Checking out the Virginia Catholic Conference website and their rankings of the candidates (which you can preview here). I’m sure both sides are going to spin this one rather hard — Kaine refused to respond to two questions on abortion and the death penalty, and Kilgore broke his long-standing policy of not responding to questionaires, to which I am genuinely shocked. However, there’s a lot of meat here that strikes to the heart of the Catholic vote.
Firstly, the questionaire covers the broad spectrum of Catholic social teaching and should be understood in that light. Many Dems might take a look at this and argue (unfactually) that because Kaine might have responded to the affirmative on some social justice issues, that Kaine may be the more Catholic vote.
Secondly, it’s worth going over what constitues “winning” the heart and mind of the Catholic voter. While Catholic social teaching touches on a number of issues, abortion and the sanctity of human life is issue #1. All other issues listed on the questionaire are ultimately a secondary concern, and this has been stressed repeatedly by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI as authentic and magisterial (translation: Catholics are instructed to keep abortion first in their minds when they vote in democratic societies).
The only condition where Catholics can set this consideration aside is when there is a more serious and more grave threat to the sanctity of human life than abortion. This is an important distinction to keep in mind, because there will ultimately be some Democrats who will skew any Catholic Social Docrine as ultimately rooted in more Democratic values than Republican ones.
Thirdly, keep in mind that Catholic social teaching is that – apart from abortion – is in flux. Pope Leo XIII was the first to bring these issues to light towards the end of the 19th century with the encyclical Rerum Novarum. When you take into account that it’s only been 120 years of development in a Church that’s been around for 2,000 years, CST is a baby yet!
In the end, while issues such as the death penalty, just war, fair labor wages, and education are all encompassed in the respects of the human person, Catholicism by nature doesn’t impose or enforce the means, but rather proposes the ends. So for instance, yes everyone wants to see workers paid a fair wage, but Catholic social teaching is silent on the methods used to approach these ends. A debate as to whether or not enforced minimum wage laws or a true free market society is best to encourage a living wage is a legitimate one. In contrast, a debate as to whether or not abortion is a tolerable or intolerable offense is not — Catholic social teaching is very clear on this matter and it is not debatable.
Let’s go through the responses, shall we?
HUMAN LIFE
Kaine opposes prohibiting the use of public funds for research on stem cells derived from human embryos, something clearly contravening the teachings of the Catholic Church. Kaine also opposes the regulation of abortion clinics to get them up-to-standard as other outpatient surgical hospitals are required to be. As for opposing state funding of Planned Parenthood and other non-government organizations that either provide or counsel for abortions, Kaine refuses to answer
Three strikes, and all on issues our Catholic faith is explicity clear upon.
Then we get to the death penalty…
Kaine refused to answer whether or not he would ban the death penalty in Virginia. In contrast, Kilgore opposed limiting the use of the death penalty (suggesting he would expand it’s use in the Commonwealth). No real winners here with regards to the questionaire, but Kaine has some explaining to do as to why he refused to answer on an issue he clearly feels so strongly about and defends on the basis of his faith.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Affordable Housing. Minimum Wage. Labor Protections. Here is where many of the more liberal (i.e. socialist) mindset play the game of “gotcha” with more conservative or libertarian proponents of CST. This having been said, while the ends are non-debateable, the method of acheiving all three of these ends are legitimately debated in Catholic intellectual circles. Is government enforced socialization really the best way to provide affordable housing? A living wage? Protections for labor? Many argue that government socialization of all three isn’t necessarily responsible government, but rather the path to socialism (a path condemned by Leo XIII and Pius X).
In contrast, it was Leo XIII who first argued that every head-of-household should be paid enough to support himself and his family, thus a “living wage theory” is applied. Who best enforces this though? The state? Responsible businesses? And under which system do the ends best flourish, those ends being true Christian charity? Reading John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus on the 100 year anniversary of Leo XIII’s aforementioned encyclical, one can see how JP II approves highly of the autonomy of the individual over the suffocating bureaucracy of the state, specifically because is squashes individual Christain charity and turns it into an impersonal and cold routine.
Kaine argues the state should provide protections for all three. Kilgore argues in favor of the free market. No real issues here, but again one of the interesting issues within Catholic social teaching that is still being forged.
FAMILIES AND CHILDREN
Kaine and Kilgore oppose homosexual marriage and support a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman without exceptions. Both support EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit) for low-income workers. Both even support using public busing for non-public school students.
However, on two issues, the candidates diverge. Kaine opposes the establishment of a non-public student textbook program to support the purchase of non-religious textbooks for students. Kilgore supports such a measure. Kaine also supports allowing the children of undocumented immigrants to attend state public schools and universities. Kilgore opposes both.
CONSCIENCE PROTECTIONS
Think RU-486. Both Kaine and Kilgore support the rights of employers to avoid providing coverage for contraceptives.
But before the Dems wash their hands (and the Republicans get too giddy), both also oppose legislation that protects pharmacists from being fired if they refuse to fill out prescriptions for contraceptives.
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I sometimes wonder whether or not Kaine is being forced into a box by the Democratic Party. Yes, I know I particularly bash Kaine for undermining his faith for the sake of the pro-abortion Democrats, but some part of me wonders whether or not he does it because he has to.
Overall, on the bulk of Catholic social teaching (sans abortion), neither candidate really knocks the ball out of the park. If not for Kilgore’s desire to extend the death penalty to crimes which do not involve the “triggerman” (e.g. a drug kingpin who peddles in death but never actually kills), Kilgore would do very well on the sanctity of life. Faithful Catholics can take a great deal of heart with Kilgore’s responses.
In the end, there are no surprises here, and the disappointments are expected (and mostly from Kaine). But for some reason… and I don’t precisely know why… I get the feeling that Kaine wanted to answer this questionaire much differently on the topic of abortion than his Democratic minders demanded.
I almost feel bad for Tim Kaine (almost).