Traps That Catholic Conservatives Should Avoid

No political party is completely with the Church on every issue. True, many conservatives are pro-life and support the Church’s freedom to preach the Gospel. But they may have flawed views on other issues.

If you’re conservative and Catholic, then your Catholic faith should modify your conservative beliefs — NOT vice versa.

Here are a few traps many conservatives fall into that Catholics should avoid.

1. Marriage is a union of any two people who like each other
Although there are plenty of proponents of traditional marriage among conservatives, some have given way to the LGBTQ lobby’s redefinition of marriage in the name of “freedom.”

This is something no Catholic can accept. Both the natural law written on our hearts by God and His divine revelation in Scripture and Tradition show that marriage is only between one man and one woman. This is set in stone.

We can’t force people to accept this fact. And the Church teaches us to respect and love all human beings, who are made in God’s image. But charity also impels us to stand firm on this issue. Denying the truth is never charitable.

2. Men and women differ only in biology
Many liberals say that our biology has nothing to do with our gender. Many conservatives rightly respond that our biology does matter. Women are women and men are men because of bodily differences.

The problem is, some conservatives stop there. They treat the differences between men and women as only biological. While biology plays a role, there are also psychological and spiritual differences. The Church has pointed this out in many documents, such as Pope St. John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter to Women.

3. “I’m not my brother’s keeper”
Many conservatives admirably critique the government’s overreach in communist and socialist societies. However, some conservatives go to the opposite extreme and promote an overly radical individualism.

The Church strongly condemns communism and socialism, as well as more extreme forms of capitalism. Pope St. John Paul II stated the following in his encyclical “Centesimus Annus”:

“The Marxist solution has failed, but the realities of marginalization and exploitation remain in the world, especially the Third World, as does the reality of human alienation, especially in the more advanced countries. Against these phenomena the Church strongly raises her voice. Vast multitudes are still living in conditions of great material and moral poverty. The collapse of the Communist system in so many countries certainly removes an obstacle to facing these problems in an appropriate and realistic way, but it is not enough to bring about their solution. Indeed, there is a risk that a radical capitalistic ideology could spread which refuses even to consider these problems, in the a priori belief that any attempt to solve them is doomed to failure, and which blindly entrusts their solution to the free development of market forces.”

The Church does not officially endorse any political party or program. We can certainly debate which parties better reflect God’s law.

But at the end of the day, we are not spokespeople for any “kingdom” here on earth. We are Christ’s witnesses to His eternal kingdom. This kingdom has already begun in the Church and will fully blossom in heaven — that happy home where the lies and schemes of politicians will have no place.