Why do Catholics support gay marriage more strongly than Protestants?

[R_C]

It matters very little what individual people support - what matters is the teaching, and orthodox apostolic Christian teaching as preserved in the Catholic Church defines as an infallible, timeless truth that Holy Matrimony is a covenant between a man and a woman established by God.

Regarding those who, in disobedience or in vincible ignorance due to lack of moral diligence, contradict the teaching of the Church on this matter while still professing their full communion, the following statement of Pope Francis comes to mind:

When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly: we may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.

 

[Miriam1947]

…snip

My mom, for example, like many Democrats, is more concerned about setting up a large welfare state and “caring for the poor” no matter how inefficient or awful it gets, at the expense of taxpayers and supplanting faith-based charities which may do a much better job. Immigrants tend to be overwhelmingly Democratic, so in the USA we have this situation of many Latino Catholics coming in and supporting abortion and homosexual marriage because that’s what their political party does. Protestants tend to be more strongly allied with the Republican party and more politically conservative overall. While the “Catholic vote” bloc is strongly divided today, the conservative Evangelicals are still a base to be reckoned with.
.

They’ve substituted socialism for subsidiarity.

 

[SteveVH]

Even if 90% of those who call themselves Catholic support SSM this would still not make it a Catholic position.

 

[Lancer]

Back to the Future [1985]

[Lorraine’s parents are talking about Marty McFly, Lorraine’s future son]
​

Stella Baines: He’s a very strange young man.

Sam Baines: He’s an idiot. Comes from upbringing. His parents are probably idiots too. Lorraine, if you ever have a kid that acts that way I’ll disown you.

An “un-sugar coated” reason for a little “flippancy”…and also…the truth (in context). For sure, we Catholics who** can’t** understand the Church’s/Bishop’s teaching on not supporting Gay marriage…bet we** can** understand every detail of the Manufacturer’s requirements for operating and taking care of our high-tech cars, smart-phones, computers, GPS, cameras, power tools, guns, cable TV options, stereos, sound systems, and all our high-tech games (X-Box etc.)…with all our BS’s…MS’s…PhD’s!

Bottom line:…its a selective idiocy problem…not a deficit in “gray matter”…and, at particular judgment day…“that dog won’t hunt!”.

For many of us Catholics…“Rationalization” is our greatest “Sacrament”

The Big Chill (1983)

Michael: I don’t know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They’re more important than sex.

Sam Weber: Ah, come on. Nothing’s more important than sex.

Michael: Oh yeah? Ever gone a week without a rationalization?

Pax Christi

 

[TK421]

It’s cultural, not religious. The US is a son of England and was an overwhelmingly protestant (and puritanical) nation in its origins. Catholicism was introduced in significant numbers with the immigration of Irish, south Germans, and Italians in the 19th/early 20th century, and one area that it is heavily concentrated is in New England, which is the secular leftist stronghold of the country.

I wouldn’t get too wrapped up about the areas where Catholics (in the broad sense; not practicing Catholics) are falling short of Protestants, because it is bound to happen. They’re as human as anybody else. There are all sorts of people in this world, far more removed from the truth than the comparatively small divides within Christianity, where you can find some people that are incidentally more orthodox than any given individual Catholic.

 

[Isaiah45_9]

By George, I think she’s got it!

Two things I learned in Statistics: first, I have mathematical dyslexia
Second: you can skewer statistics for just about any purpose

Who on this board has ever gotten any phone call from these “poll” people? I know I haven’t, so where are these people, who are they, how many of them, etc. This is what they don’t tell us.

Statistics can be manipulated any way you want to with enough information.

Once you figure out what it is that you want to demonstrate, all you have to do is target demographics where you know you will have a favorable result. Keep the poll concentrated in your target area and - voila! You got what you need to make a point.

Unless a study/poll can demonstrate that the demographics are diverse and the number of people in the demographic area is evenly spread, it is just another poll…

 

[Isaiah45_9]

Even if 90% of those who call themselves Catholic support SSM this would still not make it a Catholic position.

