Closing Prayer at the Democratic National Convention

First of all, I did not watch any of the Democratic National Convention live, but neither did I watch any of the Republican National Convention live. A friend posted the You Tube video of the closing prayer to Facebook and I watched it there. Here is a link to the video and a link to the transcript.

Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York and a Cardinal in the Catholic Church prayed to close the convention on Thursday, September 6, 2012. He also prayed to close the Republican National Convention a week earlier.

His prayer was reverent and distinctively Christian. He did not avoid some of the social issues that the Democratic party supports and the Catholic church opposes. He addressed the issues in a way that some may not have realized, at the time, what he was saying.

Here is an excerpt from the transcript.

May we know the truth of Your Creation, respecting the laws of nature and of nature's God, and not seek to replace them with idols of our own making. Give us the good sense not to cast aside the boundaries of righteous living You first inscribed in our hearts before inscribing them on tablets of stone. (From Cardinal Nolan's closing prayer at the DNC)

The bold portions are from the transcript (I did not add them). Note a few issues that are or could be at odds with the general direction of the politics of the Democrat party. First, "respecting the laws of nature" is a reference to ethics based on natural laws. He also asks that God prevent us from replacing the natural laws with "idols of our own making." Catholics have a long history of natural law ethics. Here are a few links for those who are not familiar with natural law. Here is a webpage with some information. And here is a You Tube video (3 1/2 min) briefly explaining natural law.

He also notes the importance of living righteously. This is a reference to both virtue and both the Old Testament and New Testament as a basis for ethics. Catholic thought has a long history of virtue ethics. Here is a link about Catholic ethics in general (it has a section on virtue ethics).

The phrase "you first inscribed on our hearts" is a reference to the New Testament book of Romans and the reference to "tablets of stone" refers to the Decalogue, or more commonly known as the Ten Commandments.

So in this prayer, Cardinal Nolan asked God to help people have an understanding of ethics and morality that is in line with Catholic ethics as grounded by natural law, virtue, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. So what do we make of this? The delegates in the room seemed to agree with Cardinal Nolan as he prayed. Are there parts of the Democratic Platform that are contrary to Christian ethics? I think so.

I think Cardinal Nolan did a great job in his closing prayer. My hat is off to you sir. I also think it is great that the Democratic National Convention made available the opportunity for him to pray to close the meeting. My hat is off to the DNC also. I do think, however, that if God grants Cardinal Nolan's petition, the election won't go well for the Democrats.

That is not to say that Republicans are "God's Party" or anything like that. But I do believe that while the official party platform of the DNC may claim to promote ideals that are in line with Christian ethics, the particular policies advocated by the Democrats are often contrary to Christian ethics. Let me also say that I think Republicans also have similar issues as it relates to policy and Christian ethics, but I believe, on the whole, that their problems are fewer than those of the Democrats.

So I agree with the sentiments of Cardinal Nolan. I also ask God to grant the petitions he prayed for at the close of the DNC.