posted on November 19, 2004 08:06:59 AM newCongress has most Catholics
SILVER SPRING, Md. -- A religious survey of the incoming U.S. Congress shows an all-time high of 67 Roman Catholic Republicans, including six of the nine new Catholics in the House. There are 86 Catholics from the Democratic Party, Catholics' longtime political home. The biennial survey is conducted by Albert Menendez of Americans for Religious Liberty and posted on its Web site. Catholics reached their highest total ever -- 153 -- and remained the largest denominational group, followed by Baptists (72), Methodists (61), Presbyterians (50), Episcopalians (41) and Jews (37). Six members listed no religious affiliation. Most totals changed little from 2002. The largest declines were of three seats for Lutherans and Episcopalians. The 38 new House members include one clergyman, United Methodist Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.); Jess Fortenberry (R-Neb.), who holds a divinity degree from the Catholic Franciscan University, and Kenny Marchant (R-Texas), who spent a year at the Church of the Nazarene theological seminary. The data cover only 533 members because two Louisiana races for House seats await Dec. 4 runoffs.
Catholic states were with Kerry
HUNTINGTON, Ind. -- The nine states with the heaviest Roman Catholic percentages in their populations all voted for John Kerry, data from the newly issued ''2005 Catholic Almanac'' show. The most Catholic states, in order, are: Rhode Island (63.5 percent Catholic); Kerry's own Massachusetts (47.7 percent); New Jersey (43.5 percent); New York (40.6 percent); Connecticut (38.7 percent); Illinois (31 percent), Wisconsin (30.5 percent); Pennsylvania (30 percent), and California (29.8 percent). Tenth-ranked Louisiana, which is 29.4 percent Catholic, went heavily for President Bush. The authoritative annual almanac, published by Our Sunday Visitor, says the 67,259,768 baptized Catholics nationwide are 23.2 percent of the population, up from 22.8 percent the previous year.
Church group laments divisions
ST. LOUIS -- The general assembly of the National Council of Churches issued a statement lamenting that ''discussion of moral values during the campaign resulted in the widely held perception of opposing Christian camps.'' The council, made up of U.S. mainline Protestant and Orthodox denominations, said ''what believers hold in common outweighs their differences'' and that shared ''Christian values include the work of eliminating poverty, preserving the environment and promoting peace.'' The organization listed such concerns among 10 ''Christian Principles in an Election Year'' it released last July. That statement said ''war is contrary to the will of God'' though sometimes necessary as a last resort; it did not address the religiously contested issues of abortion or gay marriage.
Q. What's the difference between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War?
A. George W. Bush had a plan to get out of the Vietnam War.
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There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
---------------------------------- "Give it up for George W. Bush, the best friend international jihad ever had."
posted on November 19, 2004 11:43:38 AM new
It makes no point....it's not showing the 'Catholic' vote...it's showing the more liberal states and how they voted. No proof here the Catholics all voted for kerry.
The nine states with the heaviest Roman Catholic percentages in their populations all voted for John Kerry, data from the newly issued ''2005 Catholic Almanac'' show. The most Catholic states, in order, are: Rhode Island (63.5 percent Catholic); Kerry's own Massachusetts (47.7 percent); New Jersey (43.5 percent); New York (40.6 percent); Connecticut (38.7 percent); Illinois (31 percent), Wisconsin (30.5 percent); Pennsylvania (30 percent), and California (29.8 percent).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four More Years....YES!!!
posted on November 19, 2004 11:50:30 AM new
From Catholic News 11-10
Catholic vote proves vital to Bush victory
Washington, DC, Nov. 10 (LifesiteNews.com/CWN) -
Months of speculation by pundits and campaign officials on which way the Catholic vote would go ended last Tuesday with Catholics favoring President George W. Bush in numbers significantly higher than four years ago when Bush ran against Democratic candidate Al Gore.
The election marks the first time a Catholic presidential candidate has not won the Catholic vote and Democrat John Kerry's defeat among Catholics in the swing states of Ohio and Florida was key to Bush's victory.
According to election day exit polling, Bush took 52 percent of the Catholic vote nationwide, a five point increase from the last election. Among practicing Catholics, those who attend Mass weekly, he took 56 percent. Bush increased his raw total of Catholic votes by 1.4 million compared to 2000. Kerry, a Catholic, took 47 percent of Catholics and 43 percent of practicing Catholics.
A Catholic has been a major-party presidential candidate only three times in American history. In the first two instances, Al Smith won 80 percent of the Catholic vote in 1928 while John F. Kennedy won 78 percent in 1960.
The improvements among Catholics by the GOP were so significant that one analysis, by the online magazine Beliefnet, said the Catholic vote "was just as important and in crucial states, probably more so" than the Evangelical vote. In Ohio, Bush received 55 percent of the Catholic vote compared to 50 percent in 2000. That translates into 172,000 more Catholic votes in the Bush column than in 2000. Bush's margin of victory in Ohio was 136,000. Among weekly Mass-goers in Ohio Bush took 65 percent of the vote, 30 points more than Kerry.
The story was the same in Florida where Bush took 57 percent of the Catholic vote compared to 52 percent last election. That means that Bush received about 400,000 new Catholic votes this years. He won Florida by about 377,000 votes.
Practicing Catholics favored Bush 66 percent to 34 percent in Florida.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Four More Years....YES!!!
