Catholics: Get active in politics.

It looks like there are currently three opportunities for faithful Catholics to participate in the political process right now.  We must get active.  Our voices must be heard in the public arena.  If our voices for the culture of life are not heard, only those of the culture of death will be heard.

1.  The United States House of Representatives has passed the Pain-Capable Abortion Ban.  This would make abortion illegal after 20 weeks, which is when scientific evidence shows babies in the womb are able to feel pain.  The bill has been introduced in the Senate.  One source reports that it would save about 18,000 lives per year.  This would be a nice incremental step in the right direction.  We would still have another million lives per year to save in this country.  We should contact our senators asking them to support the ban.

2. The Senate has passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act which has been hanging around Washington for about the last 20 years.  The last news I heard was that John Boehner, Speaker of the House, was not going to allow it for a vote.  This is good news!  The Catholic Bishops of the United States oppose the bill because it would punish those who disapprove of sexual conduct outside of marriage.  We should contact Speaker Boehner asking him to hold firm in his decision not to allow the vote.  We should also contact our own representatives asking them to oppose the bill.

Be forewarned: One thing we will continue to hear from those in the culture of death is that the Church should not be concerned because churches, their offices, and parochial schools will be exempt.  This drives me crazy.  What about the Catholic business owner who wants to live his or her faith in the workplace?  Freedom of religion goes well beyond the 50 minutes we spend in church on Sundays.  We are called to have Christ as Dominus of our lives.  I use the Latin "Dominus" instead of the English "Lord" to show we should let Him dominate our lives.  I cannot take credit for that.  Fr. Robert Barron just said it about an hour ago in a speech in Philadelphia.

3. Cardinal Dolan recently sent a letter to John Boehner asking him for swift action on immigration reform.  We should support the efforts of the bishops as they strive to protect human dignity.  With our broken system the way it is, we end up with an unjust arrangement that makes it easy for human beings, made in God's image, to be exploited.  They deserve protection of the law from exploitation because they are made in God's image.  Then there are the issues of destruction and separation that happen to the family because of the current broken system.  We need policies for strong families because families are the building blocks of society.