Fully Human with Eliza Monts

For years, I believed that being a faithful Catholic meant abortion had to determine my vote. If a candidate claimed to be pro-life, every other political issue seemed secondary.

Eventually, I realized that isn't actually what the Catholic Church asks of voters.In this episode, I share my story of unlearning single-issue voting, the conversation with my mom that changed how I approached the ballot box, and what the U.S. Catholic bishops actually say in Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.

I talk about abortion as a preeminent issue, President Trump, the dignity of already-born human beings, poverty, immigration, racism, war, healthcare, the environment, and why Catholic social teaching makes voting much more complicated than simply choosing the candidate with the “pro-life” label.

00:00 Why Politics Matter
01:24 Cradle Catholic Roots
03:28 Abortion Unit Impact
06:33 2016 Trump and Single Issue
08:10 Questioning Pro Life Claims
10:50 Mom Challenges Voting
13:51 Bishops on Many Issues
18:28 Not Single Issue Voters
21:51 Catholic Social Principles
23:33 Encouragement and Prayer

Fully Human exists thanks to the support of people like you. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider becoming a paid subscriber for access to Eliza’s best writing: elizawritesthings.substack.com.

Eliza Monts on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/elizawritesthings/⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7JQzX1pCVaXOhKuNIp3hzR⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fully-human-with-eliza-monts/id6812877101⁠⁠

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Blessed Teresio Olivelli was a practicing Catholic who attended daily Mass, prayed the rosary, and supported Hitler and the Nazi movement.

Eventually, something changed. Teresio recognized the profound contradiction between the Catholic faith he professed and the political ideology he supported. He left Germany, fought against fascism, helped found the Catholic underground resistance newspaper Il Ribelle, and was eventually captured and sent to a concentration camp. At only 29 years old, he died after throwing himself over another prisoner to protect him from a guard's brutal beating.

In this episode of Fully Human, I explore Teresio's remarkable transformation from Nazi sympathizer to anti-fascist Catholic martyr, and what his life can teach us about cognitive dissonance, political tribalism, integrity, and the danger of assuming that outward religious practice necessarily means our beliefs and actions are aligned with Christ.

00:00 Nazi To Blessed
00:53 Saints And Politics
02:52 Early Life In Italy
03:33 Catholic Nazi Dissonance
06:05 Breaking With Nazism
07:07 Underground Paper Il Ribelle
08:32 Capture And Martyrdom
08:58 How Martyrs Are Formed
10:27 Prayer Lord Set Us Free
11:10 Reading The Prayer
14:16 Integrity And Survival
16:51 Warning And Benediction

Fully Human exists thanks to the support of people like you. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider becoming a paid subscriber for access to Eliza’s best writing: elizawritesthings.substack.com.

Eliza Monts on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/elizawritesthings/⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7JQzX1pCVaXOhKuNIp3hzR⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fully-human-with-eliza-monts/id6812877101⁠⁠

#catholicism #catholicchurch #catholicsocialteaching

AI data centers are becoming one of the strangest bipartisan issues in American politics, and I think Catholics should be paying attention.

In this episode of Fully Human, I look at the environmental and human costs of AI data centers, why opposition to them is bringing together people across the political spectrum, and what Catholic teaching actually says about caring for creation.

Drawing on Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, Laudato Si’, and the Church’s critique of the “technocratic paradigm,” I argue that environmentalism shouldn’t be dismissed as a partisan or “woke” concern. Caring for our common home is deeply connected to human dignity, our responsibilities to future generations, and our obligations as Christians.

00:00 Bipartisan AI Backlash
01:39 Why Data Centers Harm
02:44 Catholic Duty to Creation
04:09 Election Politics and NIMBY
05:48 Walterboro Victory Story
06:59 Laudato Si Warning
08:16 Technocratic Paradigm Explained
09:43 Benedict and Stewardship
10:30 Imperfect Environmentalism
12:11 Practical Steps and AI Refusal

Fully Human exists thanks to the support of people like you. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider becoming a paid subscriber for access to Eliza’s best writing: elizawritesthings.substack.com.

Eliza Monts on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/elizawritesthings/⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7JQzX1pCVaXOhKuNIp3hzR⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fully-human-with-eliza-monts/id6812877101⁠⁠

#catholicism #catholicchurch #catholicsocialteaching

In this episode of Fully Human, I examine three of the most common arguments I hear against women having the right to vote: that husbands should cast one vote on behalf of the entire household, that women tend to vote for the “wrong” political party, and that women’s suffrage supposedly led to abortion, contraception, and other social changes.

I look at why I don’t think these arguments hold up logically or theologically, and why Catholic ideas about marriage, male headship, mutual submission, human dignity, and the common good don’t require taking political rights away from women.

Ultimately, I think the question is much simpler: women don’t need to prove that they vote better than men to deserve a vote. Women are human beings, citizens, and fully capable of intellectual and rational thought.

00:00 Why This Matters
02:03 From 13 Arguments to 3
03:14 Household Vote Myth
06:18 What Unites Marriage
07:29 Voting and Human Value
08:54 Headship Is Service
10:17 Do Women Need Men?
13:27 What About Single Women
13:43 They Vote Wrong?
14:43 Blaming Suffrage for Liberalism
16:08 Little Women Nails It

Fully Human exists thanks to the support of people like you. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider becoming a paid subscriber for access to Eliza’s best writing: elizawritesthings.substack.com.

Eliza Monts on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/elizawritesthings/⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7JQzX1pCVaXOhKuNIp3hzR⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fully-human-with-eliza-monts/id6812877101⁠⁠

#catholicism #catholicchurch #catholicsocialteaching

The pro-life movement in America hasn't always looked the way it does today. In fact, some of its earliest advocates were Catholics whose defense of unborn life was deeply connected to their concern for the poor, marginalized, and vulnerable.

After reading Daniel K. Williams' Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement Before Roe v. Wade, I was surprised by just how much the movement, and its relationship with American politics, has changed.

In this episode, I explore the Catholic roots of the pro-life movement, how abortion became increasingly associated with Republican politics, the impact of the sexual revolution and birth control, and why I believe today's pro-life movement needs to recover a truly consistent life ethic.

00:00 Pro Life Origins
02:48 Catholic Action Book Club
04:28 Choosing a History Book
06:24 Science and Personhood
09:46 Early Liberal Catholics
13:13 Politics and Sexual Revolution
16:24 Birth Control Split
20:19 Modern GOP Tensions
22:24 Consistent Life Ethic
24:12 Bipartisan Path Forward

Fully Human exists thanks to the support of people like you. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider becoming a paid subscriber for access to Eliza’s best writing: elizawritesthings.substack.com.

Eliza Monts on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/elizawritesthings/⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Spotify: ⁠⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/7JQzX1pCVaXOhKuNIp3hzR⁠⁠
Eliza Monts on Apple Podcasts: ⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fully-human-with-eliza-monts/id6812877101⁠⁠

#catholicism #catholicchurch #catholicsocialteaching