Several candidates, from both the Republican and Democratic parties, have thrown their hats into the ring to run for the office of President of the United States in 2008.

I already have my own thoughts on who to support, but want to hold off to allow objective analyses and to allow discourse with other Catholics for Democracy leaders to weigh in; that way I know whether to announce who I support as a personal announcement or whether I can announce the candidate as one with CFD support.

In the meantime, I have taken up a special prayer for the upcoming Presidential election; to help assure the Holy Spirit guides the election: the Divine Mercy Chaplet

Those who know my participation in this forum already know I pray parts of the Liturgy of the Hours daily; an online version of the liturgy is available in the foot of this website. That is not enough, though. We, as a nation, have committed some serious sins and have a lot to atone for if we are to contribute to the Divine Plan of establishing Christ's peace on earth. We need, collectively, to atone for our sins. Praying the Liturgy of the Hours is not enough, then; especially if I/we am/are already praying it.

On December 14th, we will have a simultaneous press conference in New Orleans (sponsored by the NAACP) and in San Jose (sponsored by 20 SJSU students and faculty), to announce a "national call to students" to participate in "Louisiana Winter" this January 14-20. (See attachments or www.SolvingPoverty.com)

The goals of Louisiana Winter are: to turn the nation's attention to the Gulf Coast; to have students witness first-hand the social suffering that is occurring; and to promote the immediate passage of federal legislation to implement the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, which if passed by Congress would hire 100,000 Gulf Coast residents to rebuild New Orleans and the surrounding region.Students can participate for just one day, for two or three days, or for the entire six days. Help us get the word out to students.

The Republican message on Democrats as the Republicans hope to retain control of Congress, "The Democrats offer criticism, but they have no plan to succeed in the 'war on terror'."

That is easy and culpable rhetoric coming from the party that absolutely controls Federal government and the government's messaging.

Many people, Democrat, Green Party, independent, even Republican, and otherwise have opposed the war in Iraq as immoral. Many leaders from the Vatican -- including Pople John Paul II and our current Pope Benedict XVI -- have challenged this war under Just War theology.

The truth is we do not need an exit strategy from Iraq other than empowering the government of the people we are at war with; something our current Adminstration and its compliant Congress does not seem to be willing to do. But, then, we seem to have a government invested in disempowering the very people on whose behalf they govern. So, in those terms, that makes sense.

Bishop William S. Skylstad, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has joined religious leaders from diverse faith traditions in rejecting the use of torture because it is a violation of basic human dignity.

Bishop Skylstad signed the statement entitled “Torture is a Moral Issue.” The text follows:

“Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions, in their highest ideals, hold dear. It degrades everyone involved – policymakers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation’s most cherished values. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable. Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but allowed in deed? Let America abolish torture now – without exceptions.”

The statement can be found on the web site of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture at www.nrcat.org

Note: This was originally submitted in August and was lost in our recent server change. I'm sorry that I don't have any any of the comments from August.
As the fall elections draw near, many Catholics will once again see their choices as a dilemma. Some anti-abortion candidates will seem unacceptable for other reasons and some pro-choice candidates will seem attractive for other reasons. In 2004, then Cardinal Ratzinger wrote a memorandum to Cardinal McCarrick which dealt with this problem. He said that there is no room for dissent from candidates and voters in Church teaching on abortion and euthanasia, but he added the following Nota Bene:
“A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.”

Just two days ago, I listened to an interview on CNN with a neocon Evengelical. Ironically, the Evengelical was speaking about the Foley scandal. He cited John Adam's claim that Christian religion is an important basis for a sound government. He also insisted that the statement of John Adams, as a Founding Father, is to be taken as the intent of the Founding Fathers and writers of our Constitution. The Evengelical Christian minister cited that statement -- which he did not actually quote -- to argue that homosexuals do not belong in government.

Here is what John Adams really said:

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.

Note that John Adams, in his list of vices he thought would destroy this country, did not mention anything to do with sex, heterosexual, homosexual or otherwise. The Evengelical minister forgot to mention that fine point. However, John Adams did mention many of the sins of the Corporate-owned Republican party. It seems that, yes, John Adams was right. When we have a socio-economic system, and corresponding political posturing, unresponsive to Christian ethics, our society and government will fall apart as a democracy.

For those who have been trying to visit Catholics for Democracy lately, we are very sorry! Due to catastrophic server failures on the part of our web host, we have been offline.

While we have lost a lot of our more recent content, we are back online and are still the same Catholics for Democracy.

We also lost user accounts. If you registered a user account since July 4, 2006, please do not be offended. Your account was lost due to our technical difficulties.

Please come back and see what Catholics really think about American politics. And participate yourself to contribute your Catholic thinking to American politics.

Catholics for Democracy is one of the few true grassroots Catholic movements contributing to American politics. That means your voice, as a Catholic, matters here.

Not since the 2004 Presidential campaign have members of Catholics for Democracy had an opportunity to witness a candidacy worth getting really excited about. That is not to say candidates haven't approached us. A number of candidates from across the country this year, in fact, have approached the Catholics for Democracy community for our support.

Supporting any particular candidate at all is a risky endeavor. So many assumptions about a group's values ride on endorsements the group chooses to make. The particular risk, here, is the potential for a perceived loss of objectivity or credibility in evaluating the values exercised by government and by those who seek elected positions in government.

Sometimes that risk is worth taking, though; especially when a candidate comes onto the political radar with a firm set of values in place.

We at Catholics for Democracy are really excited to highlight the candidacy of Victoria Brooks who is running for Floyd County Commissioner Post Seat 4 in Floyd County, Georgia.

My name is Tim Shipe. I am very active in promoting the Church Social Doctrine- perhaps I should say evangelizing. I am so serious about taking the complete Social Doctrine set of 'womb to tomb' moral principles into the larger American society, that I am starting to run for public office. I originally tried to get on the ballot for the 15th Congressional District in Florida, but I could not get the 5000 petitions signed in time. I am now about to announce a run for the 31st State Rep. District, as a pro-life, pro-social justice Democrat. You can assess my credentials at www.timshipe.com.

I am an adult Catholic convert, and a big push for me was the social encyclicals. I have always been politically engaged- started when I was 13, with no inspiration from parents or teachers- it came from within. I was always an underdog supporter- when I watched Cowboy and "Indian" movies as a kid, I rooted for the Indians. Today I find this instinct developed in it's fullest reach through the Catholic social teachings. I enjoy reading osjspm.org, zenit.org, godspy.com, and my favorite read of the past year has been the Compendium of the Church Social Doctrine.