CatholicVoteAction.org

“Be scared. Be very, very scared.”
Nothing like the anti-gospel: confusion of time and theme, message of fear in the vocative, anger at helping out neighbors, moral corruption of the military, marching protests, zealous abortion supporters, protests, voting equated to video, marching, protests, with message to the President Obama at end.

I think whoever made this video needs a hug, and to be told, it’s alright; it’s going to be alright – there, there.

I am disappointed with this video. It is not a Catholic video, but rather an advertisement that energizes the Catholic “right” in our country. With its appeals to the hot-button, yet inappropriately non-Catholic arguments against the President’s policies it misguides the faithful. It is a 24-hour news cycle, seizure inducing hodgepodge of resentment. It is not a “Catholic” call to action. The health care reform bill is consistent with Catholic teachings (though the abortion language is shaky); there is nothing particularly Catholic about the AZ immigration bill; don’t ask don’t tell can be interpreted in different ways. What it seems to conflate, and this is a common habit, is principle and prudential acts. In this case it scores a quick political point. Though, I fail to see the prudence in the advertisement.

Hi, ND66!

I didn’t see the “smear” you did.

The ad looked like CV was saying, “Here are some issues. Catholic social teaching has something to say about them. We want “in” on the conversation.”

A nice debate is taking place here but I think it may have run its course in this forum.

I suggest we all take up Mr. Burch’s call to email him with cool ideas we think CVA should consider. Complaining is one thing, being part of the solution is quite another. (If you want to post the email you send in this forum so we can all follow along that would be great). This was my submission:

Dear Mr. Burch,

I recently ran across the CVA ad on the website and made some comments in the blog post area citing some concerns I had with the ad. You were kind enough to reply and solicit those critical of the ad for additional ideas. Per your request I think the following topics would be worthy of consideration and help advance Catholic teaching in a positive manner:

Ads comparing the relative strength of local banks and their lending practices compared to the large bank/investment houses and their lending practices. This would bring the advantage of subsidiarity home for people who struggle with understanding its advantages. A suggested theme might be: Too Big to Succeed.

Spotlight local farmers who provide fresh produce and meat to their communities. Talk about health advantages, environmental advantages (reduced shipping), and economic advantages of keeping money within the community. You could maybe tie in some other local merchants/manufacturers. Again, this is an opportunity to promote subsidiarity and maybe even introduce distributism to the masses. Discuss the farmers/business owner’s connection and moral obligation to their communities. A theme might be: Local is Logical.

Those are two I could think of off the top of my head. Obviously, I am not an advertising guru and would defer to your expertise in the relative marketability of these ideas. (I understand they are on the fringe of Catholic issues and difficult concepts to grasp, however, I think they are often ignored and need to be advocated for to the masses).

As a final note you obviously noticed I left out gay marriage and abortion as topics to cover. I think these are crucial issues but a person would have to be living in a cave to not know the Churches position on those issues.

Sincerely,

My Real Name – It is not KCHawk

[...] Here is a message from our friends over at CatholicVote.org and CatholicVoteAction.org. [...]

Cool ad, but I have a few questions. (I also haven’t read all the comments before mine, so forgive me if they’ve already been answered. If so, please say, “Check out what Joe said.”)

Anyway, is Obama responsible for all that? The economic stuff has been going on for a while. I don’t know if it’s fair to pin it all on him. Also, did he have anything to do with the immigration law cited in the ad? Is it talking about the Arizona law? There are also some problems with the tea party movement (veiled racism on some folks’ end, prejeducies of their own, etc.). I can see how the ad could mention them to show how crazy things are getting, but the first time I saw it, it seemed like the ad was on the side of the tea party movement. (Which it may be, I don’t know.) Anyway, neat ad, I like the editing, I just want to be able to took a closer look at it before I fall for some great editing.

We cannot deny a voice to Catholics who are orthodox in Church teaching regarding intrinsic evils and that also lean politically conservative on prudential matters.

Groups that present themselves as Catholic people that advocate public policies that do not oppose intrinsic evils (e.g. deny innocent unborn human beings of protection) and lean politically liberal on prudential matters have long been in the public square.

CatholicVoteAction is not the USCCB. Restricting lay Catholics from impacting public policy due to their prudential judgments on appropriate matters is to deny civic activity to Catholics – something that neither the State may do nor is it what the Church teaches.

