A Canadian Catholic's Dilemma

[Black Aquinas]

Hi. I'm new to this discussion board, and, as you might have guessed, I'm Canadian and Catholic. My dilemma is this: I am torn between two political parties. As a practicing Catholic, I am firmly commited to the pro-life cause. I cannot in good conscience vote for a political party who supports abortion-on-demand. With that said, I am a staunch opponent of the neo-liberal agenda of the Conservative Party. Of course, I am equally opposed to the socialist economics espoused by the New Democratic Party. I am also commited to the ecological wisdom of the Green Party as well as their concern about centralized power, whether capitalist or socialist. I would like to see a more decentralized, community-based economics, with a healthy environment. And yet, I do not wish to obtain all this at the price of a million aborted children. So I'm torn.

What is a poor Catholic to do? I cannot accept the anti-religious, pro-abortion stances of the NDP or the Liberal Party. I'm stuck between the Green Party and the Conservative Party. The Christian Heritage Party has been suggested as an alternative, but I have to admit reservations for any party which is explicitly a party for only one segment of the population. Thus the anti-authoritarian in me is pulled towards the Green Party while the pro-lifer in me is pulled towards the Green Party. Help!

On a side note, I'm not interested in another pro-life vs. pro-choice debate. The matter is unegotiable at this point. I'm more interested in hearing from Catholics or other people in similar positions, torn between the social gospel and a desire to protect the most vulnerable member in society, namely the unborn child. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

God bless.

[Kiraly]

Well I don't agree with the presumption that the Conservatives have a neo-liberal agenda, but if abortion is a big issue for you, I don't think you will find what you are looking for within the Conservative party....

....I don't see the will for them to try to restrict abortion significantly. At best, perhaps late-term abortions, but otherwise, no significant legislation will b±9„ßssed in my opinion.

[Black Aquinas]

Point taken, but I do believe pro-life advocates are correct that a Conservative leadership might advance the anti-abortion cause significantly. First off, the Conservative Party is formed largely by social conservatives from the Alliance, and I suspect that if free votes are introduced then there is a good chance that a Conservative government might pass legislation to limit abortion. Stephen Harper has already promised independent counselling for abortion, something which pro-life groups unanimously support. In any event, a Conservative government would not try to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions in the way the NDP would like to see them do so.

The only other pro-life party, although I admit calling a Harper-led government 'pro-life' might be an exageration, in Canada is the Christian Heritage Party. I think the odds of the CHP gaining any amount of votes is quite small considering how many social conservatives are placing their hopes on a minority government led by Harper.

I would be curious, however, as to why you reject the idea of Harper of as a neo-liberal.

[DAC]

The Christian Heritage Party has been suggested as an alternative, but I have to admit reservations for any party which is explicitly a party for only one segment of the population.

For whatever it may be worth, the Christian Heritage party's aim is to be a party for the whole society. Their policy does not include legislating Christianity, but legislating from the Christian base which is our heritage. In order to keep the base, they require a Christian commitment to be a member, but they expect to show people that their Christian base leads to policies whichare visibly good for the country and its people. For example, being pro-family means that they target provisions to give adequate support to single parents, so they can care for their children, not desert them to some child care facility.