Posted on 03/16/2015 4:21:19 PM PDT by NYer
“The Democratic Party is facing a Catholic apocalypse,” Patricia Miller warns at Salon.
Her article does a good job of marshaling statistics, but when she assesses the reasons for the apocalypse she makes a critical error.
“White Catholics are now identifying as Republicans by historic margins,” she says, and lists the evidence.
• She cites Pew data showing that 53% of white Catholics favor the GOP, versus 39% who favor Democrats.
• Catholics voted for John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008’s presidential race by 5 percentage points, she says — but chose Mitt Romney over Obama by 19 points four years later, she says.
• The U.S. House has gone from a Catholic Democrat “bastian” in 2009 — with 98 Catholic Democrats and 37 Catholic Republicans to having more Catholic Republicans than Catholic Democrats for the first time ever in 2015 — though only barely; 69 to 68.
• Between 2009 and 2014 the number of white Catholics who thought the White House was unfriendly to religious doubled from 17% to 36%, according to Pew, says Miller.
The article looks for blame for the sudden shift, and offers a few ideas. It could be the bishops who say you can’t support Democrats because of abortion. It could be that left-leaning Catholics are leaving the Church, leaving only “conservative” Catholics in the fold. It could be that bishops (every bishop, by the way) are in her words “demonizing” the HHS mandate — the federal mandate that says Catholic employers must violate their consciences or face crippling fines.
Last, she cites Pew data showing Catholics wanting more conservative spending and immigration policies to say it could be the “Tea Party-ization of white Catholics.”
She is right. It could be any of those outside influences changing the dynamic.
But the only group missing from her list of possible suspects is the most likely culprit: the Democratic Party itself.
First, on abortion, the Democratic Party has changed dramatically. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy and Jesse Jackson all started out supporting the right to life. Democrats for Life powerfully make the case that liberals should be pro-life. But the party’s harsh stand against the right to life has left it hemorrhaging people of conscience for a long time.
Princeton’s Robbie George left the party over abortion decades ago. Jo Ann Nardelli, an important Democratic organizer who had close ties to the late Gov. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania over social issues. Bishop Thomas Tobin left in 2013, giving up all hope for reform in the party.
For years, the Clintonian formula allowed Democrats to believe they wanted abortion to be “safe, legal and rare.” Kermit Gosnell did away with the “safe” part . The 2012 Democratic platform did away with the “rare” part. Now all that is left is the “legal” part.
Just last week, Democrats killed a bill against human-trafficking because it didn’t pay federal money to abortion businesses. It is hard to accept a party that would do that, and many people simply won’t.
But Miller misses two other key factors in Catholic defections.
First: War.
Catholics don’t only care about abortion. As the Financial Times wrote in 2008, Pennsylvania swung away from the Republicans over the Iraq war.
What did Catholics get for their votes? Under Obama’s watch, U.S. kill teams in Afghanistan made international headlines. The administration’s violence created chaos in Libya and our premature exit from Iraq created an opening for ISIS, and the Obama administration shamefully redefined “civilian” to justify his own drone policy.
Catholics who voted for Obama got more abortion, less religious liberty, and more violence worldwide.
Second: Latinos.
By stressing “white Catholics,” the article doesn’t mention that Latino Catholics are also not a cinch for the Democratic Party.
When party-switcher New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez said, “I’ll be damned, we’re Republicans” she was describing a feeling others may be having. Latinos were not the shoe-in they were supposed to be for Democrats last November.
It’s no wonder: Latinos are more pro-life in polls than the general population.
But one thing Miller totally gets right is that the changing dynamic heralds more changes to come.
“The shift in the Catholic vote should really be a wakeup call to the Democrats,” she quotes Democratic activist Steve Krueger saying. “White Catholics are 18 percent of the electorate and Catholics vote 1 to 2 percentage points above their representation in the overall population. This is a significant voting bloc that now perceives Republicans as being more welcoming to people of faith.”
But, certain 'religions' CAUSE folks to have certain 'values'.
Therefore...
Sorry, maybe I’m a little dim this morning. I don’t understand your point.
Please clarify.
A notable FIRST that I would ever regurgitate an agreement with you, and even then I must say I deplore the use of the far too banal word, “choice”.
It is not a “choice”. It’s a LIFE.
But, yes your basic premise is correct.
What are you contributing with your busy feet and hands to spotlight the community abortion mills? Write a check?
What ground have you ever pounded for the unborn, with real results for turning mothers approaching the slaughter house steps away and to other options and for closing mills down one after another. Catholics are doing that. Protestants who join them marvel at their dedication and endurance.
What a disgusting thing to mock. Your knowledge pool on the Church is proportional to a mouthbreathing ideologue who has been breast fed on nothing but the protestant waste land of anti-Catholic tract trainers.