It is healthy and appropriate for Catholics (liberal and conservative) to actively engage the culture and public policy. What is required is that intrinsic good/evil be distinguished and other matters be honestly defended according to Catholic social teaching.

The CVA ad may not be appropriate for a Church-affiliated organization to run, but it is very appropriate for an association of lay Catholics to run. It is faithful to the Church’s teaching on core issues while being defensible and permitted on other issues within faithful, lay Catholicism.

I welcome the debate in public. Getting the intra-Catholic discussion out of church basements and into the public square is long overdue! It will be good for the Church and for society-at-large.

If there is anything about Catholic values in that video, I missed it. The video could have been produced by either party’s partisan smear shop.

KCHawk and Joseph,
Thank you for your words. I think there are many of us who oppose the growth of distant, bureaucratic governments and the policies of the American Left while finding the Right and the Tea Party more-than-wanting when it comes to solidarity and subsidiarity. If it’s not intended, this ad can certainly be taken as an endorsement of a Republican platform which shares far too little with Catholic Social Teaching. The video itself — from the grainy footage to the shouting — is an exercise in taglines and incendiary word choice, and should leave us wondering if Glenn Beck was an editing consultant.

Thanks to my fellow Papists for their comments on our recent video. One of the aims of CatholicVoteAction.org and CatholicVote.org is to offer our country a lay Catholic voice on issues of public concern. In order to do this respectfully and in communion with the Church, we seek to apply Catholic social doctrine to a host of issues, including those where prudence and varying social circumstances permit two distinct, yet acceptable “Catholic” responses. Of course, this includes issues like bailouts, deficit spending, and economic policies where Catholics in good conscience can disagree.

That said, I do think it is a mistake to argue that these are not “Catholic” issues per se, and that we should shy away from attaching the word “Catholic” to them or refrain from advancing our view in the marketplace of ideas. Sadly, too often Catholics are assumed to only care about abortion and marriage, as if Catholic teaching, particularly on subsidiarity, has nothing to say about these other issues that currently dominate our public life. Of course life and marriage issues are primary, foundational, and non-negotiable, and will always be of principal concern to us. We are convinced that our country is sorely in need of a distinctly Catholic voice on issues outside of the non-negotiable questions, and we will continue to use new media and other avenues to press for policies that we believe represent the best application of Catholic social doctrine on these questions.

Now if a Sean Hannity devotee happens to like our ad, so be it. I can promise you he may not like some of our new stuff in the works. In sum, If our application of Catholic social teaching happens to coincide more with Republican or Tea Party ideas, good for them! The question is not who is following who, but who is right.

Finally, this is NOT our primary 2010 election video. This is merely the first in a series of ads we will be rolling out as we head toward November.

If you have some cool ideas you think we should consider, please email me at brianburch@catholicvote.org.

Brian Burch
President
CatholicVote.org/CatholicVoteAction.org

Thomas,

Thank you for the response to my concerns.

I understand the desire of CVA to appeal to a mass audience in advertising and that this video is designed with that in mind. However, I am still concerned that it does not adhere closely enough to Catholic teachings in content and style. As you often note, it is an awesome responsibility to call and do things under the Catholic name and I think CVA could have done better.

Perhaps I do have my “undies in bundle” a little bit, as I tend to be overly sensitive when Catholic is attached to anything I see or read.

Dominus Vobiscum

KCHawk

Wow, what a great video. Not sure why some people got their undies in bundle. The message is of this video was pretty clear (and powerful). If you don’t like what’s going on then vote to make it change.

I agree with Mike M. I’m a Catholic, not a DemocRAT or REPUGNANTcan. This is an add for the Sean Hannity show and it doesn’t represent thinking and practicing Catholics in the least. If this is seriously the stump that CatholicVote is going to take, then I think I’ll have to stop taking CatholicVote seriously.

Yes, the “bailouts” were really bad ideas… but they aren’t forcing Catholics to sacrifice to idols (unlike the Death Care bill, amongst other things). To be quite honest, “paying for my neighbors’ mortgage” doesn’t land in the same bucket as “paying for the murder or my neighbors’ unborn children” or normalizing homosexuality to the detriment of everything in our society, especially the poor children that are being and will be forced to be raised (and potentially sexually molested) by same-sex partners.