Of course, but then there be nothing to bash for…

 

[tiggerbounce3]

It seems to me that the media and non-Catholic Christians want to always get on the bandwagon of saying something scandalous or saying doctine is changing. Why do they confuse compassion, humility and overall love of our brothers and sister as agreement. Nothing is more further from the truth! You can’t bring Christ to the people with condemnation and brimstone and fire, but love, understanding (NOT AGREEMENT) can help change the heart and stop the sin. I will always remember what I was taught in CATHOLIC school - Hate the sin, LOVE the sinner!

 

[Darryl_B]

By George, I think she’s got it!

Two things I learned in Statistics: first, I have mathematical dyslexia
Second: you can skewer statistics for just about any purpose

Who on this board has ever gotten any phone call from these “poll” people? I know I haven’t, so where are these people, who are they, how many of them, etc. This is what they don’t tell us.

Those statistics have a 50% chance of being true. Either they are right or wrong.

What I find amazing is that 98.5% of domestic accidents happen around the home.

 

[Ophelia23]

Those statistics have a 50% chance of being true. Either they are right or wrong.

What I find amazing is that 98.5% of domestic accidents happen around the home.

I can’t stand it when domestic accidents happen anywhere else!

 

[CrossofChrist]

Plenty of reasons. First, there is the fact that Catholics are the 2nd most ignorant of their religion out of all religions in the US, behind Islam. (Sorry, I can’t remember where I found that out). Next, many Catholics were taught falsely about what social justice is due to Marxist influence in the Church, so they see this merely as an extension of social justice. Also, many Catholics simply don’t care what the Church teaches even if they do know it. Protestants are more likely to be devout in America, so because of that they are more likely to be morally normal than Catholics, who in general seem not to be faithful in America. AND, Catholics, in addition to being ignorant and nonpracticing, seem to be concentrated in liberal areas. And based on history those areas seem to be liberal regardless of the religion of the people, so the culture has likely influenced not only a few Catholics.

 

[ffg]

Catholics have a different perspective, given that salvation is on-going, not something that happens one-time from saying the “sinner’s prayer” at an altar call.

Catholics do better at presenting the “how” to be a good Christian part, but Protestants are better at presenting the “why” redemption and salvation is necessary part. Which is kind of ironic, given that Catholics have the CCC and history to draw upon.

Just thinking about, I go to a pretty conservative parish, but I can’t recall any of my priests saying the word “sin”. Maybe they’ve said it and I missed it, but I don’t think so. I think I’d remember if any of the fathers at my parish said the word “sin” because it would be so unusual. However, I can still see my old Baptist pastor standing at the pulpit preaching about sin and damnation all these years later. They weren’t unusual words to hear.

As a convert, I’ve experienced both. I can see why mainstream Catholics would support gay marriage as part of the “social justice” mission of the church. However, I don’t understand it, given what the church actually teaches about homosexuality.

I have a similar history with not hearing the term ‘sin’.

It’s very important to bring it back into the picture. People don’t like the term because it makes them uncomfortable.

Certainly satan doesn’t want the term known or better understood.

It’s time we try and understand our sinfulness. Not our ‘mistakes’, not our ‘missteps’, not ‘try and be better’.

What is the source of our sinfulness? Attack it. Get guidance and do what’s necessary to combat it.

Sin is real, dangerous, and not going away because people don’t want to use the term.

 

[IgnatianPhilo]

Becuase those catholics who voted yes probably don’t take Catholicism seriously.

 

[4Squarebaby]

IgnatianPhilo:

Becuase those catholics who voted yes probably don’t take Catholicism seriously.

Looking at the outcome of California’s proposition 8 fight the Filipino Americans who voted against the amendment by most measures take the faith more seriously then the Latinos who voted for keeping marriage between one man and one woman.

Posted from Catholic.com App for Android

 

[R_C]

Becuase those catholics who voted yes probably don’t take Catholicism seriously.

Indeed.

I have come to believe that there are two kinds of faithful: those who will adapt their lives to the Christian truths, and those who will adapt the Christian truths to their lives.

I am not claiming to be one of the former, but the intention is there. Sadly, sometimes for some there isn’t even that intention.

