The Reality of Voting
Faith, Foundational Documents, and Focus
Editor’s Note: The presidential election will occur on Tuesday, November 5th. Fr. Ben Daghir reflects on voting and provides various resources to assist in voting in accordance with Catholic teaching.
Voting is not a matter of electing Jesus Christ or Satan. Instead, voting demands that we choose between two sinners. Also, voters (you and I) are sinners. As a result, the correct choice demands preparation, clarity of mind, and virtue.
Both sides of the political aisle often portray elections to be as clear as voting between Jesus Christ and Satan. It’s just never this clear-cut.
We always get a choice between two sinners on the ballot. This is also true for local, state, and federal elections and in every country worldwide. This means that no candidate will be perfect, no candidate will solve all problems, and no candidate will be the Savior.
Let’s return to another important fact: voters (you and I) are also sinners.
This means we can have misconceptions, prejudices, errors, misinterpretations, and selfish motives. We can also tend to vote for the benefit of the self rather than the common good and fail to make key distinctions.
We need help to recognize and prioritize the most crucial issues properly. The fact that you and I are sinners also means that we can be deceived, manipulated, and confused. We are also capable of deceiving, manipulating, and confusing others.
So, how can a democracy function among candidates who are sinners and voters who are sinners? Well, it’s an excellent question. Since 1776, this American democracy has functioned with two realities constantly at play: the candidates are sinners, and the voters are sinners.
Fortunately, we are created in God's image and likeness. This means we have an intellect that desires the truth, a will that seeks the good, and passions that are oriented toward beauty. We can be virtuous and morally upright. We can be prudent, just, temperate, and courageous.
We can be humble, magnanimous, and docile. We can be brilliant, sacrificial, and charitable. We can also be logical, empathetic, and reflective. We can be creative, imaginative, and trustworthy. We can also come to know God in a very profound and remarkable way. We can even be transformed into another Christ, into a saint.
The Founding Fathers, who risked their lives for democracy, understood the two powerful realities of our sinful nature and Christ-like potential. As Alexis de Tocqueville and John Adams noted, the American principles in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States would be upheld and honored insofar as the American people were moral and religious.
In other words, American democracy is not designed for people grounded in vice and disconnected from what transcends (e.g., truth, goodness, beauty). Virtue is the condition for the possibility of American democracy and the prerequisite for continuing the uniquely American vision.
Voting is never a matter of electing Jesus Christ or Satan. It must be a virtuous vote and not one of vice. It means that we have to prepare to vote. We need to study. We need to know the issues. We need to dialogue with others. We need to be docile and learn from Catholic tradition. We need to know the foundational documents of the United States of America. We must allow for our faith and our minds to guide our vote.
*For more information to allow faith and virtue to inform your vote, I recommend the following resources:
1.) Consider reading “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship” from the Catholic Bishops of the United States:
2.) I highly recommend visiting this website Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching
3.) Read the foundational documents of the United States: The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States
4.) Watch Bishop Robert Barron on Catholicism and Politics:
5.) Listen to the political debates from 2024.
6.) Go vote!
Fr. Ben Daghir
