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Trump Slammed by Conservative Catholics

Trump Slammed by Conservative Catholics
By Marc Nozell from Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA (Donald Trump raising arm) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Catholic leaders write a letter recommending fellow Catholics do not vote for Donald Trump.

A few prominent Catholic leaders shared a message on National Review where they made an appeal to fellow believers to desist voting in favor of Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump. Signatories like Professor Robert George of Princeton University and George Weigel of Ethics and Public Policy Center have stated that Trump is clearly unfit to be the President of the United States. The signatories stated that the real estate billionaire's campaign has pushed politics down to a never before seen low vulgar level. They also pointed out that Trump's appeal to ethnic and racial prejudice and fears are an anathema to any true Catholic sensibility.

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The letter went on to say that a number of good people, Catholics among them, are attracted to Trump’s campaign as he speaks of issues related to genuine and legitimate concerns. They urged fellow Catholics and also fellow citizens to vote for other Republican candidates who are more suited to solve these pressing problems. The other candidates, they pointed out, do not show the Trump kind of vulgarity, shocking ignorance and oafishness. They, as the conservatives point out, have not engaged in demagoguery.

In the National Review piece, the signatories wrote that Trump's appeal to ethnic and racial fears along with prejudice goes against the values of any true Catholic sensibility. They reminded readers that the candidate has promised to deploy the American military to torture anybody suspected of terrorism and also kill the families of terrorists. Such actions cannot be condoned by the church and can only bring shame to the United States. The writers have also pointed out that nothing in Trump's background extols Catholic values like religious freedom, rights of conscience and right to life. He has also given no indication to rebuild marriage culture and even principle of limited government. Trump can only promise greater degradation of the American culture and politics.

The letter was a maiden effort initiated by Catholic conservatives in their bid to influence the choppy presidential campaign. Since the clergy are restricted in their actions when it came to publicly shape the policies, American bishops were quiet during the campaign season. Pope Francis, however, made international headlines when he said that anybody who wants to build walls cannot be termed a Christian. According to the Vatican spokesperson, the Pontiff had no wish to point fingers at one individual.

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