Before We Enter the Voting Booth: A Pastoral Reflection on Proposition 1

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Introduction to Bishop Christensen’s Pastoral Reflection

The following pastoral reflection from Bishop Peter F. Christensen is offered in response to various public statements and commentaries concerning Proposition 1, including statements from individuals who identify themselves as Catholic while expressing support for the measure. Rather than addressing particular individuals, Bishop Christensen invites all Catholics to consider the questions raised by Proposition 1 in light of the Gospel, the dignity of human life, the formation of conscience and the teaching of the Catholic Church.

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” — John 8:31–32

By Most Reverend Peter F. Christensen, M.A., D.D.

Bishop of Boise

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Over the many years of my priesthood and episcopal ministry, I have had the privilege of accompanying people at almost every stage of the Christian journey. I have witnessed the joy of people encountering Christ for the first time, the quiet faithfulness of those who have followed Him for decades, and the struggles of good people trying to reconcile the demands of the Gospel with the circumstances of their lives. One lesson has become increasingly clear to me: following Jesus Christ is not simply a matter of believing in Him. It means allowing Him to change us.

That conversion is rarely completed all at once. It is the work of a lifetime. Each of us has places in our lives that we would rather not surrender. There are teachings of Christ that console us and others that challenge us. There are truths we readily embrace and others that require prayer, humility and sometimes a painful reordering of our thinking. Yet this is precisely where discipleship becomes real. Jesus does not ask us merely to admire Him; He asks us to follow Him.

As Idaho approaches the November 3 election and the decision concerning Proposition 1, I believe this truth deserves our prayerful attention. Proposition 1 concerns matters of profound moral significance, particularly abortion, human dignity, freedom and the

protection owed to unborn human life. These questions cannot be separated from our Catholic faith simply because they appear on a ballot. The voting booth does not somehow stand outside our relationship with Christ.

I sometimes hear it said that Catholics should not attempt to “legislate morality.” Yet every society makes moral judgments through its laws. We prohibit murder, assault, abuse, exploitation and theft precisely because we recognize that some actions violate the dignity and rights of others. The deeper question is therefore not whether moral principles will influence our laws, but which moral principles will do so and whether those principles protect every member of the human family, especially those who cannot protect themselves.

This brings me to the unborn child. Proposition 1 speaks in the language of reproductive freedom and privacy. Freedom and privacy are important human goods, but as Christians, we understand that freedom is never simply the ability to do whatever we choose. Freedom must always be directed toward what is true and good. When our choices affect another human life, we must also consider the dignity and rights of that other person.

The words of the Lord to Jeremiah have always spoken powerfully to this reality: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you” (Jeremiah 1:5). Before anyone else knew Jeremiah, God knew him. Before anyone else could see his gifts, his personality or his future, God saw him and loved him. That same mystery surrounds every human life. The child developing quietly within a mother's womb may be unseen by most of the world, but that child is not unseen by God. The child's dignity does not begin when he or she becomes wanted, independent, viable or useful. That dignity comes from God Himself. For this reason, the unborn child can never simply be excluded from our understanding of freedom, compassion or the common good.

In conversations about abortion, I often notice how easily the child can disappear from our language. We speak about privacy, autonomy, medical decisions and difficult circumstances, all of which can involve genuine human concerns. But as Christians, we must always ask one more question: What about the child? Who speaks for the one who cannot speak? Who protects the one who cannot vote, protest, advocate or defend himself or herself? Jesus continually drew attention to those whom others overlooked. “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). Surely our concern for “the least” must include those whose lives are completely dependent upon others.

There is another lesson I have learned through many years of ministry. The Christian faith cannot be divided into those teachings we accept and those we set aside. All of us struggle with this temptation in different ways. Sometimes a teaching of the Church conflicts with our political loyalties. Sometimes it challenges the culture in which we live. Sometimes it confronts choices we have made or asks something of us that we would rather not give. At those moments, the temptation is to ask the Gospel to change, but conversion asks something very different: conversion asks us to change.

St. Paul writes, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Those words are as important today as when Paul first wrote them. We live in a culture that continually asks Christianity to conform itself to changing ideas about human life, sexuality, marriage, family and freedom. Yet the direction of Christian conversion is the opposite. We allow Christ to transform us.

This does not mean that a faithful Catholic never has questions or struggles with Church teaching. Questions can deepen faith, and honest struggle can lead us more deeply into truth. I have known many faithful Catholics who have wrestled seriously with difficult teachings and have grown precisely through that struggle. There is, however, an important difference between struggling to understand a teaching and deciding that the teaching must change because we do not accept it. The humble disciple says, “Lord, help me understand.” The danger begins when we say, in effect, “Lord, I will follow, but only where I have already decided You are right.”

Jesus promised His disciples something far greater than a faith fashioned according to personal preference. He promised them the Holy Spirit: “When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth” (John 16:13).Notice again that beautiful phrase: the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit does not simply confirm what we already believe. He teaches, corrects, strengthens and transforms us.

This is particularly important during an election season. We hear many voices—political parties, advertisements, commentators, social media, friends, family members and even fellow Catholics. Some will tell us that Catholic teaching must accommodate the political realities of our time. Others may suggest that sincerely holding an opinion is enough to make that opinion compatible with Catholic faith. But sincerity alone does not determine truth. Our conscience is a wonderful gift from God, but conscience must be formed. We do not form it merely by listening to the voices with which we already agree. We form it through prayer, Sacred Scripture, reason, the moral law and the teaching of the Church Christ established. A properly formed conscience does not ask first, “What do I want to be true?” It asks, “Lord, what is true, and give me the grace to live it.”

I believe this is one of the great spiritual challenges before us as November 3 approaches. Proposition 1 is certainly a political question before the citizens of Idaho, but for Catholics the issues it raises are also moral questions. Our faith accompanies us into every dimension of our lives—our families, our workplaces, our relationships, our communities and our responsibilities as citizens. We should therefore approach this moment neither with anger nor with fear, but as disciples. We should pray, read carefully, form our consciences, listen to the teaching of the Church and, above all, ask the Holy Spirit to free us from the temptation to make Christ conform to us rather than allowing ourselves to be conformed to Christ.

I return again to the words of Jesus: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32). Jesus does not tell us that our preferences will set us free, that political parties will set us free, or that the culture will set us free. He tells us that the truth will set us free. As November 3 approaches, let us remain in His Word. Let us remember the child whose voice cannot be heard in the political debate. Let us remember the mother who needs our compassion, love and support. Let us remember that authentic Catholic faith never asks us to choose between truth and charity, because in Christ the two belong together.

And let each of us—including your bishop—continue asking the question every disciple must ask throughout life: Am I asking Christ to conform to me, or am I allowing Christ to transform me? May the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, guide us into all truth and give us the courage and humility to live faithfully what we have received.

Faithfully yours in Christ,