As we pray fervently that the Lord will fill with wisdom the people whose responsibility it is to help us avoid economic catastrophe, here are a couple distractions…
First, two rock song lyrics. A charming line from Kid Rock’s big hit this summer, “All Summer Long,” puts blogging and websurfing in perspective nicely. He is reminiscing about the summer of 1989.
But man I never will forget
The way the moonlight shined upon her hair”
And here’s a moving line from an old song (as in, from the nineties)–“Just a Girl” by No Doubt. Gwen Stefani is trying to figure it all out, and she sings:
To hold your hand”
I’ve heard the song quite a few times, but never caught that line before. I think it is beautiful.
Lastly, here is an impressive exhortation to conscientious Catholic voting by CatholicVote.com:
Father Mark White Blog 
I wouldn’t want to ask a crude question like “Can a Catholic conscientiously support and vote for a candidate that does not oppose abortion in all cases and wholeheartedly supports stem cell research?” (Did I just do that?) But I am finding myself on the defensive end of a lot of discussions about what it means to “vote your conscience.”
In reading “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship”, the following point made by the “The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith” is stated: “It must be noted also that a well-formed Christian conscience
does not permit one to vote for a political program or an
individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents
of faith and morals. The Christian faith is an integral unity,
and thus it is incoherent to isolate some particular element to
the detriment of the whole of Catholic doctrine. A political
commitment to a single isolated aspect of the Church’s social
doctrine does not exhaust one’s responsibility towards the
common good. (Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the
Participation of Catholics in Political Life, no. 4)”
But then the document notes “A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who takes
a position in favor of an intrinsic evil, such as abortion or racism, if the voter’s
intent is to support that position.” So, if it’s not my intent to support that position, am I contradicting the logic of the Doctrinal Note above?
There’s a train-track-switch morality problem at play as well and I’m tongue-tied for a good explanation as to why practicing defensive voting (whereby one votes against a candidate rather than for a candidate) is not conscientious. I often think it would be easier to be on the other side of these issues and remind myself that it’s not meant to be easy.
I know it’s poor form to reply to my own comment but I was told to clarify that the conscientious option dearest to my heart is to encourage and support third-party candidates.