Questions, answers

The presidential election has resulted in several letters to the editor. The letters raise some interesting points, some of which need answers.

For example, a letter this week asks why the diocese, including Bp. Robert Banks and The Compass didn't endorse any candidates.

One answer is that federal law bars all non-profit organizations from endorsing political candidates.

A second answer can be found in Bp. Banks' column (10/20). He said that while he tries, privately, to convince friends to vote for particular candidates, he has never publicly endorsed any candidate. He said he does not believe endorsements by a bishop are helpful and can even be counterproductive. In the same column, he wrote extensively about the evil of abortion.

Some letter writers have also asked why the church, including bishops, priests and, in our case, The Compass have not alerted people that George W. Bush opposes abortion under most circumstances and that Al Gore favors legal abortion in virtually all circumstances and that he has promised to appoint like-minded Supreme Court justices. Bush has said he would name justices who would strictly interpret the Constitution.

Before the election, we ran stories that pointed out their stances on abortion. In the final two issues before the election, six letters specifically urged people to vote for Bush because of his stance on abortion in contrast to Gore. Other letters dealt with other aspects of abortion. We neither received nor ran any letters that advocated a vote for Gore for any reason. Numerous stories in the secular media also spelled out the abortion position of Bush and Gore. Throughout the campaign Gore made much of his support of legal abortion.

Several letter writers also have expressed their dismay that 50% of Catholics voted for Gore and 47% voted for Bush. As nice as it might be to believe that more preaching by priests or deacons or more stories in Catholic publications would have changed these votes, that seems unlikely. Exit polls showed that people who go church more than once a week voted for Bush 63-30 and those who go weekly favored him 57-40. The less often someone goes to church, the more likely they were to vote for Gore and those who say they never go to church voted 61-32 for Gore. In other words, it would be hard for preachers to convince people who would be unlikely to hear their message.

Short of going in and illegally filling out the ballots, there is probably little anyone could have done to change those votes. Prayer and a loving example may be our best hope to bring about change.