That being said, opinion polls show that a significant number of Catholics are cavalier about abortion.That I could agree with, but its significantly different than your earlier statement.
As for your thought that the polls include many self identified, nonpracticing Catholics, you are right - but they still self-identify as Catholics.I don’t care what they call themselves, doesn’t make it true. Names mean something, even today. If you claim to be Catholic while never setting foot in a Catholic Church (much less rejecting every single doctrinal aspect of the Church) you aren’t Catholic in the commonly understood sense.
I said that I think most Catholics are quietly pro-choice and I think that it true - the fact that they are not churchgoing is peripheral:How is it peripheral? I’m a Vegan, did you know that? (Never mind that I eat meat daily).
You simply can’t reject the core requirements of being a member of the Church and then claim its “peripheral.” Sunday Mass may be trivial to many denominations, but to Catholics it is a required thing, and its not, by any stretch, the only thing these types are rejecting.
CINOs do prove my point - you need to rely on dismissing them to get to your conclusion. I am counting them because they count themselves - anything less is silly: if you discounted people as 'real' Catholics by their opinions, then you get wildly skewed results.Not really. It is hardly silly or difficult to define the “Catholic” subset by those who attend Mass. It does not get into the sticky realm of gauging them by their opinions, and it has some basis in reality. It measures people who actually do something Catholic, and excludes those who do nothing Catholic. Accepting all who simply claim to be Catholic has no basis in reality. It is a false construct made the media in an attempt to pretend that Catholics still support democrats.
There is no fallacy: I am trying to see what self-identified Catholics think. You are using what they think to identify them as Catholic or not.Actually, I am using cold hard facts -- what they DO, as in attending Mass -- not what they think, though the two closely coincide in most cases.
YOU are actually using what they think. When the pollster calls them up and asks what religion they are, they THINK about it, and they THINK they are kind of Catholic, so that is the response.
Do you see that? The response to the pollster’s question is based on what they “think.” My criteria are based on whether or not they actually attend. It includes all who actually attend, regardless of what they think. Given that actual attendance is required for Catholicism, its appropriate.
Your approach discards Catholics with inconvenient opinions.No it doesn't. Many people I vehemently disagree with do attend Mass and are quite sincere in their beliefs, even ones that aren't convienient for me. More importantly, it has some basis in reality.
That doesn't tell us much, except how many Catholics with inconvenient opinions might exist.Yes it does. If a Mass going Catholic is still pro-abortion that can be measured, and obviously these people do exist.
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