“The Catholic vote is by and large liberal”
Just like your protestant friends, church going Catholics are vote conservative. The hypocrites, who never sat foot in a church, should not be included in statistics. That is a fact. When a Catholic supports abortion or homosexual “marriage”, they have excommunicated themselves and should quit calling themselves Catholic. The media knows that and ignores it and throws all Catholics into the same pool for their own left-wing purposes. The Catholic Church has a set doctrine that it’s members are expected to abide by. If they can’t, they need to get out and join one of the many liberal protestant denominations all over the country. I would suggest the Episcopalians, who believe in sodomite priests, take no stance on abortion and believe in sodomite “marriage”. But then again, the Episcopalian Church is about dead. Thousands are converting to Catholicism every day because of their liberal doctrine.
“The hypocrites, who never sat foot in a church, should not be included in statistics. That is a fact. “
That takes away +80% of those you counted as catholic when you claimed 1 billion catholics...
Not true.
When I worked full time, I worked with a lot of Catholics and those Prots voted conservative and asked the Catholics why they voted dem when the dems supported abortion, and the answer from ALL of them was the same. The Democrats are *for the poor*. That trumped the abortion issue. And these were faithful, attending mass on a more than weekly basis. Holy days and everything.The hypocrites, who never sat foot in a church, should not be included in statistics. That is a fact. When a Catholic supports abortion or homosexual “marriage”, they have excommunicated themselves and should quit calling themselves Catholic.
Except when someone wants to claim that Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination on the planet, 1.2 billion strong. How convenient.
If they've ex-communicated themselves, then Catholics need to stop counting them to over inflate their numbers to try to impress people.
These are not twice a year Catholics. Even the old lady next door to me just recently, this past summer, who faithfully attends Sunday mass, gives generously, attends morning mass during the week as often as her health and the weather permit it, supports abortion and gay marriage. Her response? *I know what the Church teaches but......*.
It's a myth that Catholics like to quote and apparently believe, that those who vote liberal are not faithful Catholics. I can count on one hand the number of Catholics who I have met in real life, who are faithful mass attending Catholics who vote conservative.
Even the stats that daniel provides supports my observations.
I know other former Catholics can verify the same from their experience.
A standard attempt to deal with reality, which is that rather than not being included in statistics, the fact is that Rome treats such as members in life and in death. Remember Teddy K? This is the norm, and is what Rome effectually teaches overall. As RCs like to quote, "I will shew thee my faith by my works."
And while the media is liberal, they certainly do not favor evangelicals over Catholics.
As for voting, surely weekly attendees are more conservative, but overall not very, and far less than their evangelical evangelical counterparts. The below includes weekly Catholics where stated, with much more info here from many difference sources. .
40% Roman Catholics vs. 41% Non-R.C. see abortion as "morally acceptable"; Sex between unmarried couples: 67% vs. 57%; Baby out of wedlock: 61% vs. 52%; Homosexual relations: 54% vs. 45%; Gambling: 72% vs. 59% http://www.gallup.com/poll/117154/Catholics-Similar-Mainstream-Abortion-Stem-Cells.aspx
Committed Roman Catholics (church attendance weekly or almost) versus Non-R.C. faithful church goers (see the below as as morally acceptable): Abortion: 24% R.C. vs. 19% Non-R.C.; Sex between unmarried couples: 53% vs. 30%; Baby out of wedlock: 48% vs. 29%; Homosexual relations: 44% vs. 21%; Gambling: 67% vs. 40%; Divorce: 63 vs. 46% ^
26 percent of Catholics (2007) polled strongly agree with the Church's unequivocal position on abortion Catholic World Report; 2997 survey of 1,000 Catholic Americans by Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Connecticut
46 percent of Catholics who say they attend mass weekly accept Church teaching on abortion; 43 percent accept the all-male priesthood; and 30 percent see contraception as morally wrong. ^
31% of faithful Catholics (those who attend church weekly, 2004) say abortion should be legal either in "many" or in "all" cases. 2004, The Gallup Organization Gallup Survey for Catholics Speak Out: 802 Catholics, May 1992, MOE ± 4%
Catholics testify [2010] to showing more support (in numbers) for legal recognitions of same-sex relationships than members of any other Christian tradition, and Americans overall. Almost three-quarters of Catholics favor either allowing gay and lesbian people to marry or allowing them to form civil unions (43% and 31% respectively). Only 22% of Catholics said there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship. (PRRI, Pre--election American Values Survey, 9/2010; http://publicreligion.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Catholics-and-LGBT-Issues-Survey-Report.pdf.)
This 2010 survey of more than 3,000 adults found that 41% of White American Catholics, 45% of Latino Catholics (versus 16 percent of White evangelical Christians, and 23% of Black Protestants) supported the rights of same-sex couples to marry, and 36% (22% of Latino Catholics) supported civil unions (versus 24% of White evangelicals, and 25% of Black Protestants). Among the general public the rates were 37 and 27 percent.
