Common Good Alliance

Common Good Alliance is recognized as a tax-exempt 501 c 4 organization under the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to our Alliance are not tax deductible and will be used to advance the non-partisan, issue focused mission of Common Good and its partners, including issue oriented, non-partisan lobbying, voter education and political participation.

Common Good Alliance is committed to building a culture of life, family, freedom and solidarity. We affirm classical Christian teaching concerning the person and the goods of the person, authentic human freedom including religious freedom, marriage and the family as the first vital cell of society, solidarity and our obligations in justice to and for one another, and, in a special way, to and for the poor and needy. The Christian Church does not adopt political platforms, endorse political parties or set political or economic theories as dogma. However, the Christian Faith is a lens through which we are called to view our participation as faithful citizens.

As Christians we believe that Our Baptism obligates us to fully participate, in every sphere of our life, in a manner that is faithful to our profession of faith. We reject any duplicity of life. We will not remove our faith like a coat upon entering the public square. To do so is to be unfaithful to the demands of the gospel. We will apply the principles derived from the social teaching of classical Christianity to build a culture of life, family, freedom and solidarity. Christian social teaching is neither .liberal. nor .conservative.. It provides principles for reflection, criteria for judgment and guidelines for action.

Just as there is a .hierarchy of truths. to guide us in the ordering and application of Christian teaching, there is a .hierarchy of values. that should inform the exercise of our faithful citizenship. There are certain areas that fall into the arena of prudential judgment. There, Christian voters certainly can take various positions without acting in a manner inconsistent with classical Christian teaching. However, there are issues that are so fundamental that candidates who do not support these positions, no matter how they explain themselves, or even if they are Christians, have disqualified themselves from public office by acting contrary to the truth revealed in the natural law and confirmed by revelation. They should not receive support from faithful citizens.

The .private. v. .public. dichotomy that is sometimes offered as a justification for unfaithful actions by some Christians in public service and holding public office, must be exposed and opposed. We are morally obligated to serve the common good in order to be good citizens. That means both voting and voting in a manner that is consistent with truth . It also means presiding from the bench in a manner that is consistent with the truth. Truth can be known and is revealed by the natural law that governs all men and women.

Christians are not only to be citizens who participate in elections but we are to be faithful citizens in that participation. We affirm that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit us to vote for a political program, an individual or even a single law that contradicts the fundamental tenets of our Christian Faith or the natural moral law.

Life:

Common Good Alliance affirms the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. We are committed to supporting and advancing every legitimate effort to ensure that the dignity of every human person becomes the polestar of all public policy. Our position on life is not a .single issue. commitment but rather a framework within which every other issue must be measured. This includes our corporate mission as well as our economic, political, cultural, and social participation as an association.

Some Life Issues :

  • We support the ban on Partial Birth Abortion and the end of all legal abortion. Therefore we will support all limiting legislation including .informed consent., parental notification for minors and similar efforts.
  • We call for criminal penalties for those who kill an unborn child in the commission of an assault on the mother. We support the Unborn Victims of Violence Act that begins to recognize in law the right to life of the child in the womb and protects pregnant women.
  • We support fully informed consent legislation requiring that all women seeking abortions are informed of the unborn child's capacity to experience pain.
  • We call for legislation providing a conscientious objection protection for all health care professionals asked to perform abortions, sterilizations, withdrawal of nutrition or hydration, prescribe contraceptives or participate in other actions that are morally objectionable.
  • We support legislation which places emphasis on true abstinence education and adoption assistance in federal programs.
  • We call for a complete ban on all forms of euthanasia.
  • We call for a complete ban on all forms of human cloning.
  • We condemn the practice of human embryonic stem cell research, and call for legislation which will prohibit this pursuit. At the same time we enthusiastically commend and support good science that serves the common good, such as is being practiced using adult stem cell research, adipose tissue stem cell extraction and fetal chord blood research.
  • We urge our nation to strengthen barriers against the use of nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, and weapons of mass destruction.

Family:

Common Good Alliance supports and promotes Marriage - and the family founded upon it - as the first society, the first church, first school, first hospital, first economy, and the first mediating institution. Our philosophy of government is predicated upon the understanding that the family is the first government and that all other governments are at its service. We believe that parents are the first teachers of their children and that all education begins in the home. We support public, private, parochial and charter schools as an extension of that educational mission and support any effective and constitutionally sound efforts to encourage, empower, and support parents in extending their educational mission, no matter what their economic conditions, through parental choice.

Some Family Issues :

  • We call for a Constitutional Amendment to declare that marriage is a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman and will be protected as such. Policies related to the definition of marriage, taxes, the workplace, divorce, and welfare must be designed to help families stay together and to reward responsibility and sacrifice for children.
  • We call on the Congress to enact legislation which will ease the difficulties of adoption of children born both in the United States and those born in foreign lands. We applaud those steps which have already been taken such as legislation which sped up the grant of citizenship to foreign children adopted by American citizens. We call for expanded grants and tax credits for those who wish to nurture and support life.
  • We support legislation to extend the current childcare certificate (voucher) provisions. The education of children is a fundamental parental responsibility. Educational systems can support or undermine parental efforts to educate and nurture children. Families of modest means should not be denied this choice because of their economic status. Government should help provide the resources required for parents to exercise this basic right without discrimination.
  • We will work to balance respect for freedom of speech with concern for the common good, promoting responsible regulations that protect children and families.
  • Communications play a growing role in society and family life. The values of our culture are shaped and shared in the print media as well as on radio, television, and the internet. We support a TV rating system and technology that assist parents in supervising what their children view. We support a revision of the movie rating system. We call for the FCC to more aggressively enforce the anti-profanity and anti-pornography broadcasting guidelines for radio and television stations.
  • The internet is an important and vital technology, and it should be available to all students at every age. With its great benefits have also come great problems. Because it poses serious dangers by giving easy access to pornographic and violent material, we support vigorous enforcement of existing obscenity and child pornography laws, as well as efforts by the industry to develop technology that assists parents, schools, and libraries in blocking out unwanted materials.

