Abp Lori on Intrinsic Evil & Voting

by Michael Sean Winters

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From Kathryn Jean Lopez, at National Review, we have this:

“This is a big moment for Catholic voters to step back from their party affiliation,” Baltimore archbishop William E. Lori tells me from the Knights of Columbus annual convention in Anaheim, Calif.

For Catholic voters in November, Lori advises, “The question to ask is this: Are any of the candidates of either party, or independents, standing for something that is intrinsically evil, evil no matter what the circumstances? If that’s the case, a Catholic, regardless of his party affiliation, shouldn’t be voting for such a person.”

Of course, Mr. Romney is on record saying that, as a matter of public policy, he supports access to contraception. And, he has equivocated on the use of torture. And, his health care reform law in Massachusetts, unlike President Obama's health care reform, explicitly provides for taxpayer funded abortions. So, is Archbishop Lori suggesting no Catholic can vote for Mr. Romney?

I have noted before that "intrinsic evil" is the wrong category to use when assessing politics. There are dozens of things that are intrinsically evil. Adultery is intrinsically evil. Masturbation is intrinsically evil. There are things that are intrinsically evil that are not fit for a legislative remedy. It should not surprise that political advocates for the GOP like Professor Robert George and Mr. George Weigel invoke the category of intrinsic evil mistakenly. It is a shame that the Archbishop of Baltimore repeats the error.

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