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Duties of citizenship don’t stop with election

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
(Email Renee)

Some may think that once the election is over, politicians can just sit back – but the reality is their work has just begun.

Mark Thomason, diocesan director of catechesis, evangelization and RCIA, said the same is true of citizens.

“Once you vote, it’s not over,” he said.

Thomason said he urges Catholics to become informed on the issues and take part in the political arena.
In the last year – with the presidential election, the bishops’ call to faithful citizenship and FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act) Postcard campaign – Thomason pointed out that there were many good signs of political involvement.

“I think people are trying to get more involved, but they may not know where to go from here,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to stay involved than you might think.”

Thomason suggested that people call the county recorder, county clerk or sheriff to discuss current issues. He spoke of the importance of knowing who the state and federal representatives are and what their positions are on key issues.

He mentioned that the bishops and parishioners in the state of Iowa have the Iowa Catholic Conference that serves as the public policy voice and lobbyist at the state capitol, “but that is one guy working for four bishops, trying to keep an eye on 20 to 30 issues.”

The effort by the ICC can have greater impact if parishioners get involved and call their state representatives. Catholics can become aware of the church’s positions on issues at the Iowa Catholic Conference’s Web site – iowacatholicconference. org.

Thomason said he has come to realize that people often don’t really know the details of a particular topic until they become involved in it or until they have to defend their own position.

“Pick a topic that you are passionate about and become involved in it – especially one of the top five non-negotiables: embryonic stem-cell research, abortion, euthanasia, in vitro fertilization and supposed same-sex marriage,” Thomason said. “The fluctuating other questions are always good questions to ask, but we can get bogged down by the 20, 30, 40 or 100 other social justice causes. If we would solve our life issues, a lot of the other issues would fall into place.”

Many of these traditionally national-level topics relate to politics at the state level. He cited the recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage as a prime example of how these topics have ramifications in the state.

“It is real easy to make a phone call and ask them to support traditional marriage,” he said. “If everyone would make a phone call to their own representative – it could be 20 phone calls, 2,500 phone calls or 20,000 phone calls.”

Let your voices be heard, Thomason said, because if the legislators know how people feel they are more likely to work to meet the wishes of the majority of the constituents.

“We haven’t voted on the same-sex marriage issue, the legislators haven’t passed this issue, the executive branch isn’t enforcing the current law. This is the opinion of seven people,” he said. “This isn’t the three-branch system that we have in our country. It’s tyranny and if you have a world view that is Christian, you don’t believe in tyranny.

“Even if the judges would have passed something that we believe in, we still would have wanted the process to be followed, because we believe in the process of civil governance,” Thomason said.

In addition to knowing the issues, another way to be active is by becoming involved in the political arena.

“The pope has said that we need good, Catholic politicians,” he said. “We may complain about pro-abortion Catholic politicians, but who is running against them? Let’s get more involved at the local, state and national governmental levels.”

All of the top Catholic officials of President Barack Obama’s administration, Thomason noted, are pro-abortion.

“They completely disagree with one of the fundamental teachings of the church and yet they consider themselves Catholic,” he said. “His cabinet is full them – not just one or two, but seven. There is obviously a disconnect happening.”

He used a sports example to highlight his position, stating that at an Iowa vs. Iowa State game, you can’t be for both teams.

At some point, he added, a person must pick one over the other.

Thomason expressed concern about FOCA. While the president has recently stated that getting the legislature passed is not one of his current priorities, Thomason said, “FOCA is being chopped up into little pieces and is being pushed through quietly such as the health care conscience clause.”

Again, he stressed the importance of becoming aware of current issues that could have impact not only today but for years to come. Once individuals have become educated on the topics, they can then help spread the information to others.

“We can’t rely on others to do our job for us,” Thomason said. “It’s our job to be citizens.”