Pathetic.
I sure do as well!
After all; what's it been now; 40-41 years?
I have collections of such, but i try to make sure they can be sourced.
Q: How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Twelve. One to hold the light bulb and eleven to drink until the room starts spinning. ☺
In New York, the state with the highest abortion rate in the country, the situation is even more grim, with pregnancies among black teens -- excluding miscarriages -- resulting in abortion 67 percent of the time.
And according to http://wholeworldinhishands.com/world/abortion-statistics-by-race.html:
In 2000, 41 states, the District of Columbia and New York City reported Hispanic ethnicity of women who obtained abortions. Because of concerns regarding the completeness of such data (>15% unknown data) in certain states, in 2000, data from only 29 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City were used to determine the number and percentage of abortions obtained by women of Hispanic ethnicity. These geographic areas represent approximately 46% of all reproductive-age Hispanic women in the United States for 2000 and approximately 47% of U.S. Hispanic births. Thus, the number of Hispanic women who obtain abortions is underestimated, and the number, ratio, and rate of abortions for Hispanic women in this report are not generalizable to the overall Hispanic population in the United States.
The abortion ratio for Hispanic women (225 per 1,000 live births) was lower than the ratio for non-Hispanic women (233 per 1,000 live births). This differs from the findings for abortions performed in 1999 and reflects a return to the previously observed pattern among Hispanic women of slightly lower or similar ratios to those for non-Hispanic women. As in the past, the abortion rate per 1,000 Hispanic women was higher than the rate per 1,000 non-Hispanic women. This finding is consistent with another study but differs substantially from abortion rates by ethnicity that were published previously by NCHS. The differences are likely due to the method used to account for under reporting of abortions by adjusting CDC tabulations to national totals. This finding also suggests that the reporting areas for the 2000 report are not fully representative of the U.S. Hispanic female population of reproductive age. Race-specific and ethnicity-specific differences in legal induced abortion ratios and rates might reflect differences among groups in factors such as socioeconomic status, access to family planning and contraceptive services, contraceptive use, and incidence of unintended pregnancies.
Non-Hispanic Whites who make up 68% of the United States population are responsible for only 40% of the abortions (unfortunately the statistics don't indicate how many of these are due to rape, adultery, mental or physical defects, or the result of pregnancy from interracial relationships, which undoubtedly many are).
Blacks, on the other hand, make up 12.4% of the United States population, but are responsible for 32% of all abortions; while Hispanics make up 14.8% of the population are responsible for 20% of all abortions.
According to the most recent census data available for race (2000), black women make up 12.3% of the female population in America, but accounted for 36.4% of all U.S. abortions in 20063- that according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The Guttmacher Institute (AGI) puts the percentage of black abortions at 30% of the U.S. total4. Their most recent numbers are from 2008. Similarly, AGI tells us that Hispanic women5 accounted for 25% of all U.S. abortions in 20086, though they made up just 12.5% of the female population in 20007. The CDC lists the percentage of Hispanic abortions in 2006 at 20.1%8. Compare those numbers to non-Hispanic, white women, who make up 69% of America's female population9, but account for only 36% of all U.S. abortions10 (36.1% according to the CDC11).
Every day in America, an average of 3,315 human beings lose their lives to abortion12. Based on the percentages above, between 666-829 of those babies are Hispanic, between 1,193-1,197 are white, and between 995-1,207 are black. Not only are black children being killed at a far greater percentage than white children, it's possible they're being killed in greater numbers, period. Is that not shocking?! Though the white population in the U.S. outnumbers the black population five to one, abortion may well be killing more black children each day than white children. John Piper, a white pastor with a heart for racial justice, remarks on the disparity of abortion this way:
Ms. King refers to abortion as genocide. Rev. Clenard H. Childress, Jr. goes further and refers to black genocide. In 2002, he birthed a website by and for African Americans called Blackgenocide.org. The lament at that website reads like this (referring to statistics in 2002):
Will Blacks in America finally realize that Democrats are NOT on their side and will Hispanics who vote Democrat come to realize that as well?
This one is:
An Irishman moves into a tiny hamlet in County Cork, walks into the pub and promptly orders three beers. The bartender raises his eyebrows, but serves the man three beers, which he drinks quietly at a table, alone.
An hour later, the man has finished the three beers and orders three more. This happens yet again. The next evening the man again orders and drinks three beers at a time, several times. Soon the entire town is whispering about the Man Who Orders Three Beers.
Finally, a week later, the bartender broaches the subject on behalf of the town. "I don't mean to pry, but folks around here are wondering why you always order three beers?"
