Posted on 11/06/2008 6:36:40 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Yesterday, according to the exit polls, between 53 and 54% of American Catholic voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama, despite the Democratic candidate's enthusiastic support for unrestricted legal abortion.
Nationwide, Protestant voters supported John McCain, by a solid 54- 45% margin. But the Catholic vote broke for Obama. Why?
Earlier this week the US Conference of Catholic Bishops released a helpful listing of the 50 American states, with the proportion of population in each state. In 7 states, Catholics make up more than 30% of the population. Obama captured all 7 of those states on Election Day. In 8 states, Catholics account for less than 5% of the population. Seven of those states swung for McCain, and the 8th, North Carolina, is still listed as "too close to call" as I write this analysis.
To be sure, America's Catholic population is heavily concentrated in states that have a liberal political tilt. But is that a coincidence? Are those states hotbeds of liberalism despite the heavy Catholic presence, or because of it?
Yes, Catholics have traditionally leaned toward the Democratic Party for historical reasons. But why have Catholic voters remained doggedly loyal to a party that has come, in the early 21st century, to be wholly allied with the "culture of death" on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and embryonic stem-cell research?
The support that Obama won among Catholic voters is noteworthy because in the last presidential contest, in 2004, President Bush won 52% of the Catholic vote while his opponent John Kerry-- himself a Catholic!-- managed only 46%. Catholic support for the Democratic candidate rose markedly in this campaign, even though the Democratic contender was the most militantly pro-abortion candidate ever to win a major party's presidential nomination.
This trend is all the more remarkable because over the course of the past several weeks, dozens of American bishops issued strong public statements reminding their people of their moral obligation to vote in defense of human life. Those statements varied in candor and in quality, but their overall impact was remarkable. The 2008 campaign produced a seismic change in the attitude of the American hierarchy; the bishops as a group were far more outspoken, far more explicit, than in any previous election.
And still most Catholics voted for Obama. Again: why?
Before answering that question, let me cite one more vitally important piece of polling information: Among Catholic voters who attend Mass weekly, McCain won majority support: 54- 45%. Among those who do not attend weekly Mass, the margin for Obama was an overwhelming 61- 37%. Thus Obama drew his support from inactive Catholics. And unfortunately, most American Catholics are inactive.
In an interview recorded just before Election Day, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver explained that he had decided to take a prominent public stand on the obligations of Catholic voters because the "quieter approach to these things has not been effective." How right he was! He and many other prelates deserve the gratitude of loyal Catholics for their willingness to take a more energetic approach. This year, at last, the American bishops were clear and forthright in their teaching. Yet on Election Day it became evident that millions of American Catholics weren't listening.
Should we be surprised if Catholics ignore directives from the hierarchy? Should we be surprised that Catholics who do not attend Mass regularly-- thereby violating a precept of the Church-- ignore Church teachings on other issues as well? No, this result was predictable.
An entire generation of American Catholics has grown accustomed to dissent from Church teaching, and grown accustomed to seeing their bishops tolerate that dissent. In the 35 years since Roe v. Wade, Catholics have watched their Church leaders handle pro-abortion Catholic politicians with kid gloves, treating their moral treason as a minor annoyance rather than a public scandal. Yes, the bishops routinely denounced abortion; but at the same time they treated the public supporters of taxpayer-funded abortion with jovial deference. Puzzled lay Catholics concluded that the bishops didn't really take the issue too seriously, and the laity in turn stopped taking their bishops seriously. A few dozen statements from brave orthodox bishops in the autumn of 2008-- however clear, however compelling-- were not enough to undo a generation of damage.
Abortion is not an isolated issue. Lackadaisical American Catholics are not ignoring Church leadering on this issue alone, but on the entire range of Catholic teaching. Most Catholics skip Sunday Mass regularly. Most Catholics rarely if ever go to Confession. Most Catholics use contraceptives. Most Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence. Most Catholics no longer accept Church authority on any issue. Why should we be surprised, then, if on Election Day most Catholics ignore Church teachings on their moral obligation to vote in defense of human life?
For most of my life I have lived in Massachusetts, a state whose political culture was once thoroughly dominated by active Catholics. In my book The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture I explain how that Catholic culture deteriorated, as the faithful drifted away from the Church, until today the political scene in Massachusetts is dominated not by Catholics but by ex-Catholics, thoroughly hostile to the teachings of the Church.
Are Catholics in other states following the same trend? Will the next presidential election see even strong support for the "culture of death" among voters who identify themselves-- inaccurately-- as believing Catholics? Regrettably, I see the same forces that corrupted Catholicism in my native state now active all across the nation.
