Catholic Compassion

Marjorie Campbell, marjorie@marjoriecampbell.com

"That's the problem with groundless compassion, it can be used for anything, including euthanasia and genocide."   

But, of course, Deal, a Catholic compassion is never groundless and can never be separated from how we consider the suffering of others.  Our faith, rooted in Christ's own love and Passion, moves us to compassion as a primary concern.  As you have wisely observed "[An] insistence on compartmentalizing faith restricts our compassion and concern to our immediate family.  A religion with “love thy neighbor” as its central tenet cannot remain restricted to one's family." -How to Vote Catholic by Deal W. Hudson.

Presidential candidates who lack compassion for any suffering person, who claim "it's not my business", have no appeal to me.   I'm sure you agree that misuse of compassion, or compassion blindly expressed by money-based solutions alone, does not excuse us from this fundamental calling of faith.  We can differ on "how effective a policy will be in implementing" a particular principle of our faith but we would not differ that, fundamentally, our motivation and concern arise from concern and compassion for others, right?  This is a Christian spirit that Mrs. Clinton has tapped, however strategically, even manipulatively.