Friday, January 4, 2008

The Third Evil

Thanks very much for taking my stumbling attempts seriously. I am particularly impressed by the "third evil" that Sharon mentions at the beginning of her post -- I find this argument most compelling.

I am also glad to feel quite mortified that my position (as Sharon correctly points out) is emblematic of bunker-mentality Catholicism, something I often decry! It's not that I want to withdraw from the arena of politics -- there are many ways I participate and communicate with my elected officials -- it's just that voting, per se, is fraught with conflict for me. I would be happy to vote if there were a "none of the above" category -- such that if enough voters checked it off, the whole process would have to begin with a fresh field of candidates, until we could find one we could all love.

What also strikes me (playing "angel's advocate" to myself) is the fact that Christ calls us to live in the precise circumstances we're given -- that, like it or not, I happen to be an American citizen living in 2008. Probably a lot of why I do not like to get behind any of these candidates is that I keep saying "if only..." and calling myself an idealist. But if the ideal, that is Christ, can only be found in my particular circumstances, then I am going to have to start looking harder (digging beneath the dirt to find the gold, as Giussani points out in "Why the Church?").

I am glad that I had the courage to look like a fool and to risk being scolded, because these answers are very useful for my life.

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