"Tis odd, isn't it?" the man replies. "You see, I have two brothers, and one went to America, and the other to Australia. We promised each other that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a way of keeping up the family bond."
The bartender and the whole town were pleased with this answer, and soon the Man Who Orders Three Beers became a local celebrity and source of pride to the hamlet, even to the extent that out-of-towners would come to watch him drink.
Then, one day, the man comes in and orders only two beers. The bartender pours them with a heavy heart. This continues for the rest of the evening. He orders only two beers. The word flies around town. Prayers are offered for the soul of one of the brothers.
The next day, the bartender says to the man, "Folks around here, me first of all, want to offer condolences to you for the death of your brother. You know-the two beers and all.
The man ponders this for a moment, then replies, "You'll be happy to hear that my two brothers are alive and well. It's just that I, meeeeself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent."
then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Here's another:
A man walks into a bar and sits down next to another guy who he hears ordering a Guinness.
"I can tell by your accent you're Irish. I'm Irish, too, let's have a drink on that!", he says. So they order two whiskeys.
"Where in Ireland to you hail?", he queries.
"County Cork.", the other man replies.
"Well, what do you know...I'm from County Cork, too, let's have a drink on that! Another round of whiskey."
"Now, what town in County Cork?", he continues.
"Ballincollig.", the guy answers.
" Ballincollig? Amazing!", he replies, "I'm also from Ballincollig. Let's have a drink on that! Two more whiskeys."
Just then the phone rings and the bartender picks up. He says, "Hi, honey. No, it's been pretty slow all night. No one here but the Kilpatrick twins."
I figure if Google© could find them for me...
Erin Go Braless!
We’ll see if we be a’waerin’ o’paddies!
Catholics aren’t afraid of the hierarchy at all; it is completely irrelevant to them.
So I am sorry I misunderstood the point you were making.
No problem; I understand.
The bishops seem intent on pursuing their own agenda, without really responding to the flock either way.
I'll try...
It's kinda like our country:
There is one founding document (the United States Constitution - First Amendment) that states that we have a right to petition the government.
Another document (the Declaration of Independence) states:
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.
and
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
I see it as the difference between complaining about something (for almost 42 years now) and actually DOING something about it.
Do we want to continue to talk-the-talk, or walk-the-walk?
Wanna wait another 42 year; while another 42 MILLION more American citizens are murdered in their mother's wombs?
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Are you still killing your unborn? -- GOD |
Catholics; as well as Mormons and Democrats; like a Top Down organization that tells them what to do.
Conservatives, Protestants like the FREEDOM that comes from a Christ centered lifestyle.
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September 11th, 2001
It was a retirement morning like any other -
waking up, cleaning up and getting ready
to go to Bob’s for breakfast.
The TODAY program was on TV,
a familiar noise at this time;
Just like any other morning,
but today seemed different:
Something was happening in New York...
Unimagineable! A deed dark and EVIL.
We were suddenly at war; not with a Nation – but an ideology.
Around 3,000 of us died that day – 19 of our attackers did as well.
September 11th, 2011
Life is different now.
Unknown men handle me in public places that I could not have imagined just 10 years ago.
EVERYONE is suspect in a way that Orwell had written about, 62 years ago.
Grandmothers and toddlers are
scrutinized and inspected;
their bags and their bottles:
empty or not.
Today, we worry about and prepare for a possible repeat of that fateful day, 10 years ago.
While the head of the beast is allegedly gone, the serpent writhes on:
spitting it’s venom from multiple sources.
We rightly lament the loss of those lives; snatched away by those with other ideas.
3,000 in one day by terrorists?
Why; that is HORRIBLE!!! Unspeakable – Satanic even.
But we have ideas in this country, ideas that are incorporated into LAW,
that snatch away life before it has a chance to begin.
More than half again as many in this country die - every working day - since then.
All because of a thing called: CHOICE.
It, too, is unspeakable.
Guttmacher Institute, compiling data from around the country,
says around 1.2 MILLION die yearly.
Right here in “GOD Bless America”
50 weeks a year (one must get a vacation);
5 days a week; yields 250 days that a CHOICE is made.
A CHOICE that abruptly terminates another human’s life
just as suddenly as those taken on 9/11.
An average of 4 thousand, 8 hundred lives: each and every DAY!
Oh; we still have our buildings after all of this; but what has been ripped from our souls?
3,000 cry out for VENGENCE! for 9/11 2001; while 12,000,000 have no voice, 10 years later...
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Four score and seven years ago
our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty,
and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal.
EQUALITY. It is found in Christ. Lincoln must have had that in mind when he penned ‘CREATED’.
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St. Paul, in writing to the Galatians, said:
It’s too bad he didn’t add born and unborn: perhaps todays world would be different.
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Mormonism
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Catholicism
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