Poll: U.S. Catholics Lean Left On Social Issues

[Rage for Order]

Source: USA Today

American Catholics are more liberal than the general population on social issues like divorce and homosexuality, despite the Catholic Church's longstanding conservatism on both issues, according to a new survey.

Catholics are more likely than non-Catholics to say that homosexual relations, divorce, and heterosexual sex outside wedlock are morally acceptable, according to an analysis by Gallup pollsters released on Monday.

In other areas, Catholics are nearly identical to the population at large. For example, 4 in 10 Catholics say abortion is "morally acceptable," compared to 41% of all Americans. And 63% back embryonic stem cell research, compared to 62% overall.

Catholics who attend church regularly hew more closely to church doctrine, but are still more liberal on many issues than non-Catholic regular church attendees.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-03-31-catholics-liberal_N.htm

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"Catholics are more liberal than the general population on social issues like divorce and homosexuality..."

Who'd have thunk it? :shrug:

[Captain Hilts]

1. If you ignore the conservative Clinton-hating Irish Catholics on TV news, most...

Catholics are quite liberal. At least the east coasters I know.

[Peregrine Took]

2. I'm ashamed that so many Irish Catholics are dogmatic zealots.

I think its the Stockholm syndrome wherein people who were historically oppressed will goose step to any and all authority figures.

[Captain Hilts]

6. Hey, it's my team too! It's embarassing! nt

[skooooo]

7. Tweety's not too bad sometimes..

And he's Irish and Catholic.

[dflprincess]

8. So's Ted Kennedy

and me!

I don't think many Irish Catholics (or Catholilcs in general) will be all that surprised by this poll. Though it will cause many exploding heads among the hierarchy and over at Catholic.com

[CatholicEdHead]

9. Yep, Ave Maria and Catholic Answers will blow a fuse

I bet they have more than one thread on it now. :crazy: Posting views agreeing with this survey helped get me banned from there. :evilgrin:

[dflprincess]

12. I hadn't been over there for a while

then that story broke about the Brazillion bishop excommunicating the mother for getting her 9 year old an abortion after the stepfather raped the child and I just couldn't resist.

I got myself in all sorts of trouble for suggesting the Church does not take the sexual abuse of children (and especially girls) seriously. Someone actually asked where I got that kind of idea :wtf:. (I don't know, maybe the NEWS?)

I suggested they rent "Deliver Us From Evil" and with their own eyes and ears they could witness Cardnial Mahoney saying they thought this priest was "only" abusing girls and it was just "natural curiosity" and had the church known he was abusing boys as well they would have taken it seriously. I was amazed when they didn't boot off the board for that one.

Another person pointed out that Jewish law says the well being of the mother comes first and Jesus would have followed Jewish law, not Catholic doctrine and protected the 9 year old... That caused some sputtering because, after all, Jesus was Catholic. :silly:

I do find that site handy as a way of reminding myself why I lapsed ("Relevant" radio is good for that as well).

[CatholicEdHead]

14. You mean (ir)Relevant Radio

:crazy:

My spirituality has actually rebounded from my time on there, which was really draining. I still get periodic emails about the top threads :crazy: and they are the same old tired threads of year after year after year. :crazy:

[dflprincess]

16. It's only my negative relationship with the Church that

(ir)Relevant (I wish I'd though of that) radio reinforces. On the bright side, it does serve to remind me that God is non-denominational a distinction I think many Catholics (among others) have a hard time making.

[AlphaCentauri]

21. God is non-denominational but the catholic church put up together the bible

[Odin2005]

18. So is VP Biden.

[Captain Hilts]

42. He's just a sexist shit. Other than that, he's okay. nt

[SoxFan]

19. Huh?

Ted Kennedy?
Patrick Kennedy?
Joe Biden?
Martin O'Malley?
Pat Leahy?
Chris Dodd?
Bill Delahunt?
Carol Shea-Porter?

