Thursday, October 13, 2016

The Presidential Election: Between a Rock and a Hard Place



 As we inch closer and closer to the day of reckoning in American politics, where are my thoughts?  All of you, my faithful readers, are likely aware of the problem we face.  On the one hand, we have the candidate from the Democrat party who aspires to become the first woman president and who has a penchant for killing unborn children in all its heartless and cold-blooded brutality all in the name of a most despicable form of feminism.  On the other hand, we have a candidate from the Republican party who has been labeled an insult-prone and egotistical, power-hungry demagogue whose potty-mouth and alleged actions have recently horrified and repulsed all of us who like to think our civic leaders should be respectful, upstanding citizens especially where women are concerned.  All of this leaves most of us between the proverbial rock and hard place when it comes to voting.

I have opposed Hillary Clinton for a very long time.  Don’t get me wrong … feminism, in its proper context and purpose, is an important concept.  Equal pay for equal work, for example, is an obviously imperative and valuable idea for a civilized nation.  But the killing of unborn children is despicable and sinful beyond words.  I cannot, for the life of me, understand how the United States of America, or any other ostensibly civilized nation, has arrived at this point where our children can be killed for any reason up to the day they are to be delivered to the light of day and into their mother’s arms for the first time.  To me, there is no question that devoted motherhood should be a part of the conversation when considering feminist issues.  Abortion should be condemned as a shamefully wicked and contemptible act.  On top of this is Ms. Clinton’s apparent lack of comprehension all things religious.  Recently, I understand she made some comments indicating that Catholicism needs to change in order to conform to modern societal norms.  Well, societal norms are not always good and virtuous in their nature.  The role of the Catholic Church is to work to the eternal salvation of all on earth.  In this role, the Church cannot change in these matters.  Society must change!  Who does Clinton think she is anyway?

If Clinton is the rock, what is the hard place like?  Donald Trump!  Up until he declared himself a candidate, most of us knew him as the rich business tycoon and reality television host who is known for indiscriminately firing people who are not of the same mold.  But the campaign has brought to the fore many other dishonorable and immoral traits that should make him disqualified at best.   He is driven to be famous and powerful.  What better position for fame and power would the presidency be for him?  Hence the reason he is running.  He likes to use the word “disaster” for all his opponents and adversaries (which doesn’t say too much for his vocabulary).  He has had experience running a business (with certainly some suspicious practices that give him tax breaks, etc.), but has absolutely no experience in any capacity whatsoever running a country like our beloved United States of America and has no business doing so.

Where does all of this leave me as far as my vote is concerned?  Father Frank Pavone, the Catholic priest who heads up the respectable organization “Priests for Life,” posted an essay on Facebook recently that is a powerful witness to what we face and what our thought process should be leading up to November 8.  You have probably guessed what his recommendation is, but will I follow it?   I’ve been praying for a long time now for our country and for an outcome that best conforms to the will of God.  I’ve thought that that outcome would be a third possibility emerging, such as Trump dropping out of the race and having a fabulous candidate take his place.  But alas, that is not happening.  So I continue to pray.  Prayer is powerful and I have every confidence that those distasteful societal norms will go away … some day.  I would ask all the Catholics in my devoted readership pray the rosary with me today … for our cherished United States of America.  Amen.    

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