69% of Catholics disagree that homosexual orientation can be changed, versus 23% who believe that they can change. ^
19% of White Catholics, 30% of Latino Catholics, 58% of White evangelicals, 52% of Black Protestants and 29% of White Mainline Protestants oppose any legal recognition of homosexual marriage. ^
60% of Catholics overall, and 53% of the general public favor allowing homosexual couples to adopt children. ^
73% of Catholics favor laws that would protect gay and lesbian people against discrimination in the workplace, and 63% favor allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military. For the general public the figures are 68% and 58% respectively. ^
49% of Catholics and 45% of the general public agree that homosexuals should be eligible for ordination with no special requirements. ^
Among Catholics who attend services regularly (weekly or more), 31% say there should be no legal recognition for homosexual relationships (marriage or civil unions), with 26% favoring allowing gay and lesbian people to marry, versus 43% of Catholics who attend once or twice a month, and 59% of Catholics who attend a few times a year or less favoring allowance of homosexual marriage. ^
34% of weekly Mass attending Catholics are Democrats, and an additional 19% are not affiliated with a party but lean toward the Democrats (53% identifying or leaning as Democrats). 28% of weekly attenders are Republicans and an additional 17% lean toward being a Republican (43 percent identifying or leaning as Republicans). Thus Democrats have a 10% point edge among weekly attendees, Catholics who attend Mass less than weekly are even more likely to be a Democrat rather than a Republican. http://cara.georgetown.edu/NewsandPress/PressReleases/pr061808.pdf
Based upon exit polling, 74 percent of Evangelicals voted for McCain in 2008, with 25 percent for Obama. (Another measure which put the percentage of US evangelicals at 23 percent, with 73 percent voting for McCain, 26 percent for Obama.) http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=367
Catholics overall supported Obama over McCain by a nine-point margin (54% vs. 45%) ^
Exit polls in 2008 reported that weekly churchgoing Catholics voted for John McCain over Barack Obama, by just 50 percent to 49 percent. Weekly Protestant church attendees voted for McCain over Barack Obama 66 to 32 percent. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/churchgoing_catholics_chose_mccain_over_obama/
For those in [mainly] black Catholic churches, political affiliation or leaning in 2007 was 17%/74% Republican/Democrat, and 11%/76% for black evangelical churches. Opposition to homosexuality 37% by black Catholics and 58% by black evangelicals. Opposition to abortion was 35% by black Catholics and 53% by black evangelicals. 66% of black evangelicals and 36% of black Catholics say they attend services at least weekly. http://www.pewforum.org/A-Religious-Portrait-of-African-Americans.aspx
A Catholic survey reports that 4 percent of US Catholics described themselves as “very” involved in parish or religious activities other than attending Mass, and 11% as “somewhat involved, and 64% as “not involved at all.” Among weekly (or more) attendees (approx 22% of adult Catholics), 13% were very” involved, 29% “somewhat involved and 25% not involved at all.” http://cara.georgetown.edu/CARAServices/FRStats/devotionpractice.pdf
A Catholic survey reports that 4 percent of US Catholics described themselves as “very” involved in parish or religious activities other than attending Mass, and 11% as “somewhat involved, and 64% as “not involved at all.” Among weekly (or more) attendees (approx 22% of adult Catholics), 13% were very” involved, 29% “somewhat involved and 25% not involved at all.” http://cara.georgetown.edu/CARAServices/FRStats/devotionpractice.pdf
Church attendance [2002-2005]: Evangelicals at approx. 60 percent showed the highest percentage of those who reported they attended services weekly or almost weekly, with 30% going more than once a week. Catholics were at 45 percent (9% more than once a week), and Jews 15 percent. Gallup poll. between 2002 and 2005. http://www.christianpost.com/article/20060418/weekly-attendance-highest-among-Evangelical-churches.htm
A Catholic study reported that the percentage of U.S. adult Catholics who say they attended Mass once a week or more (i.e., those attending every week) was 24% in 2012. http://cara.georgetown.edu/caraservices/requestedchurchstats.html
54 percent of Catholics who came of age before Vatican Two (10 percent of Catholics today) attend Mass weekly, compared to 23 percent of millennial Catholics, those born from 1979 to 1987. http://blogs.thearda.com/trend/featured/counting-catholics-church-of-immigrants-poised-for-growth/
39 percent of Catholics affirmed not attending church is a sin, versus 23 percent of Protestants. Ellison Research, March 11, 2008 http://ellisonresearch.com/releases/20080311.htm http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080312/study-behaviors-americans-consider-sinful.htm
Christian church attendance is between 1 ½ and 2 times higher in the South and the Midwest than it is in the West and the Northeast [the latter two have the highest percentage of Catholics]. http://www.theamericanchurch.org/facts/8.htm; http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2007/03/01/how-many-americans-attend-church-each
The states with the most frequent churchgoers were Mississippi, Alabama, S. Carolina, Louisiana, Utah Tennessee, Arkansas, N. Carolina, Georgia, then Texas. The states with the most infrequent churchgoers were Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Hawaii, Oregon, Alaska, then Washington. http://www.gallup.com/poll/125999/mississippians-go-church-most-vermonters-least.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/22579/church-attendance-lowest-new-england-highest-south.aspx
A 2008 Catholic commissioned survey of adult Catholics reported 68% of Catholics affirmed you could be a good Catholic without going to Mass every Sunday, and 55% thought of themselves as good Catholics. 77% of Catholics agreed they were proud to be Catholic, (85% of weekly attendees) and 61% agreed that sacraments were essential to their faith (83% of weekly attendees). 2008 poll of 1,007 self-identified adult Catholics by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University; http://cara.georgetown.edu/beliefattitude.pdf
43% of Catholics overall (and 36% of weekly attendees) affirmed they look to Catholic teachings and statements made the pope and bishops to form their conscience on what is morally acceptable . ^
36% of weekly attendees affirmed their Catholic faith was the most important part of their life, 39% said it was “among the most important.” ^
83% of Catholics affirmed that helping those in need was important to their sense of what it means to be a Catholic; 79% affirmed the Eucharist was, 73% said living according to Church teachings, 68% said devotion to Mary, and 66% said attending Mass. Catholics in the South are the most likely to say such things are “very important.” ^