Thoughts on a fall Friday with a musical guest

It's been an unexpectedly busy month here on my modest, independent Catholic blog. A lot is going on, I guess. Thinking more about my take on what it means to be pro-life- it's much bigger than one issue and, from a Catholic perspective, neither party is truly pro-life both for different and some of the same reasons- I have to say, on the whole, my take is quite apolitical.

Whether it's abortion, suicide prevention, ending firearms violence, etc., it's really more about what you do than it is about how you vote- though your vote can influence some issues more than others. Again, abortion is a prime example of this. It seems to me it's much better to focus my effort on actually helping women in so-called "crisis" pregnancies than it is to be sold yet another bill of political goods. It is also important to help the many women who have had abortions, who often carry around a huge burden of guilt.

Especially in the age of social media, it's much easier to take a political position and convince yourself you've done something than ever before. Orthopraxis trumps orthodoxy every time. This is one of the most fundamental tenets of Christianity.

In the end, people who complain about someone else being too political are usually complaining about that person having a different view of politics than they do. The same goes for partisanship: to the partisan someone who is non-partisan seems really partisan. This results from having an unsustainable certainty about the correctness of their position. I simply cannot take that seriously.

The very red county in the very red state in which I live sent out ballots this week. We've been voting by mail 2012. Since I had time the day I received my ballot, I went over it thoroughly, researched what I needed to research, filled it in, then dropped it off at one of the designated locations. So, that is done. I can turn my focus to other things, not that I really bogged myself down with the election.

In this age of access to the worldwide web, one can easily have an exaggerated sense of one's influence, it's tempting to think you can shift elections by yourself. You can't. You can vote. Your vote is a drop in the ocean. But then, no drops, no ocean.

In my more cynical moments, I am tempted to adopt this insight: "If voting mattered, they wouldn't let you do it." I guess I would say, voting matters but not as much as we're sometimes inclined to think. Prudential judgment rooted in sound proportional reasoning is the way to determine how to vote and or whom you vote.

Think critically, think independently, have criteria against which to judge candidates, propositions, etc. and then make your selections. In the most general term, the criteria is voting according what best serves the common good.

It's a beautiful October here along the Wasatch Front of the Rocky Mountains. We even had a nice, long rainstorm last weekend, which we badly needed. I love fall! It's far-and-a-away my favorite season of the year.

I've long enjoyed Jack White's music. Last Saturday, he was the musical guest on SNL. His two performances were electrifying. I particularly enjoyed his first mini-set. That is our Friday traditio for this mid-October week. I am cool with Rocktober!