Forming Your Conscience for Voting w/ Dr. Stuart Squires | BOLD
This is the thirteenth installment of BOLD - A University of St. Thomas Podcast, a series that creates a dialogue and aims to inspire, encourage and aid students—current and prospective— to “Be Your Bold Self.” New episodes are published bi-weekly. If you have an idea for a potential podcast guest or topic, send them to maxstudios@stthom.edu
Alex Yemeck sits down with Dr. Stuart Squires, Assistant Director of the Nesti Center for Faith and Culture, and asks questions prompted by his "How Catholic Should Vote" lecture where he examined the USCCB document "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship." Squires deep-dives into the limitations of a two party system, what the separation of Church and State means, and how Catholic can ban together to demand candidates who better reflect their worldview.
Watch the video version of the Podcast here.
Overview:
01:45 - An Introduction to Dr. Stuart Squires
02:10 - What is an MAFC
05:40 - What does it mean to form your conscience
07:50 - How does one form their conscience without major education
11:20 - What is the responsibility of the Church in a political environment
15:50 - Understanding the separation of Church and State
18:00 - What is the role of the lay faithful
19:40 - How the Church responded to police brutality and racism
22:10 - The responsibility of Catholic Institutions to lead healthy, robust dialogue.
25:20 - Recognizing neither party fits Catholic Social Teaching
28:00 - Three tips
Squires offers three tips to help people form their conscience before voting.
- Ask yourself “What is driving my decision to vote, politics or the Gospel?”
The Catholic Church calls us to see the world through the lens of the Gospel, and that includes our politics. Oftentimes we see the Gospel through the lens of politics, and as Christians that is not what we are called to do. So Make sure your voting comes out of the Gospel principles and not political principles.
- Read the USCCB document (and watch his video).
It is called “Forming Conscience for Faithful Citizenship.” It is free, pretty short and easy to read, but if you run into anything you don’t quite understand watch my video explaining the document.
- Go Vote
What god is forming your conscience if you are not going to put it to use.
Helpful Resources
USCCB Document - Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship
