Paragraph 42 of that document highlights a conundrum that seems to come up every election year: can Catholics be single-issue voters? Is it OK to endorse one candidate because s/he supports one particular issue that is near and dear to my Catholic heart?
The bishops give a resounding, clear-cut, no-doubt-about-it NO; we should not vote for a candidate because of one issue alone. It's the third sentence in the paragraph that I find most interesting. Read it for yourself:
42. As Catholics we are not single-issue voters. A candidate's position on a single issue is not sufficient to guarantee a voter's support. Yet a candidate's position on a single issue that involves an intrinsic evil, such as support for legal abortion or the promotion of racism, may legitimately lead a voter to disqualify a candidate from receiving support.
While voting for a candidate because of single issue sympathy is outright denied, if a candidate holds near and dear to one issue that is (of itself, or, theologically speaking, in its moral object) intrinsically evil, we can disqualify them from the receiving our support.
This is just good spiritual practice. If someone is participating in some evil, especially something gravely evil, we should disassociate ourselves from them. If we actively support them, we are accomplices to the evil they are doing.
I think I already know the most common argument people will make against this statement: Every candidate stands with something that is morally questionable, so, according to the bishops, we can't vote for anyone, because no matter what, we'll be participating in some evil.
There's something true in that statement and also something terribly false.
TRUE: We won't EVER find a candidate that perfectly in every situation upholds the dignity of the human person above all else, outlaws abortion, feeds the poor, gives healthcare to those who can't afford it, does away with embryonic stem cell research, makes the death penalty a thing of the past, locks up doctors who facilitates suicides, and provides a safety net for orphaned children (did I miss any of the prolife initiatives?).
FALSE, While there is no single perfect candidate (unless the Lord Jesus himself were to be the last-minute, third party candidate this November), that does not mean we cannot or should not evaluate what evils a candidate stands for and check them according to our Catholic-formed conscience. Evil is evil, but not all evils carry the same weight. The goods we try to uphold do, in fact, exist in a hierarchy. The good of equality among the races outweighs the good of the price of gas, and the good of human life outweighs all other goods.
It is not intrinsically evil to cut taxes. It is intrinsically evil to abort a baby, or promote racism, or to steal, etc. These things can never be "good" no matter what the intention behind them or the circumstances around them.
When a candidate stands for one or multiple intrinsically evil positions, and we have an alternative who, while not being perfect in any stretch of the imagination, we can, and I'd argue should discredit the the former by supporting the latter.
Don't take my word for it. Take Jesus': If something (or someone) causes you to sin, cut it off.
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