly that is what is missing in the answers provided by both these men and in so many of our contemporaries that they represent.

This reliance on God this going to God for the decisions this inviting Him to provide the decision and giving them the strength and discernment to carry out God's not their decisions. what s missing is that genuine humility the reliance on God the realization that after all is said and done that they are only god's instruments in positions of power in some senses awesome power but that ultimately it is God's hand that controls them.  what is missing is the humility in leadership that Lincoln had, that Eisenhower had and that Washington and Kennedy had.  To discern as best they can God's will for our nation with an honest desire to follow that will rather than their own agendas.  Missing is how is their visions God's vision and the determination to follow that vision not because it is theirs nor because thy believe it to be best but because it is God's vision.

Obama's answers indicate his heart for those in poverty for those wishing to come up and do better but like his policies his convections ring a bit hollow he is not willing to go all the way.  How far is Romney willing to follow God not lead Him in his convictions on the life issues which will probably give him the election.

As a Catholic of course my choice is clear.  when faced with a pro-life and a pro-choice candidate I will vote for and support the pro-life candidate, because life is the salient issue of our time. 

Civil rights for the unborn, and then we can think about the other issues the economy and war must take a back seat until such time as all human beings even those in the womb have the right to life liberty ad hte pursuit of happiness extended to them in the womb.

Pax Christi