To repair the damage, we must recognize that the problem is not restricted to abortion, nor to defense-of-life issues. Indeed it is not, strictly speaking, a political problem. To restore the integrity of the Catholic vote, we must first restore the integrity of the Catholic faith, and rebuild the foundations of a Catholic culture.
That will be my goal-- my crusade-- in coming years. I hope and pray you'll join me.
To be sure, America's Catholic population is heavily concentrated in states that have a liberal political tilt. But is that a coincidence? Are those states hotbeds of liberalism despite the heavy Catholic presence, or because of it?
....Among Catholic voters who attend Mass weekly, McCain won majority support: 54- 45%. Among those who do not attend weekly Mass, the margin for Obama was an overwhelming 61- 37%. Thus Obama drew his support from inactive Catholics. And unfortunately, most American Catholics are inactive.
The free lunch. It’s that simple.
It’s really not that hard to figure out. They love the Democrat Party more than they love Jesus. Otherwise they would never vote for someone who supports killing God’s babies even after they are born as Obama has done.
“....Among Catholic voters who attend Mass weekly, McCain won majority support: 54- 45%.”
Thank you.
that “catholic” would vote for a man who voted -twice- for government sponsored post-abortion infanticide- is appalling
The Church woke up for this election (perhaps spurred earlier by Pelosi’s very public manipulation of Church docrine to spin abortion rights) but too little too late
I hope they keep their courage to speak out
CINOs and RINOs are killing this country.
Purge the Church of the CINOs by preaching the truth on the subjects that are the most divisive: Abortion, Contraception, Real Presence, Papal Authority, Marriage...this will cut the dead wood out.
They were too late. Ads on Obamas aborion record should have been run from day one.
I bet if they count black and white Protestant voters together, they will find that a majority of self-described protestants voted for Obama. But the media won’t do that. Nope, they’re too busy trashing real Catholics who practice their religion along with “catholics” who never darken the door of a church.
It’s not the dedicated Catholics we have to worry about, it’s the nominal ones that think all they have to do is go to confession say a couple “Hail Mary’s” and that’ll be the end of it. Consciences will be purged, and then they’ll go back and do it again.
Amen. I don't think I have heard one homily in my Parish about abortion or contraception, ever! I will speak to the Monsignor on Sunday after Mass about this.
Just as the liberal branches of the Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopal churches, and the United Church of Christ (Obama’s) and Unitarian Universalist churches all attract people who really have little true faith, so does the Catholic church, it seems.
If they supported Obama they support infanticide, which was never on the table and should have been pushed DAILY until everyone knew exactly what kind of liberal Obama is!!
Those ‘pick and choose Church policy’ Catholics like Joe Biden and John Kerry, etc. should be excommunicated. Period. The Church seems to come down pretty hard on people with words—they need to back it up with ACTIONS!! if, especially politicians out there saying, “Oh, the Church really doesn’t have a stance against abortion” (Biden)—call them publicly about these things, if they repent and prove it, fine. If they don’t, then kick’em out of the Church—they don’t belong!!
(I’m not Catholic, although I support a lot of their policies about the sanctity of life)
Seduced by the Spirit of the Age (C.S. Lewis's trenchant translation of the German Zeitgeist), the liberal American bishops have for far too long ignored their duty to teach and lead.
They belatedly realized that their sinful complicity with liberal politicians will probably lead to enactment of the so-called Freedom of Choice Act and thence to the complete destruction of Catholic Charities and Catholic hospitals as well. But they woke up too late to affect the election, and FAR too late to make up for their neglect of their duties over the last 30 years or so.
It will probably take the NEXT 30 years to rebuild the bishops' authority and the moral compass of Catholicism.
It wouldn’t have made any difference if they had watched Obama actually perform an abortion himself. They’d have still voted for him.
Basically, people who believe in God and attend Mass/service by keeping the Lord's day, whether they are Catholic/Protestant, they voted against this Obamanation.
The Church is losing 'influence' with many. Besides, all the issues of gay, pedophile priests, mass church/parish closings in NJ, you have this (most shocking of all)
Exactly. Party first.
I cannot comprehend those with priorties like this.
54 -45%? That sure let’s Catholics off the hook and shows that the strong majority stand by their convictions. I guess the 45% are those pesky modern “reformed” Catholics, eh? Oh well, 45% isn’t nearly as bad as the 78% of Jews who voted for him. At least none of Obama’s friends ever wanted to exterminate the Catholics. None that said so in public anyway.
The body of the Catholic Church in the USA, whether purposefully or not, has taken on the left-wing, amorphous, feel-good cliche of “social justice” above all else.
I saw many parishiners in my church easily swayed by leftist/pacifist “anti-war” propoganda, which pushed them into the Obama camp. These same people will simply ignore the holocaust of abortion, or swallow whole the nonsense that somehow Obama believes that abortion is bad (while allowing it and expanding access to it).
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