Mr Ryan obviously payed attention in history class: human rights come from God and Nature.  Thomas Jefferson, James Madison,and Alexander Hamilton wrote documents saying that government should not hinder the free exercise of those rights of Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Currently my government cannot deny me the ability to exercise free speech (as demonstrated here), worship the way I desire or not worship if I choose. My government cannot take my property or deprive me of liberty or the pursuit of property and happiness without due process meaning I get my day to have redress. Corporations can and we see them do it on a daily basis. Don’t what I mean?
We see corporations run the media and not cover the stories the really need to be discussed (Freedom of press/ speech) We see corporations take over the holidays (Christmas especially- crass commercialism- Freedom to worship). Corporations are damaging public lands, private and public water systems and polluting the air (No due process).  And we Mr Ryan champion all of this. 

What I find interesting that Mr Ryan wants to deprive US Citizens these rights and that Catholics think its ok.  He wants the government to tell citizens how to worship (America is a Christian nation); I wonder if Catholics would be so willing if Mr Ryan was a Southern Baptist or a Four Square who still believe that all Catholics bad? What if he were and said Catholics are not true Christians because his beliefs like many Catholics think of those in false religions.  He wants to impose a form of Catholic Sharia Law on US Citizens (abortion- yes I am aware of the teachings but some religious faiths do not follow Catholic Doctrine for some reason or another; gay marriage- again it is acceptable in some religious faiths). I find this frightening as he is willing to completely ignore the first amendment. And he is willing to allow corporations to run over other rights?? 

What I find interesting is that Catholics are blinded by Mr Ryans Catholicism and worse- their own.
No!!

“Our rights come from God and nature, not government”.

Really?  That’s exactly what Osama Bin Laden and his followers believed.  We saw how they turned out.

Ryan is right… but saying it out loud is going to make athiests and liberals vote for Odreadful with even more vigor.
Nobody who subscribes to moral relativism wants to hear this.

Wow, you are free to tell us your opinion but Mr Ryan is not. According to your logic one could never hold any beliefs except big government rules all. Mr Ryan gives us hope. I find it very hypocritical that so many liberals are questioning Mr Ryan’s views on Catholic social doctrine yet will vote for pro abortion catholic politicians! We are not caring for the por by making sure fewer of them are born.

“Europe is our future if we don’t turn things aruond.”

I live in Germany, and I gotta say the quality of life here is pretty darn good.  There are certainly pros and cons relative to living in the USA, but if Germany is our future I’ll take it in a heartbeat.

“The Truth will set you free.” True freedom due to our God-given free-will allows us the ability to do what is right and according to God’s Love and Will. Often times, many Christians forget about the Natural Law and traditions of Christianity. Catholicism and other Christian sects might have different views on some issues. But, ultimately it’s about searching for the Truth that God gave us for our sins: Jesus Christ. Paul Ryan understands the Truth will set you free.

Paul Ryan is right. It is true that moral relativism is one of the major roots of evil in society today. As humans lose their moral grounding in God, so too they lose their souls. It is good that Paul Ryan has the courage to address the problem head-on. God bless you, Paul Ryan, and all those who stand with you in the name of the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Ryan is anti-Christian and I will not vote for him.  As a conservative Catholic, I support Obama.

@ Post by Bob on Wednesday, Aug 29, 2012 4:37 PM (EST):  “That’s exactly what Osama Bin Laden and his followers believed [that Our rights come from God and nature]”.

Dear Bob, while it may be true that OBL et al “believed” such, it does not follow necessarily that their principles were, in fact, rooted in God. There is a difference. That reality is that OBL et al were NOT following principles rooted in God and, as such, your point says nothing about the proper root of good morality.

Here is a brief explanation that may help you, and others, understand. Note that government is a human construct. As such, without humans, there is no government. Therefore, government cannot be the “source of human rights” because government comes from humans. This then begs the question of existence and creation, which is rooted in God—see “causality” and the “modal ontological argument” and so forth. If any rational humans thinks about these facts follows the argument through, then that human will clearly see that if human rights do, in fact, exist, then there must be an absolute source (AKA God)—otherwise, human rights cannot exist in a meaningful way but, rather, only opinion.

HTH.

Thanks.

Mr. Sullivan, I am an orthodox Catholic and I could never vote for Mr. Obama who is the most pro abortion, pro socialist president we have ever had.

