The Czar is the last person who should advise you on religious matters, given his own weak beliefs. But there are some things he can underline for you.

In 2012, the Democratic National Platform stipulated that abortion is a specific component of the party. Rather like their previous support of slavery, if you are a Democrat, you support abortion. Not any of the euphemisms like “pro-choice,” or “reproductive rights,” but abortion. The Czar provides you the link to the actual stipulation there. Click on it if you want to read it for yourself.

For Catholics, this settles things: a voter can be a Democrat or be a Catholic, but he or she cannot be both. Under no circumstances, as you know, can a Catholic support or defend abortion on demand. The Cathechism, sections 2270-2275, makes this quite clear. Sorry for all the liberal Catholics who want to reinterpret Church teachings for their personal convenience, but again, there is the Vatican’s website link if you want to double-check.

This doesn’t mean that the Church simply disapproves of getting an abortion: it means that the Church prohibits elective abortion in all forms. To be clear, it prohibits not just the commission of abortion (itself resulting in automatic excommunication), but also the support of it.

One cannot be a Catholic and support the Democrats. That’s the bottom line, and not enough Church leaders are saying it. Some are. But let there be no mistake: if you are a Catholic who votes for Democrats, you need to choose one. Because you cannot do both, according to the Church’s perpetual position on abortion.

The Democrats disagree, naturally, because they need Catholic votes. They put out their own documentation for Catholics that downplays the seriousness of the abortion restriction; they are unable to link it to any catechist rule as you just saw here. And the Church has not approved their argument as in line with official policy. The Democrats’ guide even acknowledges it has no right to speak for Catholics, meaning you just wasted a lot of time reading their argument.

If you are a Catholic who supported Democrats, you need to understand it was not your fault. The Democratic party formally threw you out in 2012.

Based on the 2012 election voting, that’s about 8 million of you.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.