Voting, Voter Resources, Faith, and Me

It was a bit past one when I voted in Minnesota’s primaries this Tuesday. Two of the three election judges were checking off other voters when I got there.

Verifying that I was a registered voter went smoothly. I gave my name, the election judge saw that I was me, and that was that. Sauk Centre is a small town, and I’ve lived here — probably longer than you’ve been alive.

Voting is something I’ll do again, come November. To the extent that it gets me out of the house and occasionally lets me chat with folks, I enjoy the process.

It’s also part of acting as if what I believe matters. I’ve been talking about that for quite a while, off and on, including this, from about a decade back:

“…Being a good citizen, contributing to the good of society and taking part in public life, is part of being Catholic: or should be. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1915, 2239)

In my country, that includes voting intelligently: thinking about issues and candidates, voting for whoever and whatever is best; or likely to do the least damage, in some cases.

This isn’t a ‘political’ blog, so I won’t be claiming that one candidate walks on water, or that another is a spawn of Satan; or claim that God votes a party ticket.

I occasionally share what I think about immigrants, private property, and other ‘political’ issues. Depending on what part of which post you look at, I could be pegged as conservative or liberal….”
(“Love, Neighbors, and Voting” (October 1, 2016))

Deciding who and what to vote for: that’s where voting stops being a pleasant break in routine and starts being a less-than-pleasant civic duty. Or would, if I did the heavy lifting involved in that task.

This time around, as usual, I brought along a cheat sheet my wife had drawn up. We’re both very ‘Catholic’, and she’s both less emotional and more informed about candidates and issues: particularly the local and regional ones. I trust her judgement.

I’m taking it easy — easier than usual — this week, so I’ll just sketch out how being a Catholic affects being a citizen, share an updated link list of resources, link to what I’ve said about this sort of thing: and call it a day.

Faith and Citizenship

Being a Catholic and a citizen is very simple, and incredibly difficult.

I have to think that every human being is a person, with a share of humanity’s “transcendent dignity”. That’s everybody — NO EXCEPTIONS. Age, health, who our ancestors are, what we’ve done: none of that makes someone a non-person. We’re all, each of us, a person: someone made “in the image of God”. (Genesis 1:26–27, 2:7; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 355-357, 361, 369-370, 1700, 1730, 1929, 2258-2283)

Like I said, simple. And, at least for me, very difficult.

Basically, my obligation is to love God, love my neighbors, and see everyone as my neighbor. Always. (Matthew 5:43–44, 22:36–40; Mark 12:28–31; Luke 6:31, 10:25–27, 29–37; Catechism, 2196)

Getting back to voting, that’s part of how my native culture works.

Voting, responsibly, is part of our public life. Or should be. Since I’m a Catholic, that makes it an obligation. Along with recognizing humanity’s solidarity and respecting authority. Within reason. (Catechism, 1778, 1915, 1897-1917, 1939-1942, 2199, 2238-2243)

Voting Responsibly: Resources

Good news, the USCCB (United States Conference of Bishops) provides a pretty good set of resources, explaining why voting for the candidate with the nicest haircut may not be a good idea.

Frustrating news, the USCCB’s website isn’t entirely stable. They may have reasons for changing the URLs of resources and not updating their own pages to reflect the changes, but — well, that’s my problem.

These links were valid on the afternoon of August 13, 2026:

• “Forming Consciences…” and related resources: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)
  • “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship”
    “A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States”
    • Introductory Note (bulletin insert)
• Ideas and applications
  • “The Role of the Church in American Political Life”
  • “Dignity of the Human Person”
  • “The Common Good”
  • “Solidarity”
  • “Subsidiarity”
• Prayer, process, and good ideas
  • Novena for Faithful Citizenship
  • 3 Ways to Support Peaceful Elections
  • 5 Tips from Pope Francis for “a Better Kind of Politics” (we’re not all the same, and that’s okay)
  • Adult Education and Small Faith Community Sharing On Faithful Citizenship
  • Contacting Your Elected Officials (not contact information, but how to communicate once you’ve found addresses and numbers)
  • Do’s and Don’ts Guidelines During Election Season”
  • What does it mean to form my conscience?”

Faith Matters, Or Should

There. I’ve found valid links to arguably-useful voter resources, and outlined how my beliefs affect how I try to act.

Now it’s time for me to say I’ve talked about this sort of thing before, and share links you can follow — or not, although I think you’d find some of it interesting:

• “Respect, Relationship, Responsibility, and Stuffed Animals” (May 16, 2026)
  • Dignity and Being Human
• “Voting As If What I Believe Matters” (October 26, 2024)
  • Hot Button Issues and Loving My Country Anyway
• “Liberal? Conservative? Republican? Democrat? No: Catholic” (July 27, 2024)
  • Acting As If What I Believe Matters
    • Political Pigeonholes and the Big Picture
    • Long-Term Goals
  • Fear and Politics
  • Love, Hope, and Making Sense
• “Principles, Priorities, Politics: and Being Catholic” (September 21, 2024)
  • Love and Good Ideas