Topic category:  Partisan Politics

Wendy Long, the Republican, Conservative and Reform Parties' nominee for the United States Senate in New York, recently posted a detailed and illuminating article titled "Why Catholics Can and Should Support Trump" and subtitled "He's pro-life, backs traditional marriage, and favors religious freedom — among other key beliefs."

Long wrote in answer to "an open letter to 'Our Fellow Catholics' and 'all men and women of good will'...claim[ing] that a Trump presidency will endanger the Catholic priorities of the sanctity of human life, religious freedom, traditional marriage, and limited constitutional government informed by the Catholic principle of subsidiarity."

Long's letter is available in full at www.lifezette.com/faithzette/why-catholics-can-and-should-support-trump/ and closed this way:

"Lincoln wasn’t Catholic; he was born a Protestant, like Trump, and his vaguely Protestant faith was not expressed in regular church attendance or affiliation. But both have a way of stating, simply and clearly, principles of right in troubled times.

"Our country is being torn apart again, by broken borders, by a lack of good jobs, by a global economy that does not operate on American principles and free markets, by the relentless press of Islamic terror. We can’t keep going this way. The American Experiment — and the hopes and dreams of many Americans for themselves and their children — will soon end, unless we find a leader who will speak the plain truth about what is wrong and how to fix it.

"Let’s pray that our fellow Catholics — and all Americans of good will — trust their own good sense in electing that man as our next president, and that he will say of all Americans, as Lincoln did at his first inaugural: 'We are not enemies, but friends.'"

Speaker of the House and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan just made news by stating that he is not yet ready to support Donald Trump against the Planned Parenthood favorite, Hillary Clinton.

Presumably it is a negotiating ploy by Ryan to try tomove Trump closer to Ryan on domestic policy matters.

Sadly, Ryan's hesitance to endorse Trump reflects badly on Ryan, because as a Catholic the right choice for him in an election in which only Trump or Hillary Clinton can win is Trump.

In 2004 esteemed Bishop Emeritus Rene Henry Gracida explainedwhat is and is not sinful when it comes to voting.

Bishop Gracida:

"When a Catholic does not share a candidate's stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons strictly defined."Since abortion and euthanasia have been defined by the Church as the most serious sins prevalent in our society, what kind of reasons could possibly be considered proportionate enough to justify a Catholic voting for a candidate who is known to be pro-abortion? None of the reasons commonly suggested could even begin to be proportionate enough to justify a Catholic voting for such a candidate. Reasons such as the candidate's position on war, or taxes, or the death penalty, or immigration, or a national health plan, or social security, or aids, or homosexuality, or marriage, or any similar burning societal issues of our time are simply lacking in proportionality.

"There is only one thing that could be considered proportionate enough to justify a Catholic voting for a candidate who is known to be pro-abortion, and that is the protection of innocent human life. That may seem to be contradictory, but it is not.

"Consider the case of a Catholic voter who must choose between three candidates: candidate (A, Kerry) who is completely for abortion-on-demand, candidate (B, Bush) who is in favor of very limited abortion, i.e., in favor of greatly restricting abortion and candidate (C, Peroutka), a candidate who is completely against abortion but who is universally recognized as being unelectable. The Catholic voter cannot vote for candidate (A, Kerry) because that would be formal cooperation in the sin of abortion if that candidate were to be elected and assist in passing legislation, which would remove restrictions on, abortion-on-demand. The Catholic can vote for candidate (C, Peroutka) but that will probably only help ensure the election of candidate (A, Kerry). Therefore the Catholic voter has a proportionate reason to vote for candidate (B, Bush) since his vote may help to ensure the defeat of candidate (A, Kerry) and may result in the saving of some innocent human lives if candidate (B, Bush) is elected and introduces legislation restricting abortion-on-demand. In such a case, the Catholic voter would have chosen the lesser of two evils, which is morally permissible under these circumstances."

Ryan has ample reason to vote for Trump and not voting or voting for someone who cannot win is irresponsible.

Ryan should stop tarnishing his pro-life credentials by suggesting that he may not vote for Trump. For pro-lifers the choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton is easy, and Ryan should admit it.

Michael J. Gaynor

Biography - Michael J. Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.

Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.

The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.

Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.

Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.