Author Topic: "The Moral Obligation of Voting" by Fr. Titus Cranny (1952) (Read 3283 times)

katholikos · « **on:** September 16, 2012, 11:31:43 AM »

There's a scanned PDF version of the book "The Moral Obligation of Voting" by Fr. Titus Cranny (Imprimatur 1952) available online, abridged:

http://www.novusordowatch.org/cranny-abridged.pdf

It outlines and explains the traditional Catholic position on voting in democratic elections, esp. in the United States. Very interesting. It talks about a lot of the issues we face, such as voting for a lesser evil, voting in primaries, giving good example vs. giving scandal, what if only bad candidates are running, etc.

Belloc · « **Reply #1 on:** September 18, 2012, 08:36:40 AM »

No thanks, too AMericanistic.....

We have NO obligation to vote, lesser 2 evils continues to lower the bar and reward bad people..
This article was written in 1952, now, look where it has led......with 60 yrs reflection, it is telling......

I will either not vote or vote for myself.....

these type pamphlets lead the gulluible to further ruin the nation.....

katholikos · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2012, 11:38:01 AM »

Quote from: Belloc

No thanks, too AMericanistic.....

We have NO obligation to vote, lesser 2 evils continues to lower the bar and reward bad people..
This article was written in 1952, now, look where it has led......with 60 yrs reflection, it is telling......

I will either not vote or vote for myself.....

these type pamphlets lead the gulluible to further ruin the nation.....

Sir, that's not how we can approach the subject of moral theology. The book addresses precisely these things. If it is permissible, sometimes even obligatory, to vote for an unworthy man - when necessary to prevent an even more unworthy man from obtaining office -, then you cannot go ahead and say "No, it isn't so." (The principle goes back to St. Thomas Aquinas, anyway, and is rooted in the truth that we have an obligation to minimize evil if we can.)

The book addresses a lot of related issues as well, such as good example vs. bad example, tyrannical governments, etc. Please read it, at least so you are informed. You cannot dismiss what you do not know.

People often forget that there are many, many offices and issues on the ballot, not merely one.

Besides, there are more choices for president than just two. Do not think that this is somehow meant to be a crypto-endorsement of any one particular candidate. I personally will not vote for either of the two main bozos - but that doesn't mean I somehow have no obligation to go vote.

katholikos · « **Reply #3 on:** September 30, 2012, 03:41:29 PM »

The entire book (as opposed to just an abridged version) is now available for PDF download:

Fr. Titus Cranny:
The Moral Obligation of Voting (1952)

http://www.novusordowatch.org/cranny.pdf

"It is wrong for Christians to shut their eyes and to cross their arms, alleging that nothing can be done."
--Pope Pius XII, Allocution "Ancora Una Volta" (June 2, 1947)

Belloc · « **Reply #4 on:** October 06, 2012, 09:18:28 PM »

Marcelino · « **Reply #5 on:** October 06, 2012, 09:39:30 PM »

"Is it morally obligatory to vote?

From the February 2007 issue of The Angelus

It is certainly true that the modernists consider democracy, and the right to vote, as sacrosanct, an immediate consequence of human dignity, directly connected with their humanistic religion.

Reacting against this, knowing as we do how much the electoral system is unjust, realizing how much modern democracy is based upon the false liberal principle of human freedom, which rejects all objective divine and moral law, being aware of the narrow margin of choice between the candidates, and also having the impression (though mistaken) that one man’s vote will not make a real difference in such a secular, ungodly system – we might easily conclude that one is not obliged to vote at all.

Yet the Church’s teaching on the subject is by no means new. Without approving the modern system of democracy and its false principle of the sovereignty of the people, the Church nevertheless binds us to contribute towards the common good of society....

