Dignity as a Litmus Test: Why I’m a Single Issue Voter

FRC (Family Research Council) Blog has a really great posting on some crucial aspects of voting for politicians who prove themselves defenders of justice [and that links strongly to the rights of the unborn!].

Don't be slowed down or put off by the first couple of paragraphs which really pertain to American politics (we've got our own problems!). This is nevertheless an excellent posting. It can help Canadians think and vote Life!

...Why would I hold a candidate responsible for an issue that isn't under their control? Because I am an unabashed single-issue voter -- and that issue is justice.

The justice I’m referring to is that which recognizes human dignity as the foundational principle of freedom and human flourishing. Although the terms are not interchangeable, I believe that the term “sanctity of life”, as defined by philosopher David Gushee, could serve as the standard definition for human dignity within liberal democracies:

The concept of the sanctity of life is the belief that all human beings, at any and every stage of life, in any and every state of consciousness or self-awareness, of any and every race, color, ethnicity, level of intelligence, religion, language, gender, character, behavior, physical ability/disability, potential, class, social status, etc., of any and every particular quality of relationship to the viewing subject, are to be perceived as persons of equal and immeasurable worth and of inviolable dignity and therefore must be treated in a manner commensurate with this moral status.

....

Because the State plays such a significant role in meting justice, we have a duty to elect politicians who have both a robust view of human dignity and the temerity to govern accordingly. Recognizing such characteristics in a politician is certainly an inexact science, which is why we often rely on heuristics like “litmus tests.”

This is a message that resonates perfectly with the message of Vote Life, Canada!

If understood and applied at the voting stations by a sufficient number of Canadians, the unborn would no longer be threatened by abortion.