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Sincerely,  Nick Wagner, Editor
Editor's Notes
The elect
When I was in grade school, the sisters held a mock election during the 1968 presidential race between Hubert Humphrey and Richard Nixon. At the time, I couldn’t have told you much about either candidate, and I don’t remember who I cast my ballot for. I only remember thinking it was cool to be able to vote like the grown-ups. And that was exactly the lesson my teachers meant to convey.
The document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States, teaches the same lesson that the nuns in my grade school did:
In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation. This obligation is rooted in our baptismal commitment to follow Jesus Christ and to bear Christian witness in all we do. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “It is necessary
that all participate, each according to his position and role, in promoting the common good. This obligation is inherent in the dignity of the human person.… As far as possible citizens should take an active part in public life.” (nos. 1913-1915)
Catholics seem to know this; the voter turnout among Catholics is higher by percentage than the population as a whole. Still, there are millions of Catholics who do not vote. (Total U.S. voter turnout for the 2004 election was 55.3 percent of the population.)
Predictably, Catholics who are actively practicing their faith vote in higher numbers than inactive Catholics. Perhaps active Catholics are getting the message, directly or indirectly, about our baptismal commitment to influence the public sphere. For our less active brothers and sisters, the election season can become a time of evangelization. If we can teach the children that it’s cool to vote, perhaps they can influence their parents to go to the polls on election day. The urging of the children might create a teachable moment in which they can share with mom and dad what they learned from their catechists and teachers about baptismal responsibility. And, in eight or ten years when they have their first opportunity to vote with the grown-ups, they’ll remember the lesson they learned from us. RTJ
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