Praise God for Mr. Ryan, the first politician in years who understands what it means to have a ‘formed’ conscience.  A conscience formed by his faith not by modern secular relativism.  Not by sentiments and feelings but by what he believes to be the truth. Those truths taught by the Catholic Christian faith.

Look around at all ‘orthodox’ Christians of varying denominations, you will find that while we don’t agree on everything when it comes to doctrine and traditions, we agree on the most important points of the Christian Faith. 

I am sorry to say this, but if you are a ‘conservative’ Catholic and you are not grateful to God that a man of faith, a man who will not, like JOhn Kennedy, deny his faith to win office, is running, then I wonder if you understand Catholicism and more to the point, Christianity, at all. The Founders of this country understood this.  We need to understand our history, out of what we were born as a country, in order to right the ship that is the USA.

Moral relativism is the biggest issue in the West.

But most Americans are not moral relativists. The biggest peculiarly American heresies are:

- American exceptionalism

- excessive individualism, linked with Protestantism, which denies the fact that we are created both as individuals and members of society. Ayn Rand (one of Ryan’s major influences) is a prime example.

- putting liberty before justice. This manifests as putting the right to choose before the right to live, putting individual rights to gun ownership before others right to life, putting individual health care before collective universal provision.

@ Post by Leo on Thursday, Aug 30, 2012 2:19 PM (EST):

Dear Leo—

Regarding this…

Moral relativism is the biggest issue in the West.

...you (and Ryan) are close but, actually, the “biggest issue” right now for humans is abortion (and the like)—this is “biggest” universally, and therefore by extension, also “biggest for the USA”. The Pro-Life Versus Anti-Life war is paramount because human rights only exist for that which has life. No life, no rights. Etc. Now, perhaps Ryan (and or you?) are inferring that “moral relativism” is the root of the Anti-Life movement, and that may be so. But, it could be the case that something other than moral relativism is the root of the Anti-Life movement. For example, conscious human choice of evil over good, while fully knowing that both evil and good exist, that could the root of the Anti-Life movement. And I expect there are other possible roots as well. I did not mention this distinction with respect to the “biggest issue” in my earlier comments because I did not want to quibble or parse the matter unnecessarily. It is true that Ryan (and you) both are correct in pointing out a VERY serious problem—moral relativism. And yet, superlatives are tricky and, if we are to use them, then we ought be careful. And so, since you seem to be fine-tuning the discussion here regarding “biggest issue”, I thought it proper to mention the fact that the “Sanctity Of Life” (abortion, euthanasia, et al) is actually first-in-line for the “biggest issue”.

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—“All direct attacks on innocent human life, such as abortion and euthanasia, strike at the house’s foundation. These directly and immediately violate the human person’s most fundamental right – the right to life.”

Pope Benedict XVI—“[L]ife is the first good received from God and is fundamental to all others; to guarantee the right to life for all and in an equal manner for all is the duty upon which the future of humanity depends.”

That said, I have no major argument with you (or Ryan) on this matter; but, I just seek to enhance the discussion a bit.

Thanks and God bless you.

—Mark Kamoski

@ Post by Mike Sullivan on Thursday, Aug 30, 2012 10:08 AM (EST):

Dear Mike Sullivan—

Regarding your statement…

“Ryan is anti-Christian”

...I kindly invite you to support this claim with factual evidence.

(Let’s put fanciful inferences from “bad reading choices” aside, please. They are non-starters, at best. I daresay we all have read a few “bad books” in our time, and that is enough on that dimension of topic.)

I eagerly await your well-reasoned and properly researched argumentation on your claim.

While I, and others, are waiting for your excellent reply, here is some good reading material—some FACTS regarding your alleged “Pro-Christian” candidate.

Here is some of Barak Obama’s Voting Record on Abortion…

Blocked IL law: Born Alive Infant Protection Act. (Oct 2011)
Opposed born-alive treatment law because it was already law. (Oct 2008)
Supports Roe v. Wade. (Jul 1998)
Voted NO on defining unborn child as eligible for SCHIP. (Mar 2008)
Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion. (Mar 2008)
Voted YES on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Apr 2007)
Voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions. (Jul 2006)
Voted YES on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives. (Mar 2005)
Sponsored bill providing contraceptives for low-income women. (May 2006)
Rated 0% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-choice stance. (Dec 2006)
Ensure access to and funding for contraception. (Feb 2007)

http://www.ontheissues.org/barack_obama.htm#Abortion

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—

OBAMA VOTED MORE THAN ONCE TO DENY THE RIGHT TO LIFE FOR A CHILD BORN ALIVE AFTER A BOTCHED ABORTION.

