Political slant and being Catholic...

[RandomProddy]

[quote name='Socrates' date='Jan 17 2005, 05:33 AM'] Also, though I haven't myself seen the abortion statistics in the Netherlands, this is definitely not because the Dutch are more likely to have children! All Europe has a negative birthrate, and if the Dutch are having comparitively few abortions, it is only because of the high use of contraceptives, unnatural vice, and other non-fertile sex practices! [/quote]
I should point out that Ireland (both south and north) and Northern England have above-replacement birthrates.

[Pennypacker11]

[quote name='Socrates' date='Jan 16 2005, 10:33 PM'] However, I would say it is always sinful for a Catholic to vote for a pro-abortion politician if he is running against a pro-lif candidate who has any reasonable chance of winning. Economic issues can never trump the life issue!
[/quote]
Based on what do you say this? I would agree that abortion is the most important issue when it comes to voting in the US since it is the greatest crime against the dignity of life which is legal. However, it isn't the only issue and a Catholic can weigh other issues as well and can in good conscience vote for a pro-choice candidate (even Ratzinger says this).

I had a friend back in college who actually made the statement that they would rather vote for Hitler if he was pro-life than a pro-choice candidate. I think that this type of one issue voting can border on absurdity; I agree with you that economic issues can never trump the life issue, but one of my points in this thread is that economic issues are life issues, both for the born and the unborn. The church, other than a few American bishops that i know of, has never said that one cannot vote for a pro-choice candidate over a pro-life candidate [i]for other reasons than their stance on abortion[/i]. While it may take a great deal to actually vote for the pro-choice person, it is not necessarily sinful.

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='FilmGuy127' date='Jan 17 2005, 05:25 AM'] What if there are more important issues than abortion in the election? is it sinful to vote for the candidate which holds similar views to you on every other issue except abortion? or is it like an automatic trump card type thing that we should only vote on this one issue because if we dont vote for the pro life guy its a sin? [/quote]
What other position is more important than abortion??
What trumps the killing of our future?

Edited January 17, 2005 by cmotherofpirl

[Socrates]

[quote name='RandomProddy' date='Jan 17 2005, 06:27 AM'] I should point out that Ireland (both south and north) and Northern England have above-replacement birthrates. [/quote]
According to the U.N.'s population database the current fertility rate in Ireland is slightly below replacement. <http://esa.un.org/unpp/p2k0data.asp>

It gives lists Ireland's current fertility rate (average number of children per woman) at 1.9.
Replacement fertility is defined as 2.1.

Dr. Steven Mosher of Population Research Institute, a pro-life anti-population control group beleives the U.N.'s fertility estimates are generally too high.