[AlphaCentauri]

23. Don't forget the other liberals in congress

Ed Pastor, D Catholic
Raul Grijalva, D Catholic
Mike Thompson, D Catholic
George Miller, D Catholic
Nancy Pelosi, D Catholic
Ellen Tauscher, D Catholic
Richard Pombo, D Catholic
Anna Eshoo, D Catholic
Dennis Cardoza, D Catholic
Jim Costa, D Catholic
Xavier Becerra, D Catholic
Hilda Solis, D Catholic
Diane Watson, D Catholic
Lucille Roybal-Allard, D Catholic
Grace Napolitano, D Catholic
Linda Sanchez, D Catholic
Joe Baca, D Catholic
Loretta Sanchez, D Catholic
John Salazar, D Catholic
John Larson, D Catholic
Rose DeLauro, D Catholic
Jim Marshall, D Catholic
Cynthia McKinney, D Catholic
Dan Lipinski, D Catholic
Luis Gutierrez, D Catholic
Jerry Costello, D Catholic
Lane Evans, D Catholic
Peter Visclosky, D Catholic
Charlie Melancon, D Catholic
Mike Michaud, D Catholic
Richard Neal, D Catholic
James McGovern, D Catholic
Martin Meehan, D Catholic
Edward Markey, D Catholic
Michael Capuano, D Catholic
Stephen Lynch, D Catholic
Bill Delahunt, D Catholic
Bart Stupak, D Catholic
Dale Kildee, D Catholic
John Dingell, D Catholic
Betty McCollum, D Catholic
James Oberstar, D Catholic
Gene Taylor, D Catholic
William Clay, Jr., D Catholic
Frank Pallone, D Catholic
Bill Pascrell, D Catholic
Robert Menendez, D Catholic
Timothy Bishop, D Catholic
Carolyn McCarthy, D Catholic
Joseph Crowley, D Catholic
Nydia Velazquez, D Catholic
Charles Rangel, D Catholic
Jose Serrano, D Catholic
Michael McNulty, D Catholic
Maurice Hinchey, D Catholic
Brian Higgins, D Catholic
Marcy Kaptur, D Catholic
Dennis Kucinich, D Catholic,
Vegan Timothy Ryan, D Catholic
Peter DeFazio, D Catholic
Robert Brady, D Catholic
Paul Kanjorski, D Catholic
John Murtha, D Catholic
Michael Doyle, D Catholic
Tim Holden, D Catholic
Patrick Kennedy, D Catholic
Jim Langevin, D Catholic
Ruben Hinojosa, D Catholic
Silvestre Reyes, D Catholic
Charles Gonzalez, D Catholic
Henry Cuellar, D Catholic
James Moran, D Catholic
David Obey, D Catholic

Also
Ken Salazar (Colorado-D) Catholic

[pnwmom]

26. Irish Catholics like Phil Donohue, Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy, etc.?

Keep your Irish-Catholic bigotry to yourself.

[CatholicEdHead]

3. Yep, major disconnect between the laity and clergy

And the neo-retro movement currently in charge hates it. That is why they use the 100% dogma level as being Catholic. :puke:

The disconnect will eventually end in a generation or two but for now the Bishops are wailing to a few blind followers and nobody else.

[quiller4]

22. Disconnect between hierarchy and the rest of the church

Most priests hold a much more liberal view than the bishops and cardinals and many Catholic nuns are progressive especially on GLBT issues.

[elleng]

4. Well, No Kidding!

Why am I so NOT surprised by this 'poll?'

[elleng]

5. dupe

.

[acmavm]

10. Who'd have thunk? Me, for one.

I know Catholics. I am one.

[Rage for Order]

15. Me too

On both accounts :)

I left the sarcasm tag off the OP, but it's there in spirit

[NashVegas]

11. With All These High-Profile Hardcore RWers Converting

I have to wonder who will be the first to tell whom to shove it.

[pnwmom]

27. Yeah, that makes me sick. I bet Opus Dei's behind it. n/t

[AlphaCentauri]

28. They want to infiltrate the socialist catholics n/t

[NashVegas]

31. Probably. I Suspect

They also want to have a very strong hand in picking bishops, archbishops (*especially in South America*), and a pope or two.

[AlphaCentauri]

32. no doubts to end the Liberation theology

[Dorian Gray]

13. I would have thunk it

as most Catholics that I know are registered Dems.

[Quantess]

17. Catholics seem to live in mostly urban areas,

as opposed to Bible-thumping protestants who seem less likely to live in the city, and are more rural.

[lostnfound]

20. My Catholic church has 'fair trade', 'immigration' and 'preferential option for the poor'

on its website as social justice groups and/or organizing principles.

My upbringing included regular visits by the Maryknoll sisters, who exemplified poverty and service to the poor.

There was a lot that was liberal in my Catholic upbringing.

I realize that doesn't address the 'social issues' that USA Today prefers to focus upon, but they seem like important social issues to me.

[willing dwarf]

24. Sounds like a Vincentian Catholic church

Actually, sounds like my church...

[AlphaCentauri]

29. you are correct, those issues have been neglected

it's all about Bread & Circuses

[pnwmom]

25. Who'd have thunk it? Clearly not the anti-Catholic DUers I keep bumping into

here.