This add is filled with images of failed “bailouts”, the tea-party cry of “unconstitutional”, and is capped with a guy complaining at the epicenter of financial immorality about one of the bailouts and paying for is neighbor’s mortgage… that doesn’t appeal to this practicing Catholic and, to be frank, cheapens everything that has come out of CatholicVote since that brilliant add before the ‘98 election that I appreciated very much back then.

Time to fire all of the Republicans helping you to make your adds and hire some Catholics. This is a disgrace. By the way, I did not vote for and will never vote for Obama or anyone who mirrors his policies in any way, including REPUGNANTcans.

You lost some points with me here, Peters.

My issue with the video is that I’d prefer for CatholicVote to stick to more distinctly Catholic issues. I happen to agree with the video maker on each of the issues mentioned (even though the video isn’t quite my style,) but I think it’s important to separate out what’s an integral part of our faith and what isn’t. Opposition to Obama’s radical abortion agenda is a matter of being Catholic… if you support the President on that, you don’t belong at our Communion table. But, support for the AZ immigration bill isn’t a clear Catholic matter… two Catholics would hold rather opposite opinions on that without either one being any less Catholic.

I don’t think it’s helpful to blur that distinction.

I would agree with Thomas that it is a matter of taste. I would disagree with him that this video is in a charitable spirit/good taste. It is overly sensational and plays on/preys upon what Plato might call ‘thumos’, i.e. raising one’s hackles, in order to get attention. In the end I found it quite message-less and sophomoric. Should catholics get involved and take their faith with them into an election booth/to a rally? You bet. Is it more important to do it now than at any previous time? I don’t think so. A catholic should aim to act and vote with their moral conscience all the time, not just because the drum-beat is sounding. My response to the videos is that it undershoots the intelligence of its audience, hence why many of you find it insulting.

I like the video because I’m familiar w/the topics shown & I like the snappiness to it. Yet, I would not use this as your centerpiece video. It’s too negative & scary even though it’s message maybe true. People like Dick Morris & other political consultants always say to have an upbeat message when conveying ideas to the public.

BTW who’s your targeted audience for this video? Doesn’t look like it’s the Hispanic, Black or Asian Catholics, or even young Catholics. —- You know, those groups who don’t show up at the polls in large numbers.

@Thomas: Eeeh … if this were a trailer for a sci-fi movie I’d agree with you. I’ve always believed that it’s important to let people’s actions speak for themselves. This isn’t so much a matter of taste as it is of presenting an objective overview of the facts. If you’re going to effect any lasting change in your country you need to appeal to people’s conscience first and their emotions second. This short does the reverse.

As a case in point, I’ll point out the clip with (what I assume must be) a Fox newscaster yelling “Be afraid.” That was sensationalistic. You can’t base a moral revolution on fear of another faction.

I don’t understand why CVA would stoop to the level of the mass media. Yes of course you should present the facts strongly, but, at the risk of sounding left-of-centre, fear only ever breeds hate. If I understand correctly, CNN and FOX have been working that tactic (with more or less tact) for years. They don’t need more help.

again – that’s a point of taste. there are many other people who absolutely love and get excited by this kind of cinematography. some people prefer CatholicVote’s other videos. That’s awesome. But again – it still seems we’re in the realm of taste.

KCHawk – 1. The decisions that caused the financial crisis were often motivated by financial and personal greed, what I would refer to as a “structure of sin”, so obviously preventing future problems in the market has to do with converting the hearts and consciences of those who have great financial power. So I do believe the market is related to Catholc teachings.

2. The controversy caused by the AZ bill is in part due to the broken immigration system and the partisan way the Democrats are going about (not) fixing the issue in Washington. In the meantime, the problem continues to get worse and laws like the AZ bill ignite conflict when Washington could be solving this issue.

3. I think what some people are missing is that this video is not meant to be the “only” one we hope Catholics see. CatholicVote has done many videos along the lines you mention (”overtly Catholic”, etc) and now we have released one that attempts to bring more Catholics into caring about politics and about the problems facing our country.

Wow.
I think Nick is right.

@Thomas: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to motivate people to become more involved. What strikes me as odd about this video is ott editing and dark sound track. It seems that most of the “motivating” is being done not by presentation of the facts but by some seriously overblown cinemetography. As far as I’ve seen, sensationalism like this only appeals to the choir and does nothing except entrench the the idea of “right wing fanaticism” for any liberal-minded persons that happen to watch it, including Catholics.