Comments for On Elections at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 6 out of 6 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Wed, 22 May 2013 04:05:40 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/on-elections.html#comment-14126 Fr. Schall offers up a melancholy meditation on the political perhaps emphasizing by its absence the need for communities not based exclusively on politics and any constitutional order. Dorothy Day quoted Martin Buber and his definition of government not too many years before her death. Government is a community of communities. She had also learned by that point that political solutions are often the most unsatisfying of all. Sadly we now live at the whim of various city-states from Washington to New York to Boston to Chicago to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Their cultural extremism and soft fascism is the new civic standard. And their impatience for change has become intolerance for those communities which have chosen the supernatural over the natural to borrow from Eliot. Even if the Republicans win, it may be too late for this country. The pathologies have burrowed so deep into American life that it is almost unimaginable that they will be extricated. Just as I was disappointed with Cardinal Dolan's recent choices, so I wonder if the Knights of Columbus which has spent significant sums in the media calling for a civil campaign understands that there is a huge difference between the Romney campaign and Obama's proxy advertisement. I won't detail the ugliness here. I suspect many readers are familiar with the products of Samuel L. Jackson, Lena Dunham, Michael Moore and others. And they are truly vulgar, even depraved. George Wiegel spoke on this last week and said what many of us have said in private: that it isn't the 1950s anymore. We are in a "new cultural moment." When will the Church truly express an understanding of this? I don't know. A priest here, a bishop there seem to understand. But so many speak as an auxiliary bishop here did of a "misundertanding" regarding the HHS mandate. The bishop still believes a deal can be made and our first freedoms retained or at least re-negotiated. He's wrong. As for the people. I have even less faith in them at this point. The have simply conceded too much ground. - Graham Combs Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:12:37 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/on-elections.html#comment-14125 A leader who has gained his leadership position lawfully, e.g. through the election process, may nonetheless become a tyrant if and when he exercises power beyond his statutory limits, such as by ignoring Constitutional limitations on his office in regulating, or failing to enforce the laws of the land. During the debates over the Declaration of Independence, when some objected to the mention of King George as a tyrant, Jefferson responded “The king is a tyrant, and he shall remain a tyrant.” There is a lesson here that we could learn from. - senex Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:31:21 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/on-elections.html#comment-14122 Tyranny of the majority is a real danger in direct democracies. Our system was intended to disperse power from the chief executive through the separation of powers between Congress, President, and Supreme Court on the federal level, and reserve police powers to the states. The electoral college helps to protect minority rights, as does the Bill of Rights. However, the underlying requirement is a virtuous populace. But you can't have a virtuous people unless they are religious. Further, they must be religious in a faith that is consistent with reason. Catholicism is such a religion, as are many Protestant denominations and Judaism. I question whether Islam falls into this category. My point is that I believe American constitutional government can succeed if we as a people truly repent and believe in the gospel. We will always have challenges this side of eternity, but virtuous people of good will can face them together if we place our trust in God and not government. This year, that means voting republican. And when the election is over, we need to double over efforts to Evangelize the 40+% that vote pro-abortion and pro- culture of death. - Athanasius Tue, 30 Oct 2012 05:07:38 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/on-elections.html#comment-14120 Father, as long as you mentioned Plato, I think if he were alive today he would favor a government led by a king with a sharp axe. - Grump Tue, 30 Oct 2012 03:24:57 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/on-elections.html#comment-14119 I predict Romney will win by the smallest margin' in history.We need to vote to make this happen! Jack - Jack,CT Tue, 30 Oct 2012 03:00:45 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/on-elections.html#comment-14118 In his Treatise on Government, Aristotle says of the various ways of appointing magistrates, "Of these there are two adapted to a democracy; namely, to have all the magistrates chosen out of all the people, either by vote or lot, or both; that is to say, some of them by lot, some by vote." [IV:15] He seems to have thought there was little to choose between the two methods: one is as much a lottery as the other - Michael Paterson-Seymour Mon, 29 Oct 2012 23:27:55 +0100