Governments and political leaders will never solve spiritual problems. Solving spiritual problems is, after all, not one of the functions of government.
Far too often though, we sinners have looked to kings, senators, consuls, emperors, prime ministers, and presidents in an effort to solve problems within ourselves. But after repentance and reconciliation, we can only seek forgiveness from God. He is the solution for our spiritual ailments.
Responsibility
Be that as it may, this is not an excuse to abdicate our responsibilities to engage in the political environment in which we reside. As the “Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “1915 As far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life.” So voting in elections is pretty much mandatory.
God gave many of us the gift of life within a democracy, republic, or in the case of the United States, a hybrid of the two. With this gift is the responsibility to vote to uphold the principles and laws God gave us.
Many in today’s secular world demand that Christians set aside their beliefs when going to the ballot box. The argument is that one must separate “Church and State.”
This battle cry, however, is really an attempt to get us to surrender our Catholic values without a fight. Would a secular atheist accept the argument that they should surrender their values because atheism has no coherent baseline to establish right and wrong? Of course not.
Regardless of an election’s outcome, God will remember who each of us voted for, and why, at our personal judgement.
Clear Comparison
As the presidential election in the United States nears, we can make a clear comparison between two very different administrations.
The 45th and 46th presidents of the United States are both flawed men. Both are fallible, imperfect humans. They are sinners, just like you and me.
Opponents have vilified both presidents, so much so, one may find it difficult to discern the truth. However, a president does not work alone. Each president assembles a team to implement his vision in government. As such, one can look at those who surround a president to help discern the president’s true character.
But when looking at these people, do not look at what they call themselves. Anyone can call themselves a Christian or even say they are Catholic. Look at what they do and what they stand for instead.
In the Left Corner
Very colorful people makeup both administrations. Nevertheless, one administration was composed of appointees who openly celebrate sin.
Sam Brinton is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy. His fashion choices are unusual. He wears women’s dresses and makeup to complement his mustache and shaved head. He is also a homosexual activist and former officer of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Catholic-mocking Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
He is, however, no longer with the Department of Energy. Brinton and the DOE parted company in 2022. He left the DOE after two separate charges of stealing women’s luggage at airports ended his career at the DOE.
Over at the HHS, the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health is a man who thinks he is a woman. Moreover, he is a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry. Would you want a man who thinks he is woman diagnosing and treating your children?
The vice president of the current administration is among the most pro-abortion members of government. She even voted against treating children who survived failed abortions.
These three examples are strong examples of the anti-life, pro-sin culture of the current administration. After spending time going through the positions of numerous appointees and cabinet members, I was unable to find one pro-life or pro-family individual (as defined by God) among them. This for a president who claims to be Catholic.
In the Right Corner
In the previous administration we see a very different makeup. Let me offer three very high-profile examples. All of them are Justices of the Supreme Court.
Neil McGill Gorsuch was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2017. Although protestant, he was raised Catholic.
In 2018, Brett Kavanaugh was appointed to the Supreme Court after a very politically motivated character assassination. As a Roman Catholic, he serves as a regular lector during mass at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in D.C. He consistently volunteers to serve meals to the homeless as part of his parish’s programs.
Amy Coney Barrett is the third Supreme Court Justice appointed by the previous administration. She is a devout Catholic with several adopted children. Just as an observation, Justice Barrett has more black children than the black leftists who attacked her during her confirmation hearings.
These three appointees led to something most unexpected. No one that I knew believed Roe v Wade could be overturned in our lifetime, but it happened. These three judges returned laws concerning abortion back to the states.
Although the Dobbs decision reversed Roe v Wade, the number of abortions has actually increased over the last year. The fight for life is continuing now state by state.
Regardless of the incessant demonization of the Trump administration, it is clearly more aligned with Catholic teaching than is the Biden administration.
The Current Choices
Although President Biden is no longer running for reelection, his appointed replacement plans to carry on the same agenda. And we already have insights into each of these administrations by looking at the character of their vice-presidential running mates.
In one corner, you have a pro-abortion candidate who bears false witness regarding his own experience. In the other corner, you have a life protecting Catholic convert who rose from poverty in a broken home with a drug addicted mother.
