A Catholic voter’s guide and the marijuana ballot measure

On Nov. 5, North Dakota voters will elect public officials and decide ballot measures. When it comes to candidates, the Catholic Church does not support or oppose any candidate or political party. Instead, the Church encourages Catholics to examine carefully the candidates and the issues through the eyes of faith and reason and then to exercise their right to vote. 
 
Marijuana Ballot Measure
The Catholic bishops of North Dakota, working through the North Dakota Catholic Conference, urge voters to vote NO on Measure 5, which would legalize recreational marijuana. North Dakotans rejected similar ballot initiatives to legalize recreational marijuana in 2018 and 2022. Our two bishops in North Dakota, Bishop David Kagan and Bishop John Folda, have made it clear they strongly oppose legalizing recreational marijuana in our state: “We believe individuals, families, and communities will be significantly harmed if recreational marijuana is legalized in our state. We therefore strongly encourage Catholics and all other people of good will in North Dakota to vote ‘no’ on Measure 5.” Please see the “Statement of the Bishops of North Dakota in Opposition to the Legalization of Recreational Marijuana” found on the following page of this issue of New Earth and at www.ndcatholic.org/NoOn5.
 
Be a Responsible Voter
No political party responds perfectly to the demands of faith and Christian life (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church 573). Catholic voters therefore have a responsibility to find out where the candidates stand on the issues. To help Catholic voters, the North Dakota Catholic Conference provides questions that Catholics should ask about their candidates or, if the occasion arises, ask the candidates directly. Some of the questions concern issues that are more important than others. Some concern policies, like attacks on human life, that a Catholic could never support. Catholics can, however, legitimately disagree about how to address some other issues. All the issues deserve our attention.
 
Where does the State candidate stand on...
 
Creating a Sanctuary for Life

• Promoting and funding policies and programs that help pregnant women, mothers, and newborns?
• Maintaining bans on abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty, human embryo research, and commercial surrogacy?

 
Religious Freedom

• Protecting the exercise of religion?
• Protecting the right of religious organizations to serve the public in accordance with their beliefs?

 
Family and Education

• Enabling parents, financially and in other ways, to choose the best educational setting for their children?
• Opposing policies that mandate acceptance of false gender ideologies?

 
Poor & Vulnerable

• Ensuring access to health care while respecting human life, human dignity, and the religious and conscience rights of health care providers?
• Providing services to those in need, especially families facing financial hardship, victims of human trafficking, and persons with disabilities, mental illness, and addictions? 
• Protecting families and communities with a criminal justice system that focuses on restoration, rehabilitation, and prevention?
• Welcoming properly-vetted refugees, regardless of race, nationality, or religious affiliation?

 
Economy and Environment

• Ensuring a just wage, economic initiative, and pro-family work policies? 
• Promoting family farms, rural communities, and a food system that respects the dignity of labor and workers?
• Respecting the right of local communities to manage their own affairs for the common good?
• Fostering stewardship of our natural resources?

 
 
Where does the Federal candidate stand on...
 
Human Life

• Protecting unborn human life and ending abortion nationwide?
• Repealing the federal government’s use of the death penalty?
• Prohibiting the use of federal funds to pay for abortions?
• Protecting the right of the states to create sanctuaries for life by legally protecting unborn human life?
• Promoting and funding policies and programs that help pregnant women, mothers, and newborns?

 
Religious Freedom  

• Protecting the exercise of religion?
• Protecting the right of religious organizations to serve the public in accordance with their beliefs?

 
Family and Education

• Enabling parents, financially and in other ways, to choose the best educational setting for their children?
• Opposing policies that mandate acceptance of false gender ideologies?

 
Immigration

• Achieving comprehensive immigration reform that includes family reunification, border security, and humane border enforcement?
• Welcoming properly-vetted refugees, regardless of race, nationality, or religious affiliation?

 
The Poor and Vulnerable   

• Ensuring access to health care while respecting human life, human dignity, and the religious and conscience rights of health care providers?
• Providing services to those in need, especially families facing financial hardship, victims of human trafficking, and persons with disabilities, mental illness, and addictions? 
• Maintaining and increasing funding for poverty-focused development assistance to poor countries?

 
Economy and Environment

• Ensuring a just wage, economic initiative, and pro-family work policies?
• Promoting family farms, rural communities, and a food system that respects the dignity of labor and workers?
• Respecting the right of local communities to manage their own affairs for the common good?

 
Guided by faith and reason, Catholic voters in North Dakota have a serious responsibility to critically evaluate the candidates and issues and then make voting decisions on Nov. 5 that best uphold the dignity of the human person and promote the common good in our state and in our country.