For most of my adult life I have been incredibly fascinated with the interaction of politics and faith.<\/p>\n
I was ecstatic when Pope Francis spoke to U.S. Congress last fall. I loved lobbying on behalf of the Catholic bishops in Iowa\u2014and all the Catholic concerns for the entire state\u2014when I interned with the Iowa Catholic Conference in 2004. And, I am a big fan of organizations like Faith in Public Life<\/a> and Sojourners<\/a>, who empower people of faith to advocate for justice.<\/p>\n Most of the time I am pleased with what I observe in the dance between politics and faith because I believe the actions of those of us who are religious\u2014including our political actions\u2014must be directed by our faith.<\/p>\n Many would agree that our religion must influence how we raise our voices, what we stand up for, whom we stand with and how\u2014or whether\u2014we vote. For those of us who\u00a0are Christians, this means we aim to imitate Jesus Christ, who demonstrated that nothing was worth killing for and that real love makes everyone worth dying for, even in the political sphere. We are guided by Jesus\u2019 most demanding teachings like \u201clove your enemies\u201d (Matthew 5:44) and \u201cBlessed are the meek\u201d (Matthew 5:5) and \u201cif you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions (Matthew 6:15).\u201d<\/p>\n As a Catholic Christian, I am grateful my bishops insist that every person has a responsibility to inform their conscience and follow it in the voting booth. I love this Church document<\/a> and I appreciate media like this<\/a> that summarizes the document and highlights the complexity of voting:<\/p>\n