Progressive Catholics comprised an important part of Obama's voters, but you'd never know that from all the anti-Catholic comments in DU.

If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times: the (present) conservative hierarchy does NOT speak for the majority of American Catholics. Not anymore than the Bush administration spoke for the majority of Americans.

[SoxFan]

33. Amen

:fistbump: :thumbsup:

[krabigirl]

35. Weird, Maybe my parents (hardcore Catholics and very RW) are in a very RW Catholic church.

They definitely lean very right on social issues, as do all of their friends.

[pnwmom]

36. Perhaps they are. Or perhaps they just make friends with the most right wing

people in their Church, just as I generally make friends with a different crowd.

I'm not friends with any rightwingers in my Church. I'm not saying they're not there -- I'm sure there must be some. But I don't hang out with them.

Progressive Catholics like myself probably drive your parents crazy. They might call me names, like "cafeteria Catholic", and pretend I'm not even Catholic, that only rightwingers are true Catholics.

But they're wrong.

[Zhade]

40. Anti-Catholic CHURCH. Don't lie about what's actually said here, please.

And regardless of your views, if you tithe you are supporting hardline anti-woman/anti-GLBT/anti-science/anti-intellectual policies. Period.

[pnwmom]

41. You don't understand. To Catholics, the people ARE the Church.

From your perspective as an outsider, the Church is identified with the institution. But that is not what Catholics believe, whether they are on the left or the right.

According to your logic, Zhade, if you pay taxes then you have been supporting torture, Iraq, etc. Maybe you should have moved to another country where you wouldn't have to be supporting all these evils.

What, you didn't think you had to give up your citizenship when Bush was in power?

Well, millions of progressive Catholics don't feel we need to give up our faith even though the rightwingers are currently holding the reins.

[AlphaCentauri]

43. Many anti-Catholics have the same archaic vision as some of the catholic leadership

[pnwmom]

44. I have noticed that. For example,

I've often had atheists here inform me that progressive Catholics aren't real Catholics, they're "cafeteria Catholics."

[AlphaCentauri]

49. there should be "cafeteria atheists"

those who can't talk about Islam,Protestantism, Fundamentalism, Buddhism, Judaism etc..

[ChairmanAgnostic]

30. They will welcome Newt with

hugs and kisses, so long as he donates big bucks to his parish.

[Bill McBlueState]

34. DU, in general, seems to be aware of this

We're extremely critical of the Roman Catholic church as an institution, but it's rare to see anyone launch broadbrush attacks on the political opinions of Roman Catholic believers.

But it's unfortunate that the tithes of liberal believers go to support the reactionary politics of the institution.

(edit:clarity)

[pnwmom]

45. It's unfortunate that the taxes paid by U.S. citizens go to support

unnecessary wars, torture, spying on its citizens, etc.

But how many of us leave for Canada? Or think there is a perfect place anywhere?

[Solon]

46. Not really a valid comparison, taxes are part of a social contract...

and while you could always TRY to leave the country, its not easy, or cheap, to do so. Breaking said social contract can also have serious repercussions, if you don't pay your taxes, you could end up in jail.

Tithing, on the other hand, is completely voluntary, and it costs nothing to not tithe, my parents, every month, get a mailer asking for money from the local Catholic Church, and it goes straight in the trash.

[pnwmom]

47. One collection each year goes to the Vatican. It's called "Peter's Pence"

and no one has to put anything into the basket. I don't.

The vast majority of what goes into the baskets each week goes to keep the parish and its social work running, and I don't have a problem with that.

[Bill McBlueState]

48. there's an important difference

Not writing a check to your church is somewhat easier than moving to another country.

[WildEyedLiberal]

37. Liberal Catholics are the true silent majority

The hierarchy and the Vatican knows it, too - why do you think they're SO THUNDEROUSLY LOUD IN THEIR DENUNCIATIONS? They know their pre-Vatican II vision of the Church is rapidly becoming an irrelevancy, and like all old relics, they're hanging on by the skin of their teeth, and getting progressively louder and more insane in their delusions.

[ACTION BASTARD]

38. As a recovering Catholic that went through 12 yrs of catholic school

A lot of us East Coasters think science is cool and we don't take what a man that wears a dress, Italian loafers and funny hats too seriously. Unfortunately, the ones you hear most about are the batshit Mel Gibson and O'Riely crazies.

[Zhade]

39. A MAJORITY of Americans do, too.

NT!