Is that a “Christian” stance???

Thanks and God bless you.

—Mark Kamoski

To Mike Sullivan:  Conservative Catholics DO NOT vote for Obama. WAKE UP!

so refreshing to se a Catholic politician who is truly Catholic

The whole history of Pres Obama from High School unto today is drenched with socialistic leanings and it’s more virile cousin Communistic convictions. Excellent references: search “Executive Orders (whitehouse.gov);as of June 17, 2012 the President signed 900 executive orders. Our Central Govt is top heavy with leftist leaning orders, regulations, a shadow cabinet (The Czars).The Heritage Foundation: “Barack Obama’s Rules for Revolution The Alinsky Model”. Vatican doc:Instruction on certain aspects of the “Theology of Liberationism”.

This is a great opportunity for Catholics to step up and support a great Catholic politician like Paul Ryan.  His record is strongly pro-life and pro-traditional marriage.  This is in stark contrast to the pro-choice and pro-same-sex partnership political records of Obama and Biden.

“Posted by Mike Sullivan on Thursday, Aug 30, 2012 10:08 AM (EST):

Ryan is anti-Christian and I will not vote for him.  As a conservative Catholic, I support Obama.”

So in other words you not only condone but are actively promoting (through the ballot box) the killing of unborn babies (the vast majority of abortions are non-medical inconvenience abortions - abortion is NOT a form of birth control), marriage for homosexuals and taxpayer or business funded contraception for all? I am really feeling your Conservative Catholicism here. Way to go.

By the way, condoms or the pill are a few dollars a week, is that really a medical priority?

I recommend that everyone see the movie, 2016.  It’s a very well done movie about Obama’s life and why he is such a radical. It’s really pathetic that people did not read about his Marxist/Socialist leanings before the last election.

I think it was Ben Franklin who when asked by a woman on the street after the signing of the Declaration of Independence: “Sir, what have you given us?”  “Madam”, he said, “A republic if you can hold onto it”.  We are not holding onto it very well.  We have two choices in November: Socialism or Democracy. It’s as simple as that.

If one watched Fox News and/or did ANY reading at all, it was obvious that Obama had Marxist/Socialist leanings. Unfortunately, most people never even watch the news let alone do any research about the candidates. I don’t think I have the stomach to watch the movie. I CANNOT watch the DNC this week!  Read the book The Amateur.  If he is re-elected, it will be the end of our country as we know it.  I am TERRIFIED and pray every day that GOD have mercy on us!

@ Mike Sullivan: You are not a conservative Catholic. You are a squishy liberal. Trolls like you like to post on sites like this. There are so many uninformed people who don’t want to know the truth about Obama. They support Democrats no matter how corrupt they are.  It’s a very unmanly thing to do.  Do you have children?  If you do, why would you want them to be crushed by Obama’s massive debt?  Again, very unmanly.

@mws Your attack is a slime ridden promotion of a movie that the director admitted never talking to Obama.  He constructed it based on hearsay and probability, the same way the sleaze peddler Michael Moore does.  Don’t call yourself conservative, because a real conservative doesn’t attack a man’s family. BTW, Paul Ryan is a huge follower of Ayn Rand….an atheist that believes the Catholic Church is the same as communism. “Today, Catholicism and communism may well cooperate, on the premise that they will fight each other for power later, but must first destroy their common enemy, the individual, by forcing mankind to unite to form one neck-ready for one leash”-Ayn Rand.  If Ayn Rand so changed Paul Ryan’s life, does he believe this too?  I’m sorry, but you don’t get to define what a conservative Catholic is.

“I grew up reading Ayn Rand, and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are and what my beliefs are. It’s inspired me so much that it’s required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff.”
—U.S. Representative Paul Ryan, Republican vice presidential candidate, in a 2005 speech

Funny… Paul Ryan is a huge moral relativist…

@tzalinsky:You’re wrong. I am a conservative and I’m attacking Obama and not his family. I never said a thing about his family. 2016 is a very well researched movie. A president has a massive amount of material for people to research. Don’t you find it interesting that all of Obama’s records are sealed?  No papers from college or law school?  It’s all right for George Bush to be scrutinized for everything but not Obama, right?  The more I read about Obama, the more I see how radical he is.  He truly is unfit for the presidency.