It is morally permissible for Catholics to vote for Obama

I thank Socialpinko for taking part in this debate. I beg his pardon for taking so long to answer and will be quick with my opening arguments.In making a decision as to which candidate to support in a general election there are a great many issues that must be examined. In order to help Catholics make a decision in line with Catholic teaching, His Holiness pope Benedict XVI offers a list of four principles with which we must judge any and all candidates for public office. These are:1. Respect for human life, its defence from conception to natural death, 2. The family built upon marriage between a man and a woman,3. The freedom to educate one's children 4. The promotion of the common good in all its forms He ends by saying "These values are not negotiable." (1)Beyond that, it is up to a Catholics prudential judgement to see which candidate falls in line with the common good better than the other. On these issues, however, if a candidate does not fulfill the requirement, a Catholic cannot in conscience give this person his vote.Some contend that, as neither candidate with chances of winning fulfills all five, one must make a prudential judgment about which is more important and who fulfills those. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith begs to differ:"It must be noted also that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals. The Christian faith is an integral unity, and thus it is incoherent to isolate some particular element to the detriment of the whole of Catholic doctrine. A political commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church’s social doctrine does not exhaust one’s responsibility towards the common good." (2)So, now that principles have been set out let's see how Obama fares on the four non-negotiable issues.1. Respect for life from conception to natural death. I have not as of yet heard Obama's position on Euthanasia, however he has been the most aggressive advocate of abortion the White House has ever seen. He voted against the Born Alive Act, which would force doctors to provide health care to infants born alive in a botched abortion, he did away with the Mexico City policy and has advocated abortion consistently every time the issue has come up. Not to mention the inclusion of abortifacients in the HHS mandate.2. The family built on marriage between a man and a woman. The president has recently changed his position on marriage and has decided his administration will no longer defend DOMA (defense of marriage act).3. Freedom to educate ones children: Not as much of an issue in the US as in Europe as far as I can tell, so I guess we'll give him a pass on this one.4. Promotion of the common good: The economy and promotion of civil society all fall into this category. It is the one that is most susceptible to prudential judgment. Although many are making the case against Obama almost exclusively from this point, it would be a matter of legitimate diversity of opinion amongst Catholics (if it weren't for the fact that both the life issues and marriage count as grave attacks on the Common Good).Add to all of this the HHS mandate which his administration is being sued over by many Catholic diocese and organizations (3) This has been such a spectacular attack on the religious freedom of Catholics that every single diocese has spoken against the mandate (4). This is the greatest unanimity amongst Catholic bishops in the US since the first bishop of Baltimore decided to put jam rather than honey on his toast one morning. To vote for someone who enacts and supports objective evils, regardless of who his opponent is, is gravely sinful and not permissible for a Catholic.Sources(1) Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis http://www.vatican.va...(2) Doctrinal note on some questions regarding The Participation of Catholics in the Public Life http://www.vatican.va...(3) Catholics sue Obama http://articles.nydailynews.com...(4) Bishops speak out against the Mandate http://articles.nydailynews.com...