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DEL.ICIO.USThe straying of Catholics from the GOP and the abortion issue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Los Angeles Times has an excellent op-ed piece on the apparent return of Catholics, who make up a quarter of the U.S. population, to the Democratic fold.
Here’s a taste:
[A]ccording to a recent New York Times/CBS poll, Obama holds a commanding 59% to 31% edge over McCain among Catholics nationwide. What’s significant about that is that at least 50 of the country’s 197 Catholic bishops recently have published articles or given interviews in which they argued that abortion, more than any other issue, ought to determine how members of their flock cast their votes.
Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput and St. Louis Bishop Robert Hermann have been two of the most forceful voices in this regard, but polls now put Colorado in Obama’s column and have him slightly ahead in Missouri.
What we’re seeing in these three swing states [including Pennsylvania] is the end of the Catholic vote, as conventional political strategists traditionally have expected it to behave — in part because it’s now so large it pretty much looks like the rest of America; in part because of its own internal changes.
National polls have shown for some time that, although Catholics are personally opposed to abortion, they believe it ought to be legal in nearly identical percentages to the rest of America. Moreover, as a survey by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate found earlier this year, only 18% of Catholics “strongly” agree with the statement: “In deciding what is morally acceptable, I look to the church teachings and statements by the pope and bishops to form my conscience.”
Comments
By Psych Doc
October 29, 2008 3:30 PM | Link to this
I have heard from other polls that the gap is closing because more than 80 statements have been issued from the Catholic Bishops in just the past month. According to the IBD, McCain is ahead in the likely Catholic Voters by 4 points. So all of you true Catholics, get out there and vote against Barack Obama. Vote for the next generation of babies that will be killed under an Obama presidency. There is nothing that is the same as 50 million (that’s 50 MILLION!)dead womb babies since 1973. And the 50 million more that we will have in the next generation if we elect Obama, the most pro-abortion candidate in history. And, remember, we are citizens of heaven, and these hands lifted up to prayer to God our Father can NOT be complicit in shedding innocent blood by voting for BHO. Don’t do it! Don’t endanger your soul. Abortion and Euthanasia trump your 401K and 4.00 dollar gasoline.
By Samantha Bee
October 29, 2008 4:33 PM | Link to this
Thank you John McCain for finally exposing the seedy underbelly of the women’s health scam. Let’s face it: Women love abortions and will do anything to get one. The later the better. “Hemorrhages.” “Severe uterine infections.” “Dying.” blah blah blah blah blah.
And while we’re at it, enough of the whining about “rape,” “incest,” and “incest rape.” We’re on to you ladies! Those aren’t a golden ticket to the abortion factory, okay?
John McCain has finally put the concerns of women where they belong - in derisive air quotes. And this transcends politics. Reasonable people can disagree about abortion but still agree about the unimportance of women’s health.
Samantha Bee, 10-28-2008
By sOcialist named Obama
October 29, 2008 4:47 PM | Link to this
Psych Doc is 100% correct.
Abortion is an abomination against almighty God. I heard that if you placed the bodies of aborted children in a 4’X4’ coffin, the graveyard would extend to 100 miles long by 100 miles wide. If we as a country don’t care for the least among us, we won’t care for anybody else.
As to the snide comment that follows your correct one, nearly all abortions are performed as a method of birth control—not rape, incest, or where the mother’s life is in jeopardy. So don’t even try to justify 50 million dead babies on the back of a few uncommon and unfortunate incidences.
By Mike K.
October 29, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this
Abortion is an abomination against almighty God
Then why does he allow spontaneous abortions?
“Spontaneous abortion, which is the loss of a pregnancy without outside intervention before 20 weeks’ gestation, affects up to 20 percent of recognized pregnancies.”
This is from a 2005 article from the AAFP journal.
By To Matter, or NOT to Matter
October 29, 2008 5:31 PM | Link to this
If ALL the little babies are sooooo important, you should be fighting for affordable health care for everybody, so all the little babies can be innoculated, and can get the best medical treatment possible, even if mommy and daddy are poor sinners.
Unless you don’t care about them once they’re born, in which case, vote McCain, so NONE of your precious wealth will be redistributed for medical care of poor little babies, and you can sleep better at night knowing some minimum wage working mother is losing pay sitting in the ER 14 hours while her little baby screams as his eardrum bursts.
By Dr. Aborto
October 29, 2008 5:43 PM | Link to this
I have hopes that the Democrat party will eventually abort themselves into history.
By Reality has a Liberal Bias
October 29, 2008 6:09 PM | Link to this
We feel the same way about Republicans.
By Aborte Fetus
October 29, 2008 9:29 PM | Link to this
thank you for stopping me from entering this cruel World.
By Copyleft
October 30, 2008 7:47 AM | Link to this
It’d be nice to think that some sane Catholics are finally getting a bit tired of being ORDERED to vote solely on the abortion issue and focus on it alone.
What about all the other Christian concerns, like caring for the poor, stewardship of the earth, working for peace and justice, etc.? Are all those “trivial” compared to the Single Most Important Issue Ever—abortion? If you listen to the Catholic leadership, the answer is “Yes. Vote for the war and torture and destruction and poverty, as long as it helps outlaw abortion.”
Catholics who live in the real world aren’t going to be satisfied with being shoved into that little box for long. There’s more to voting than abortion, and there’s more to being a good Catholic than obsessing over birth control to the exclusion of all else.