Lows and Highs of Good Citizenship, by Stephen P. White

It’s a presidential election year, so Americans everywhere can look forward to being bombarded by very important messages from super serious celebrities reminding us, ad nauseam, that we have a responsibility to exercise our rights as citizens by voting.

Now, I’m not opposed to voting. Nor to good citizenship, rights, or even responsibilities. In fact, I think those are all fine and important things. I confess that I find most celebrities somewhat suspect, and my suspicion increases in direct proportion to their tendency to take themselves too seriously. If they start singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” at me, things are liable to get ugly.

But this is an election year and, perhaps even more than most election years, this one promises to expose Americans to unusually high doses of both ridiculousness and rancor. And that makes it all the more important for Catholics to think seriously, not just about voting, but about rights and responsibilities and, in particular, what it means to be a good citizen. …

Continue reading >>>>>>>>>>>>