The Virtue of Responsible Citizenship

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior…”  (St. Paul, 1 Timothy 2:1-3)


Every year or two in the U.S. we are asked to go to the voting booth and choose someone to represent us in local, state, or federal government.  Both mainstream political parties try to convince us why we should vote for their candidate while at the same time disparaging the other party or candidate.  Issues range from moral issues to fiscal issues, that is, how we should live our lives and how we should spend our money.

I chose several years ago to become a political independent and vote according to my conscience guided by my Roman Catholic beliefs.  Often times this is not easy to do as there's hardly any candidate that completely meets all the criteria. But I try to keep an open mind.  So I wanted to share with you the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishop's voting guide.  It's in PDF format so you can print it out or save it to your hard drive for future reference.  I realize that many of my readers are Protestant Christians, Jewish, or People of Good Will, but I think you'll discover we have much in common.

Finally, I urge all my readers not to disparage our political leaders but hold them up in your prayers.  And don't engage in political one-up-man-ship with others who may see the world differently than you do.  Just agree to disagree, keep them in your prayers, and continue to be cordial.