The Cure for Election Fever

As of this writing, no deaths have been reported. No one has been hospitalized. However, many (myself included) have experienced various common symptoms due to an extremely contagious condition that overcomes our nation in the autumn of every fourth year. I speak, of course, of election fever.

The most common symptom associated with election fever is a decline in practice of the virtues of charity and patience. An outsized sense of our own righteousness, combined with a heightened awareness of the shortcomings of others, diminishes our capacity for reasoned dialogue and even disrupts whatever level of humility we are able to maintain under normal circumstances.

In my day job, I work for a state bishops conference as an advocate in the public policy arena. In that role, I routinely encounter individuals suffering from election fever, and as I mentioned, I have endured several cases of it myself. I suggest the following principles be utilized to combat the effects.

Take a deep breath. Yes, it may be true you have studied Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship many times and can wax eloquent on the relationship between issues involving intrinsic evil and those that are matters of prudential judgment. And yes, the fellow parishioner you’ve been cornering since Mass ended doesn’t seem to quite understand that difference. That’s ok. Let it go. If you have rationally and prayerfully thought through your voting decision, and have shared your thoughts when and where it is appropriate, you have fulfilled your responsibility. Which brings us to our second principle…

Remember you are primarily responsible for your own actions, not the actions of others. There is a fine line between sharing Church teaching in a spirit of catechesis or even fraternal correction and simply berating our brothers and sisters for their failures. Yes, it is true that a Catholic may sin if they vote for a candidate because of his or her support for intrinsic evil. But, in most cases, we can’t really know that’s the case, and many times we can reasonably be sure that our Catholic friends are voting for a candidate for good reasons, even if we don’t think their reasons are good enough. But, even if we know for certain that a fellow Catholic is voting for a candidate because of their support for an intrinsic evil, we should still limit our words and actions because…

Sins involving voting are no different from other sins. It is depressingly common for Catholics to approach their brothers and sisters who disagree on political decisions as if they are an enemy in need of a public exorcism. Consider this: if you knew or suspected that a Catholic was involved in an extramarital affair or had a drinking problem, would you approach them the way you’d approach a Catholic who is supporting the “wrong” candidate? Or would you pray for them and, at most, offer very private correction or encouragement to do the right thing?

Also, the normal conditions for moral culpability apply to voting as much as to anything else. If someone supports a candidate for what they sincerely believe to be good and just reasons, they may not be culpable for sin even if they are casting a vote that you or I might consider objectively indefensible. But, you might say, if they help elect a candidate who supports evil policies, that harms us all! True, but that brings us to our next principle…

Your efforts are not going to determine the outcome of the election. Unless all of your friends are swing voters in Ohio or Florida, the chances are that even if you win all the arguments you engage in and flip every vote (which won’t happen), that will likely have no effect on who wins the election. However, if you aren’t that successful, it very well could cause divisions in the body of Christ within your own parish, family, or community. Proportionally weighing those possibilities should make it clear why we need to take a step back. After all, isn’t the fact that we are in this mess due to the failure of our bishops to lead on a larger stage? Well, no, which reminds me…

The bishops do not control the “Catholic vote.” This principle should be obvious to most people, but doesn’t seem to be that widely accepted. We all know that, despite clear Church teaching to the contrary, many Catholics use contraception, co-habitate before marriage, divorce at rates similar to the rest of the population, and otherwise don’t seem all that different from their secular neighbors. And yet, many argue that if the bishops would just be a little clearer about how Catholics should vote, millions of votes would immediately shift in the right direction. The sad truth is that a relatively small percentage of Catholics approach voting decisions with Church teaching as their primary guide. How can this be changed? Simple, but very difficult…

As with everything else, prayer, catechesis, and evangelization are our only real weapons. Ultimately, if we are successful in re-evangelizing our culture, especially those who identify with the Church, and see the fruit of the ongoing increase in solid catechesis, that will be reflected in how Catholics live out all aspects of their lives, including their political lives. If we are unsuccessful, Catholics will continue to vote like the larger population votes, and for the same reasons. And the most essential means to ensure we are successful is a renewed commitment to prayer.

These are challenging times for faithful Catholics. Our problems are not going to be solved through politics. Our enemies are not those sitting beside us at Sunday Mass. The outcome of a single election is not going to determine the long-term success or failure of the Catholic Church in the United States. What we need is deeper conversion. May it begin with me.