By Steve Jalsevac
Managing Director
LifeSiteNews.com
There are some pretty disturbing stories these day about the panicky, mindless voting plans of some normally pro-life, pro-marriage leaning Canadians – people who should know much better than to be doing what they are. This happens every election, some elections worse than others.
Pro-life, pro-family Canadians must reign in their emotions, use their reason, seek the very best counsel and information. After that they should vote such that years from now they will feel at peace that they did the right thing at that time. That is, they will have nothing to tell the Lord that they would be ashamed of.
Like the following:
In riding A a pro-life leader attended an all-candidates meeting to find most of his fellow Catholic parishionersÂtotally supporting the local pro-abortion, pro-gay Liberal candidate and some the equally socially liberal NDP candidate. What makes it worse is that the local Conservative is a competent, 100% pro-life, pro-traditional marriage candidate. At about the same time The Toronto Star quotedÂa Catholic nun, concerned about the poor, but not the poor unborn and those threatened by euthanasia, statingÂshe wasÂvoting for the pro-abort, pro-gay Liberal.Â
One of the NDP Catholics even has a much loved grandchild living in his home that was saved from abortion. The pro-life leader could not reason with his fellow Catholics. They rejected his thoroughly reasonable arguments as being too harsh, too judgmental.
Why were they voting and even working for a candidate that militantly opposes fundamental Catholic/Christian moral beliefs? Because, they indicated, they’re conveniently defined “social justice” Catholics first. That is, the real teachings of their faith and the preaching of their Popes and the will of God are a much lower priority for them than their personal preferences. Those preferences are their real god.
Another issue here is bigotry – bigotry against a party to the point of making a pact with the devil to stop those whom these voters simply don’t like or are unreasonably afraid of. Not voting for the Conservative candidate in this riding is wrong and unreasonable. Bigotry is unreasonable.
You have to wonder, how bad does it have to get, how many more innocents have to die and how much more social corruption and loss of freedom do we have to experience before these people wake up to what they have been creating? Next time may finally be too late.
An opposite situation exists in numerous ridings where a clearly anti-life, anti-family Conservative is running against a clearly pro-life, pro-marriage Liberal MP or candidate.
There is no excuse here. Not voting for the pro-life, pro-marriage candidate is wrong, wrong, no matterÂhow you rationalize it. Voting for the Conservative hereÂvents frustration and anger. It makes some feel good about getting back at the Liberals – for a while, until the ugly truth about the MP they are now stuck with inevitably starts to show itself more prominently.
Voting for the anti-life candidate sends lots of messages. One is that for such misguided voters, a consistently courageous pro-life MP who has often publicly acted and voted against his party and leader is obviously not appreciated nor rewarded. Same for non-MPÂcandidates who openly oppose their leader and party on the life and family issues. So why should any politician in any party stick his neck out for what is right?
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Another message it sends to the pro-abort candidate and leaders is that these people are easy to win over. Their principles are skin deep. They only see the short term picture or their self interest. They can beÂmoved to switch their allegiances through skillful manipulation of images, emotions, desperation, promises of handouts of their own tax money – or a change. They don’t think through what they are doing.
People don’t trust politicians; they think they’re all crooks. Well, they’re not by any means all crooks, but is it really any wonder Canadians have elected so many that are crooks.
For years the pro-life movement has been begging Canadians to stop mindlessly voting for corrupt pro-abort Liberals again and again. Now, many are determined to also vote for corrupt Conservative pro-abort, pro-gay ‘marriage’ candidates. TheyÂare once again ignoring pro-life leadership pleas that real, long-term change will only come when we finally all begin to only vote for pro-life, pro-family candidates in any party.
On the issues of life and family, our actions must be party blind, even though we may belong to and prefer one party over another. Party slaves are a dime a dozen. We have to be different.
We must be consistently pro-life and courageous to the point of accepting that even though we are attracted to vote for and work for someone, and that it will be difficult to say no to that person whom we personally know or to our friends or family -Â we are nevertheless obliged to do what we know is the right thing.
There has been aÂmajor lack of courage and applied Christian conviction among Canadians for the past four decades or so. Increasing numbers of vulnerable Canadians, unborn and now the elderly, defectiveÂand chronically ill, are dying because of this. Children and youth have been deprived of desperately needed example, direction and stable family life. Our basic social institutions are crumbling.
The cause and the solution are there in our mirrors. They always have been.
LifeSiteNews.com urges its readers and all Canadians to simple do what is right, rather than what they feel like doing or what the wave of voters in your area might be doing this crucial election.
In many ridings there is admittedly no clear right or wrong selection.ÂThe candidates mayÂpresent themselves in varyingÂdegrees of pro-life and pro-abortion.ÂIn those ridings you will have to make a personal judgment call.
Ultimately, elections are not the solution to our problems but they do reflect the state of the souls and minds of the people of the nation, their priorities, their principles or lack thereof.
In the end, we always get the results we deserve.
To see what the positions of the candidates are go to the Campaign Life Coalition Candidate Evaluations page at
https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/federal2006/index.html