Post-Election Reflection

Congratulations to President Barack Obama on winning his second term. As Stephen Colbert says, “America has elected its first black president for an historic first second time.” Although there may be issues we don’t agree upon, I think all of us have a similar goal of making America a better place for all. Like many other faithful Catholics, I followed the election with deep concerns ranging from life issues to poverty to wars. No candidates to my knowledge fully reflected the social teachings of the Church. In the document, “Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility,” the U.S. Catholic bishops highlighted our moral priorities of protecting human life, promoting family life, pursuing social justice and practicing global solidarity. Unfortunately, ideology rather than principle is the reality of the political world, and special interests and big contributors govern the presidential ambitions.

In this 2012 election, I have seen some voters emphasize abortion and traditional marriage as their reasons for supporting Romney. However, the exclusion of other moral considerations does not exhaust one’s responsibility toward the common good. Life is a complex issue and it cannot rely solely on the focus of the birth of a child. Rather, our moral responsibilities include life at the moment of conception to the moment of a person’s last breath. Human life today is attacked not only by abortion, but by poverty, hunger, violence, wars, the death penalty and a lack of knowledge in the Gospels. As Catholics, we are called and obliged to make a stand on the common good no matter who is president. As the Church, we are responsible to respect the immigrants, the migrant workers, the working class, and the most vulnerable and marginalized in society.  It is our duty to alleviate not just poverty in the United States but global poverty. We are called to care for all creation so that the generations after us can enjoy. “No matter who is president, Jesus is king.” No matter who is president, the fight for human life continues.