During your personal judgement after your death, will you be able to say you picked the best candidate to protect life? Or will you say I picked the candidate who didn’t send mean tweets.
16 thoughts on “The Character of Those Our Leaders Appoint Speaks Volumes”
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Balanced insights… truly we shall be held responsible, Lord Jesus mercy.
CaptCrisis, unmask thyself, or thou shalt be dubbed, “Capn’ Crunch,” henceforth!
The Democrats have become a death cult. They celebrate abortion and the transitioning (e.g., mutilation and chemical castration) of children. They discourage family formation and have become totally invested in the global war machine. You may not like the person of Trump (a sinner like you and me), but the alternative is assuring a future of war and anti-human policy.
True and those poor victims of the hurricane who have not been adequately helped and it seems news stories on potential Voter fraud situations are leaking out and that do not seem altogether uncommon. Sad. Anyway, I did sign up to be a poll “challenger” officially called.
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However much one hates Donald Trump, and assuming that everything said about him is true, this does not make it an act of virtue for a catholic with a well-formed conscience to vote for Harris or any democrat. No matter what the other candidates say or do, if a catholic with a well formed conscience votes for a candidate who advocates for or promotes an intrinsic evil – e.g. “mercy” murder, abortion, killing persons in embryonic stem cell research – such a vote is a mortal sin. You cannot invoke the “lesser evil” mantra to make voting for Harris et al virtuous – there are no exceptions to this-one can never never never never never never vote to advocate for or promote intrinsic evil or vote for thooe who will. See, e.g., https://the-american-catholic.com/2024/10/20/voting-for-hitler-harris/. And note well: this is NOT to say to vote for Trump. Saving one’s immortal soul demands that one not vote for Harris or any democrat; and, if you wish to reply, please first learn church teaching on “intrinsic evil” and “well formed conscience.” Guy, Texas
Under Harris one can assume that abortions will decrease — because they always do, with Democratic Presidents. One can “virtue signal” or one can act to actually decrease intrinsic evils.
Wrong (as usual) captcrisis. In 2023 there were 1,026,700 medical procedure abortions, “the highest number in over a decade” according to “the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports access to abortion.” Medication induced abortions were also up 53% from 2020. [https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/19/1238293143/abortion-data-how-many-us-2023]
To Guy: Thank you for the thoughtful comment.
This site will bend over backwards to excuse, explain away Trump’s unfitness for office, his threats to mass deport immigrants, his racist appeals to cleanse this country of “vermin” who are “poisoning our blood”. Not to mention his execrable character. It’s Trump first. Christian, distant second.
It’s a little more than “sending mean tweets”.
Explain to me why pro life Republicans who worked for Trump are supporting Harris.
P.S. Your attitude toward Trump seems to be in accord with one long-established strand of Catholic thought, and conflict with another.
Trump has boasted of sexual assault, has been accused of rape, and has even been taken to court by one woman (where the jury found in her favor). Yet you seem to consider a man being gay and wearing a dress as the greater evil. This reminds me of Aquinas’s statement that masturbation is worse than rape. At least with rape the sacrosanct mechanics of sex (penis into vagina) were being observed.
Trump has also willfully and even gleefully broken the law, and has to some extent been brought to justice by the court system (despite delays sought by his lawyers and allowed by Trump-appointed judges). In your mind this is less important than the greater good of combatting “evil”. Do you recognize this quote? “What would you do? Cut a road through the law to get after the Devil? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned on you, where would you hide, the laws all being flat?”
They should quit trying to justify Trump and just admit he will give them the power they crave. No defense of Trump is ever about his character— he has none — but about the desire for power to hurt other people.
To CptCrisis and Karen Cox: Thank you both for illustrating how candidates are vilified.
To Karen: I would like to know exactly what power you image the unpaid volunteer writers for this site crave and would receive from political leaders?
“How candidates are vilified”
This is a content-free comment. There is a real reason (in fact many) why Trump is being “villified”. You don’t seem to want to engage with it.
To CaptCrisis: The topic of this article is about the character of those our leaders appoint. None of your postings comment on the content of the article.