However - as I said - the Catholic doctrine is not embracing the world’s ways - it is inherently contra mundum. The truly sad part is the hundreds of millions of Christians who follow doctrines that have indeed embraced the world. How could they oppose something that they are not taught to be against Christ?

I’d worry and pray more about those than about Catholics who don’t follow Catholicism as they should…that’s just an “internal” issue we are facing.

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

THEORY! :
The Catholic Church is the True Church, so the Devil
needs to screw with opinions of Catholics more than
those of a Protestant.

AGAIN, JUST A THEORY.

 

[Brandall]

My mom, for example, like many Democrats, is more concerned about setting up a large welfare state and “caring for the poor” no matter how inefficient or awful it gets, at the expense of taxpayers and supplanting faith-based charities which may do a much better job.

This is a great point. I have very libertarian leanings and think the government does nothing well. Without getting too political, I would rather see the government involved in charity. Non-government charities do a much better job.

 

[Brandall]

I’m not a cradle Catholic like many of you and don’t know the church as well as you. If I had to guess, this past Christmas Eve, out of all the services my church had, I would say more than twice as many people were at Mass than would have been there during any Saturday/Sunday. Christmas Eve was also on a Monday which made it even more impressive.

I found this poll cara.georgetown.edu/CARAServices/requestedchurchstats.html
that states that weekly attendance is at 24% in Catholic Churches. If you look at the poll, you will see that is actually an increase over the last decade. Buried in the data, are the figures that tell what percent of “active” Catholics would vote for such.

My state is known for being “conservative”. Most Catholics polled here would probably not vote for such a law. Keep in mind though, that only 6.32% of my state are Catholic. There are many states, with a larger percentage of Catholics where the general population is more socially liberal. They would probably poll differently.

While I agree that the church should use it’s influence in such matters, gay marriage will not affect me. I would never vote for it but it’s going to happen. Two men or two women getting “married” is no more of a threat to me than someone calling himself by my name. It just isn’t the same. I know it and god knows it and I won’t waste a lot of time worrying about it. Frankly, marriage lost a lot of it’s luster when it became too darn easy to dissolve one. How anyone can dissolve an oath they took before god and family so flippantly, is beyond me. (“We grew apart”, “I’m no longer happy”, etc.) Someone recently on one of these forums stated that (and I’m paraphrasing) “To take an oath before God is to give an oath to God”. I’ve embraced that thought and have taken it as my own.

 

[R_C]

While I agree that the church should use it’s influence in such matters, gay marriage will not affect me.

You are greatly mistaken by this and I encourage you to learn more about this soon, because the Catholic Church is entering a time of serious persecution and will have to (and already has to) stand up to defend the family as God wills it.

You are correct: the plan of the spirit against Christ did begin by introducing divorce. Further evils to strike the family included contraception, abortion, euthanasia - as well as the demise of the virtues of virginity, modesty, chastity, and continence, replacing them with the promotion of all that is lust, above all else through pre-marital sex and all sorts of immoralities in the media and arts.

It’s all one big chain, all one big plan elaborated in the genius mind of the Evil One - and believe me, it is a genius mind, though I say this without the least admiration.

The next steps in the plan of the spirit against Christ seems to include the re-definition of marriage (as we are witnessing it), which will lead in a matter of years to requests for polygamy to be allowed for those whose sexuality is such that they are attracted to both males and females, and it will be also considered a basic right.

The last step in this plan seems to be the re-definition of human sexuality in such a way that it will be taught that it is up to humans to choose whether they are male or female. Laws will be passed as “rights” which will allow people (even minors, just as we are beginning to witness for abortion) to have their sex changed, and have the state pay for it as well.

Catholic opposition to divorce, contraception, and abortion was seen with great dismay from the world. Catholic opposition to “same-sex marriage” is already being treated by some almost like a hate crime. Soon, the Church will experience true persecution simply for holding on to the truths she has held for two thousand years before all sorts of civilizations. Catholics will be discriminated, persecuted, and will go to prison.

So things are precipitating rather quickly, and Catholics - the ones who are called to uphold the dignity of the human being and of the family as they are in God’s mind - must wake up and stop being self-complacent and thinking that all of this does not affect them. It affects, in fact, civilization as we know it.