Posted on 04/29/2009 8:10:30 AM PDT by Welcome2thejungle
Last November Catholics voted for BHO over John McCain 54% to 45% almost exactly the way the rest of the nation did as a whole. Here are some facts worth dissecting inside these numbers: Nearly one third of all Catholics in America are Hispanic and they voted for BHO overwhelmingly (70%+). Also included in the "Catholic Vote" are nominal Catholics (CINOs)who were born into the Church but who rarely, if ever, practice their faith. There are millions of voters who fall into this category and studies have shown that as with the rest of the population in general, the more secular you are, the more liberal and pro-Democrat you vote and the more religious and more observant you are, the more likely you tend be conservative and favor Republican candidates.
Subtract the Hispanic and CINO voters from the "Catholic Vote" and you will see that non-Hispanic, observant Catholics (observant being defined as Catholics who regularly attend Mass) voted for John McCain in 2008.
As a Political Science major in college a number of years ago I studied political behavior and voting patterns. Back then, factors such as income and socio-economic status (SES) more or less determined party preference and voting behavior. The lower your income and SES, the more you likely you identified with the Democrat Party, the higher your income level and SES, the more you likely you identified with the Republican Party.
This is no longer the case anymore. Religious observance seems to now be a much bigger factor than income and SES in determing party affiliation. The more frequently you identify with a church and attend services, the more likely you are to identify with the Republican Party, the more secular and non-observant you are, the more liberal you are and identify with the Democrat Party. In Political Science there are always exceptions to the rules and countervailing influences that need to be taken into account. For example, Blacks and Hispanics tend to have fairly high rates of regular church attendance relative to the general population, but they also favor the Party of Big Government and Higher Taxes overwhelmingly because the Democrat Party's Marxist political approach of class warfare and income redistribution.
So next time you read or hear something about the so-called Catholic vote, check it out a little deeper. Remember that Hispanics make up nearly a third of all U.S. Catholics. Another third are likely to be non-observant or low-observant CINOs. True practicing Catholics are more likely than not to be good, solid, patriotic conservatives.
The Catholic Church should not be thought of as a political party. With over 1.2 billion Catholics in the world today, it is not only the world's oldest Christian faith, but also, by far, the largest. Voting behavior is often complex and subject to a multiple of variables including economic conditions and external considerations such as war and peace. Most people who are highly political, such as those likely to be reading this essay, often believe that political behavior and practice ought to conform with religious behavior and practice. Among the greater universe of voters, most people separate their religious practices from their political practices.
I have a friend who has been mulling conversion to the Catholic Church but has resevations because of the many liberals in the Church. I keep reminding him the Church is not a political party and should not be thought of as such. I encourage him to attend Mass, pray the Rosary, and go to Bible Study. It should be a spiritual experience, not a political experience. He also brings up the pedophile priest scandal which occurred a number of years ago, never minding the fact that there are many more child sexual predators loose in our public schools than there ever were in the Catholic Church. Of course our Church has been stained by sin but what church or any other human institution for that matter hasn't been tarnished? My friend,btw,comes from an Episcopalian background and that church, along with most other mainline Protestant churches, was taken over by the liberals and turned into a spiritual wasteland long ago.
Yesterday the big news was Sen. Arlen Specter's departure from the Republican Party. The man most responsible for purifying the Republican Party and bringing about this was former Congressman Pat Toomey who is working hard to return the GOP to its traditional conservative values. Pat Toomey is also a Catholic.
My brother and his wife are observant Catholics, not Hispanic, and comfortably middle class. Yet they have voted enthusiastically for Democrats for years. They also claim to be pro-life.
There are ALWAYS exceptions.
Saying one is Catholic or even regularly attending mass does not make one Catholic, Catholic is a belief system that requires its followers to be observant in their actions and thoughts to be in Communion with the saints and the Church.
Exactly my point. THX!
I know people like that.
When they say they are “pro-life,” they are lying to themselves. All they mean is that they wish abortion would just go away—all by itself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.