A Pre-Debate Huddle

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. When his breath departs he returns to his earth; on that very day his plans perish. (Psalms 146:3-4)

As America braces for tonight’s presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, it might be advisable for Catholics to set the stage for themselves according to some hard facts—or rather, according to the truth, a reality Catholics must cling to as it becomes less of a priority to our politicians.

Shockingly, there’s news flying about that Harris is clinching the Catholic vote. As difficult as it may be to believe given her overt animus against Catholics as a potential extremist group (see her 2018 grilling of Knight of Columbus Brian Buescher during his federal judgeship hearing), or her own extreme support for abortion, political platforms like The Hill are running pieces presenting a “Catholic case” for Harris; and EWTN News and RealClear Opinion Research recently completed a survey that finds Catholics favoring Harris over Trump this November.

Catholics may be disenchanted with President Trump not so much for his ongoing legal smearings but more so because of his waffling on the murder of unborn children. Or perhaps they’re just tired of his relentless Machiavellian-Manhattan braggadocio. But to turn to Harris? It reminds one of St. Thomas More turning to Richard Rich to say, “it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world if he should lose his soul…but for Wales?”

This drift seems like lunacy, but can we blame anyone for going crazy in such insane times? Catholics may be desperate for something different, and a ticket that is not-Trump may be enough to draw them, unfortunately. And I say “unfortunately” not because I believe they should vote for Trump automatically but because I think Catholics should be more discerning. There is more for Catholics to be attentive to than the Republican side of their ballot.

There is nothing so pristine about the GOP that it should have Catholics’ unwavering confidence. Without going too deeply into details, the Republicans’ overreliance on free market capitalism to solve all of society’s problems is naïve and narrow and shows a poor grasp of human nature. On the other hand, there is actually some Catholic appeal to be found in the Democrats’ advocating of the downtrodden, their focus on the truth that our technologies are damaging the garden God gave us to till and keep, and their push to apply more reasonable restrictions on the firearms that continue to mow down innocent children in schools. 

When it comes to protecting life, Republicans are more or less on the right side of the abortion battle, but Trump is changing that since, in his words, “you have to win elections.” Republicans, as conservatives, are perhaps less governmentally intrusive than Democrats, though the result is that the Right always seems like a stodgy, dysfunctional social club while the Left seems like a buoyant, driven agenda-machine. Neither are very appealing, frankly, from a Catholic perspective.

All this to say, both the Left and the Right have their positive points and their drawbacks, their adherences to truth and their departures from truth. Neither are perfect, nor should either have unquestionable Catholic allegiance or condemnation. There is nothing wrong with voting for the party and the candidate which will mean that less babies will be butchered, as most Catholics do with their pro-life trigger fingers at the polling station. But the Republicans are not the clear answer anymore—they are not the straitlaced righteous ones. In fact, they fall prey to the most problematic venalities that the Democrats do, and it may be high time for Catholics to discern beyond the simplistic platitudes of red and blue.  Both the Left and the Right have their positive points and their drawbacks, their adherences to truth and their departures from truth. Neither are perfect, nor should either have unquestionable Catholic allegiance or condemnation.Tweet This

For one thing, both parties are totally motivated and manipulated by money. Nothing propels, guides, and stirs the Washington swamp like filthy lucre, and it is important to bear that in mind when scrutinizing the political sphere and its characters. This is especially so for Catholics, who should navigate politics with an eye on the truth, careful not to give what is God’s to Caesar. Until the political pull of money changes, the will of the people will be secondary to lining politicians’ pockets, both Republican and Democrat. With the status quo, there is nothing to anticipate but the corruption born of self-service and the desire for dominance.

But the most obvious and egregious reason for Catholics to hold both Republicans and Democrats at arm’s length is simply that neither party has a clear or committed concept of the good, much less a shared concept of the good—which may be the reason why the Right and Left seem totally incapable of collaboration and progress toward any mutually conceded end. Both parties place individual liberty and opportunity over a true, robust view of the human good. 

Our government officials and representatives do not hold enshrined any philosophic, anthropological, or religious principle or principles to guide them in wisdom toward the common good. There is no agreement, or even vision, of what is best for mankind. Instead, they make passes at the theory of a communal good, to make a careful distinction, to benefit people in various social groups, trying to customize the good according to individual need or desire with remedies that are not wholly remedial. Again, the idea or reality of the good for humanity is just not part of the debate.

And speaking of debates, presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will debate before a national audience tonight. These debates, if they can even be so called, are sadly exemplary of the rut that American politics are mired in. For these debates have nothing to do with the exchange of ideas to work toward a mutual apprehension of the truth. We have forgotten the ancient understanding of “rhetoric”: a good man speaking well to persuade others to the truth. Gone is the poise and dignity that Reagan brought to the debate stage, or the brilliance of argument that began the tradition of these public debates with Lincoln and Douglas in 1858. The debates have become nothing more than sound bites and rehearsed one-liners to jolt a disconnected populace who do not look to their political leaders for truth and a vision of the good. They look to them for emotional response, knee-jerk sentiment, and entertainment.

At bottom, our politicians don’t care about truth or goodness—they care about winning, money, and power. At the risk of sounding overly cynical, I grant that love for the United States and its citizens might well motivate our political representatives, but it almost always leads to a downfall. The system is just too entrenched in these seductions and systems to suppose otherwise, and the vacuity of the present-day debate stage only corroborates this.

Trump and Harris will look for a zinger, a quip, or an opponent’s error to capitalize on and ride a wave of public reaction all the way to the White House. They will not try to make logical or persuasive arguments or present a vision of the good on an existential level—because Americans aren’t interested in anything like that. They just want some assurance of comfort and security. But Catholics should want more than that. Tonight’s debate might be consequential, but it will be of no substantive consequence—and that’s a fact that Catholics should be aware of and bemoan.

Weighing the importance of tonight’s debate with the substance of the debate will be an inevitable indication of how far we have fallen as political animals. The debate will only be political insofar as it will be polemical—and that is pathetic. It is literally political theater. Without any common vision of the good, there can be no productive political process. Our politicians cannot be truly political without personal integrity, traditional wisdom, or spiritual, intellectual, and practical prudence—and it is not clear that these find much place or priority in the minds or motivations of Donald Trump or Kamala Harris—or the Republican or Democratic Parties. 

This is not to say that Catholics should not participate in the American political system, broken as it is. After all, by having a little faith, Catholics have often distinguished themselves by making the best of bad situations. And, after all again, this election cycle has been chock-full of surprises. So, let’s hold out hope for a debate that will prove good for Catholic America.