....But how far we are removed from this situation. Clearly, we are no longer in the circuмstance of having to choose between Catholic and non-Catholic, morally upright and liberal representatives. All the alternatives are liberal, the deception and the manipulation of the public by the media is rampant. In practice, it generally comes down to the question of whether or not it is permissible to vote for an unworthy candidate (e.g., a candidate who only approves abortion in cases of rape or incest), for he would at least (we suppose) be the lesser evil. In such a case, there can be no obligation to vote..."

http://sspx.org/miscellaneous/catholic_principles_for_voting.htm

Belloc · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2012, 08:43:19 AM »

Common good of society is for NEITHER candidate, a liberal flip-flopper then, eying the nomination, had a "change of heart" and is a corporatist or a liberal black...both Keysians at heart, more or less.

The best candidate is perhaps in a third party that needs our supprot and yes, to lose an election or 3, while we build....

Or to boycott and refuse to be part of an evil, NWO , farce.....not to enable evil or be a battered-voter.......this is liken to battered spouse.....

or, and this takes the guts that few Catholics have, to push for a Catholic Social Order....

the voting lesser evils and continuing to vote GOP has NOT worked at all, no real agenda advanced and nor victories, just a hollow "stop the other guy", which is not advancing at all...not moving forward is losing......

Belloc · « **Reply #7 on:** October 09, 2012, 08:43:58 AM »

Marcelino, good post btw.... :applause:

Marcelino · « **Reply #8 on:** October 09, 2012, 04:47:30 PM »

Quote from: Belloc

Common good of society is for NEITHER candidate, a liberal flip-flopper then, eying the nomination, had a "change of heart" and is a corporatist or a liberal black...both Keysians at heart, more or less.

The best candidate is perhaps in a third party that needs our supprot and yes, to lose an election or 3, while we build....

Or to boycott and refuse to be part of an evil, NWO , farce.....not to enable evil or be a battered-voter.......this is liken to battered spouse.....

or, and this takes the guts that few Catholics have, to push for a Catholic Social Order....

the voting lesser evils and continuing to vote GOP has NOT worked at all, no real agenda advanced and nor victories, just a hollow "stop the other guy", which is not advancing at all...not moving forward is losing......

Good point! The Religious Right Base of the republican party has gotten nothing that they wanted, except for the zionist garbage. Why did they make all the sacrifices, why did they work so hard, for what; they were betrayed, again and again. I see nothing virtuous in being a fool. If you know they are liars, then supporting them, just because their lies sound good, does no good.

Geremia · « **Reply #9 on:** March 31, 2016, 02:18:44 PM »

Here's is an OCRed version of the full book:

http://catholicapologetics.info/morality/general/voting.htm

Prayerful · « **Reply #10 on:** March 31, 2016, 03:55:50 PM »

Quote from: Belloc

No thanks, too AMericanistic.....

We have NO obligation to vote, lesser 2 evils continues to lower the bar and reward bad people..
This article was written in 1952, now, look where it has led......with 60 yrs reflection, it is telling......

I will either not vote or vote for myself.....

these type pamphlets lead the gulluible to further ruin the nation.....

A Less of Two Evils voting strategy leads ultimately to Evil, but can be used selectively. I mean an American should vote Trump/Cruz least Ms Clinton gets elected. She is aggressively pro abortion and utterly anti-Christian.

Geremia · « **Reply #11 on:** March 31, 2016, 04:21:21 PM »

Quote from: Prayerful

Quote from: Belloc
No thanks, too AMericanistic.....

We have NO obligation to vote, lesser 2 evils continues to lower the bar and reward bad people..
This article was written in 1952, now, look where it has led......with 60 yrs reflection, it is telling......

I will either not vote or vote for myself.....

these type pamphlets lead the gulluible to further ruin the nation.....

A Less of Two Evils voting strategy leads ultimately to Evil, but can be used selectively. I mean an American should vote Trump/Cruz least Ms Clinton gets elected. She is aggressively pro abortion and utterly anti-Christian.

But Trump is rabidly pro-usury, and usury leads to denying workers a just wage, which is one of the 4 sins crying to heaven for vengeance.