Freedom:

Common Good Alliance is committed to a fundamental vision of human freedom consistent with classical Christian thought. Freedom has two sides; a freedom .from. and a freedom .for.. Though we are free to choose between good and evil, we are not free to decide what is good and evil or what is right or wrong. This choice has already been made and is revealed by the Natural Law and confirmed by revelation. Freedom must be bounded by truth and has a moral constitution within which it must be exercised. Though the exercise of freedom carries with its extraordinary benefits to each individual, it also gives rise to an obligation to our neighbor and a particular obligation to the poor. The first freedom is religious freedom. There should be no .establishment. of religion, in the sense of a Federal or State sponsored Church which mandates adherence, because we do not believe that coercion has any place in authentic religious expression or practice. However, any prohibition against the .establishment. of a religion must not give rise to governmental hostility toward religious faith, religious persons or religious institutions. The .establishment clause. of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is really an .anti-establishment. clause which should be interpreted in light of the Free Exercise and free Speech clauses of that same amendment. Religious faith, religious persons and religious institutions should be accommodated because they serve and promote the common good..

Some Freedom Issues :

  • The first freedom is Religious Freedom which is a basic human right for all people and in all nations. Religious freedom, rightly understood and applied, is a freedom for religious expression and not a freedom from such expression. This entails a freedom for people of all faiths, or no faith, to participate in the public conversation and in the public square.
  • We call for an end to and repudiation of the so-called Blaine Amendments, which are a sad enshrinement of anti-Catholic bigotry, now used against all people of faith in a discriminatory fashion.
  • We oppose unreasonable restrictions on public policy/advocacy activities of churches or other non-profit entities or the censoring of the religious speaker.
  • We oppose legislation to require churches to report on charitable contributions, and conversely, we support legislation to increase incentives for charitable giving.
  • We call for a more concerted effort to ensure the promotion of religious liberty and other basic human rights as an integral part of U.S. foreign policy.
  • We fully and completely support the Boy Scouts as an American Institution and call for legislation to protect, promote and preserve their full and complete participation in every segment of society.
  • We call for an end to the growing practice of .religious cleansing. in American Society. That practice refers to the censorship of our religious heritage and the efforts to expunge references to God or that proud heritage from the public square and public institutions. Such an approach is repugnant to any authentic understanding of the First Amendments protection of the free exercise of religion and free speech. It also represents a virulent and dangerous misunderstanding of the Establishment clause. Religious faith, institutions and persons are a vital part of the American experiment. Religious faith and its influence in society serves the common good.

Solidarity

Common Good Alliance affirms that Christians are called by their Baptism and profession of faith to have a "heart", a fundamental commitment, for the poor, and work to alleviate poverty's harms in all its many manifestations. We also affirm the social obligation of solidarity. We are dedicated to supporting our members in solidarity in their relationships with one another, as well as in their full participation in society at every level. We believe that a commitment to solidarity entails an obligation to help give a voice to those who have no ability to make themselves heard and the exercise of true compassion toward all those in need.

Some Solidarity Issues :

  • Our Christian faith affirms God's special concern for the poor and vulnerable and calls us to make their needs a priority in public life. We recognize the principle of solidarity and the principle of subsidiarity and initiatives that emphasize both in the delivery of compassion and care to those in need.
  • The United States should take a leading role in helping to alleviate global poverty through a comprehensive development agenda, including substantially increased development aid for the poorest countries, more equitable trade policies, and continuing efforts to relieve the crushing burdens of debt and disease.
  • We call for proactive promotion of legislation that will amend existing debt law to increase funding for the additional reduction of bilateral and multilateral debt for the world's most heavily indebted poor countries, most of which are in Africa . In a world where one-fifth of the population survives on less than one dollar per day, where some twenty countries are involved in major armed conflict, and where poverty, corruption, and repressive regimes bring untold suffering to millions of people, we simply cannot remain indifferent. As a wealthy and powerful nation, the United States has the capacity and the responsibility to address this scandal of poverty and underdevelopment.
  • We support asylum for all refugees who hold a genuine and well-founded fear of persecution in their homelands. Our country should support protection for persons fleeing persecution through safe haven in other countries, including the United States , especially for unaccompanied children, single women, women heads of families, and religious minorities.
  • We oppose efforts to stem legal migration that do not effectively address its root causes.We believe our nation must remain a place of refuge for those fleeing persecution and suffering exploitation.refugees, asylum seekers, and victims of human trafficking.
  • We support efforts to overcome barriers to equal pay and employment for women and all who still face unjust discrimination.
  • We believe authentic Welfare reform must have as its fundamental goal the betterment of those trapped in the cycle of poverty, and promote the expansion of economic participation and an ownership society.
  • We oppose efforts to undermine faith-based institutions and their identity, integrity, and freedom to serve those in need and support the expansion of the faith based and community initiative as a dynamic, effective and efficient means of building a compassionate society.
  • The first priority for agriculture policy should be the creation of a food supply for all. We support public policy that encourages sustainable agriculture and careful stewardship of the Earth and its natural resources. The care of the Earth and for the environment is a .moral issue.. We support policies that protect the land, water, and the air we share. Reasonable and effective initiatives are required for energy conservation and the development of alternate, renewable, and clean-energy resources.