Catholic Experts: Poll About 'Out of Touch' Leaders Misleading [Zenit]

[Catholic_Press]

More…

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

I would agree…I got called once by a firm doing polling. When asked about religion…Catholic…how often do you attend Mass…daily…we have no further questions for you. Meaning…we don’t want to hear from a committed Catholic

 

[Annabelle_Marie]

But maybe the poll was just about how often Catholics attend mass.

No…that is not how they made it sound. They indicated it would be 10 minutes or so…but when I said daily…uh…goodbye. You don’t think they lead these polls? Seriously…you can sway a poll to go anyway you want.

 

[_Abyssinia]

Bill Donohue comments on a poll by Quinnipiac University that was released yesterday:

The media are ecstatic: Catholics are pro-gay marriage. Indeed, Peter A. Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, says, “Catholic voters are leading American voters toward support for same-sex marriage.” His conclusion is based on the finding that Catholic voters favor gay marriage, 54-38 percent, while the figures nationally are 47-43 percent.

Leaving aside the not insignificant fact that the sample size of Catholics was a mere 497, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent, there is something so bizarre—that would be the kind word—about a much more problematic methodological issue:

Quinnipiac asked Catholic voters 14 questions on issues of interest to them, and on all but one the survey disaggregated the answers on the basis of church attendance. The one exception was on same-sex marriage.

In other words, we know how Catholics think on issues ranging from celibacy to whether the new pope should come from the U.S. or not; we also know how they split on these subjects on the basis of church attendance. But all we know about the issue that is receiving top billing in the media—gay marriage—is the aggregate figure.

This takes on added significance when we consider that 4 in 10 of the Catholics sampled do not practice their religion (28 percent go to church “a few times a year” and 11 percent say they “never” attend). That these nominal Catholics are precisely the biggest fans of gay marriage is a sure bet, though the poll fails to disclose the results.

The Quinnipiac Polling Institute has some explaining to do.

catholicleague.org/quinnipiac-poll-on-gay-marriage

Bill Donohue comments on how the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute misled the public on a serious issue:

On March 8, I issued a news release on the findings of a new Quinnipiac survey of Catholics. In particular, I took aim at a subject that was the source of much media interest, namely the finding that Catholics support same-sex marriage by a margin of 54-38 percent.

After observing that Catholics were asked 14 questions, with responses broken down on the basis of church attendance, I took note of the one exception: the poll did not disaggregate the data on the basis of church attendance regarding same-sex marriage.

Predictably, the media gave this “finding” top billing. In fact, it was the source of much conversation on radio and TV over the weekend, all of which was based on misleading data.

After our news release was distributed, reporters from CNSNews.com contacted Quinnipiac. What they admitted totally alters the outcome: 55 percent of Catholics who are regular church-goers are opposed to gay marriage, and only 38 percent favor it. This is important because Quinnipiac’s Peter A. Brown was cited all over for claiming that “Catholic voters are leading American voters toward support for same-sex marriage.” Nonsense.

Catholic News Agency spoke to Brown about this matter. He wants us to believe that “we only have so much space, and can only do so many things up front.” But they had plenty of space to record the difference between practicing Catholics and nominal Catholics on whether the next pope should come from the U.S. or not.

Adding to Quinnipiac’s problems is this: even now, after admitting that it misled the public, it still hasn’t corrected the record on its website. Its credibility as a serious survey house has thus been compromised.

Contact: pollinginstitute@quinnipiac.edu

catholicleague.org/quinnipiac-pollsters-misled-the-public

 

[Ender]

According to the controversial survey, majorities of Catholic Americans also believe the Church needs to change its stance on several hot-button issues, including its ban on artificial contraception (64%), marriage among priests (62%) and the ordination of women (62%).

What is startling about this poll is not that 60+% of Catholics hold those positions but that so many people actually believe the church could “change its stance.” Yes, the church could allow married priests, that is a practice, not a doctrine, but it is mind boggling to consider that so many Catholics know so little about their faith as to believe the doctrines against artificial contraception and women priests can be changed. Talk about being poorly catechized.

Ender

 

[unafraid]

Agenda-driven , secular propagandists have become the very sophisticated de facto mainstream media , carefully masked by the same trappings and iconic symbols of a long-dead mythology of objective , responsible journalism. In this deception the manipulation of semantics becomes a cynical tool by those who wish to tear apart traditional cultural values.

Therefore , it is incumbent upon us to beware of distorted language that misleads and deceives. We must replace the false with the true. For example : people who no longer practice Catholicism , abnegate the Magisterium , reject church dogma , etc. should be referred to as , " Former Catholics " , or , " Catholic Dissidents. " It is base deception to call such people " Roman Catholic " without any attempt at qualification.

Donahue may have an abrasive style , but he is a perceptive man who doesn’t allow the subtle manipulations of language , when used against the Holy Church , to go unchallenged. I applaud the man!