Fr. Franny, p. 90 (PDF p. 113), "3. Conditions that May Relieve One from the Obligation of Voting," would seem to apply to U.S. Catholics, at least. He says

Quote from: «The Moral Obligation of Voting»

If the election were interpreted as the recognition of a tyrannical form of government or an unlawful one, there would be no obligation to vote. Indeed there would be an obligation of not voting.¹⁶⁵ Tanquerey points out that if a person were morally certain that his ballot would in no way affect the outcome of an election, he could refrain from voting for a slight cause, although, he adds, it would be better to vote for some worthy candidate and thus give good example.¹⁶⁶

¹⁶⁵Noldin, op. cit., 2, 332.
¹⁶⁶Op. cit., 3, 980.

p. 92 (PDF p. 115):

Quote from: «The Moral Obligation of Voting»

It does not seem, however, that a citizen is freed of the obligation of voting simply because there are two candidates apparently equally good or equally bad. In the first instance, the citizens should vote conscientiously for the one considered better for surely there must be some basis of judgment to consider one superior to another. In the second instance, the citizen might cast a blank ballot to indicate his disapproval of the candidates and he could publicly express his disapproval of the candidates such as by writing to a local newspaper about the candidates.

See also p. 93 (PDF p. 116), "4. Conditions Under Which One May Vote for Unworth Candidates," where he mentions St. Robert Bellarmine, Tanquerey, et al., and concludes, based upon the moral theologians, that material cooperation in voting for bad, unprincipled candidates is not sinful, but might actually be obligatory. He even mentions that voting for Communists does not excommunicate, but joining a Communist party does.

Incredulous · « **Reply #12 on:** April 03, 2016, 07:49:58 PM »

Quote from: katholikos

Quote from: Belloc
No thanks, too AMericanistic.....

We have NO obligation to vote, lesser 2 evils continues to lower the bar and reward bad people..
This article was written in 1952, now, look where it has led......with 60 yrs reflection, it is telling......

I will either not vote or vote for myself.....

these type pamphlets lead the gulluible to further ruin the nation.....

Sir, that's not how we can approach the subject of moral theology. The book addresses precisely these things. If it is permissible, sometimes even obligatory, to vote for an unworthy man - when necessary to prevent an even more unworthy man from obtaining office -, then you cannot go ahead and say "No, it isn't so." (The principle goes back to St. Thomas Aquinas, anyway, and is rooted in the truth that we have an obligation to minimize evil if we can.)

The book addresses a lot of related issues as well, such as good example vs. bad example, tyrannical governments, etc. Please read it, at least so you are informed. You cannot dismiss what you do not know.

People often forget that there are many, many offices and issues on the ballot, not merely one.

Besides, there are more choices for president than just two. Do not think that this is somehow meant to be a crypto-endorsement of any one particular candidate. I personally will not vote for either of the two main bozos - but that doesn't mean I somehow have no obligation to go vote.

I would counter that voting in the American presidential elections is equivalent to participating in a Jєωιѕн religious ritual, know as "show-business".

"Show-biz or Showa-biz" is an extension Judaic тαℓмυdism.

For Catholics to participate in the rituals of false religions is a violation of the 1st Commandment, and a mortal sin.

Any theologians in the house?

We start the debate with the fact that: "The Jєωs are the enemies of Christ and our Holy Religion."

AnonymousCatholic · « **Reply #13 on:** April 04, 2016, 06:28:10 PM »

Quote from: Prayerful

Quote from: Belloc
No thanks, too AMericanistic.....

We have NO obligation to vote, lesser 2 evils continues to lower the bar and reward bad people..
This article was written in 1952, now, look where it has led......with 60 yrs reflection, it is telling......

I will either not vote or vote for myself.....

these type pamphlets lead the gulluible to further ruin the nation.....

A Less of Two Evils voting strategy leads ultimately to Evil, but can be used selectively. I mean an American should vote Trump/Cruz least Ms Clinton gets elected. She is aggressively pro abortion and utterly anti-Christian.

Trump was exactly the same as Hillary if not worse not too long ago. He only began speaking conservatively when he decided to run as a Republican.