McCain or Obama...

... or neither?

Just read today in The Catholic Spirit (archdiocesan weekly paper) an excerpt from "Faithful Citizenship", the US Bishops pamphlet about Catholic Social Teaching and the electoral process.

This one was on human life and war, a wide ranging piece on issues from the death penalty to weapons of mass destruction to abortion to racism & genocide.

One excerpt from the document was quoted in an accompanying commentary, to wit:

That is why when the church urges us to vote, it notes: “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.”

Well then... what's a voter to do this year?

McCain supports the destruction of embryos for stem cell research, an intrinsic moral evil according to the church. Obama supports the right to abortion, an intrinsic moral evil according to the church. And not just the Catholic church, either. Evangelicalism feels the same.

Oops. There went my choices.

I'm beginning to look at Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate. He says government should take no position on abortion or stem cell research. One might call that a cop-out, but it would also have the effect of publicly de-funding each... while providing room for individual conscience to decide what's right.

Hm.