voting for the common good.

i walked into work today and a "voting for the common good" pamphlet caught my eye. the subtitle was "a practical guide for conscientious catholics."

but, emily, you're not catholic? i know that, silly. but i LOVE catholics, particularly jesuits and dominicans. and i think they have some pretty good stuff to say. so i opened up the pamphlet and thought it was brilliant. if you can't figure out why to vote or who to vote for, this might be helpful (assuming you follow a form of the christian faith). here's the gist:

one. inform your conscience.

• listening to one's conscience is necessary to make any moral decision.
• the first step in voting your conscience is to inform it
• research the candidate's positions
• discuss issues with family, friends and Church officials
  

two. apply prudence.

• prudence = the moral wisdom required to apply principles to an imperfect world and unforeseeable circumstances
  
• look for the candidate who will do the most in concrete terms to promote dignity of human life, justice and peace
• reject "litmus tests" that reduce catholic/christian issues to one or a few issues
• seldom does a single candidate or party offer a consistently catholic set of positions
  

three. vote for the common good.

• a culture of the common good provides for the health, welfare, and dignity of all people, and promotes the best interests of everyone, not just the few
• we look out for our neighbors not out of charity but out of love, and the understanding that we are all safer, healthier, and freer in a world where we take care of one another
• the health, security, and prosperity of americans must go hand-in-hand with the well being of all peoples, and that our common humanity must be made stronger than our divisions

and that, Internet, will inform a lot of my choices in six days.