Why do some Catholics lean politically conservative?

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My family and my wife’s family were both pinching pennies when we were born, but my dad got his degree and a good job, and her dad worked hard and became a business leader, so we both grew up in what would be classified as middle class. It is a little difficult to have a discussion about this when your base lines are so different. In my mind, “rich” is “not having to worry about money.”

My dad got his degree while holding a full time job and raising two kids… seriously, how did he do that… it boggles my mind to think about it. I know tons of people who couldn’t finish their degree with absolutely nothing taking up their time, and no responsibilities at all…
 
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Neither of my parents had degrees. Mom didn’t go to college. She didn’t want to. Dad didn’t finish for various reasons, including having to support his mother and getting called back to active duty for the Korean War (he’d already fought in WWII).

I appreciate the difficulty in having a discussion about the terms “rich” and “poor” and “middle class”. I don’t really see much point in discussing it though. By the time one becomes an adult, one’s perception is formed, and is not going to change.

Most of my friends as well as my spouse were from a similar economic strata to the one I grew up in. Some of them moved up and did well for themselves, some are working union jobs for hourly wage. They are my friends largely because I can feel comfortable with them - there is no economic mismatch.
 
ZMystiCat said:
A few major reasons I can think of in American politics are:
  1. Democrats tend to be pro-choice, barring the relatively weak pro-life Democrats. Since abortion is arguably the gravest evil our country legally permits, many Catholics are turned off by the Democratic Party and go to the party that at least still has some pro-life leanings.
  2. There’s a general, somewhat well-founded, fear that the left care very little about the religious liberty of many Christians. Our religious beliefs should be “private”, but when in the public, we shouldn’t practice those beliefs especially if it violates their principles. That was part of what made the Masterpiece Cake case so concerning to many Christians. Ultimately, it paints the picture that by supporting the left, we may end up making our ability to practice our religion more difficult, especially if we’re in an affected industry.
  3. Contrary to a lot of the left’s accusations that the right don’t care about the poor, the right claim that their policies are, in the long run, better for the poor. Catholics who believe the right’s rhetoric will understandably take their side.
Now, does this all warrant being Republican first and Catholic second? No, it doesn’t, but it does offer a few reasons why many Catholics lean Republican or, at the very least, are beginning to feel disconnected from the Democratic party.
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Yes to this. I would also add that the Democratic Party has really been pushing its limits with things like:
  1. Same-sex marriage (& trying to be tolerant of things arguably contrary to Church teaching);
  2. Over-the-top abortion advocates - Here in TX, a few years back, there was a big mess about some pro-life initiative that was coming up for the vote, & people…Ugh…this was captured on video & the news (to confirm it actually happened) - some of the pro-choice advocates there came with jars of fecal matter & urine & such to hurl on people…What’s up with that? That, & yelling “Hail, Satan!” for their pro-choice stance to pass?? And now we have those Handmaid’s Tale women & pink hats…
  3. Seeing in the news how the Democratic Party wanted to promote atheism (& seeing that not all of its members agreed with this push);
  4. Imposing abortion on people through a mandatory health insurance requirement that was supposed to be affordable, yet it being very unaffordable (I remember one family member - & hearing of acquaintances - who took the position that since they couldn’t afford even the “affordable health care that was mandatory”, they would rather pay the fine for being uninsured because it was cheaper;
  5. Hillary Clinton & her calling people of faith “undesirables”…
  6. On the topic of immigration, I want our borders respected, but I also want to show compassion to those entering who need our support. I have to be honest, too: it burns me up to see people who broke the law get all kinds of “rewards” for doing so - even boasting about such things online, & my grandparents & parents, who’d come here in the 1950s LEGALLY, had to undergo discrimination & long separations…
I can go on & on, but…yes, I am conservative.
 
I don’t think Catholics can really “be” anything. It irritates me that “liberal or conservative” means. “Democrats or Republicans” to most people. There’s no Catholic party.

I do think you have a lot of explaining to do if you’ve voted for a pro-choice federal official who could influence abortion policy. State or City officials maybe not. As my priest says if you voted for a pro choice candidate maybe you’ve forgotten how many human lives 600k is.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Neither of my parents had degrees. Mom didn’t go to college. She didn’t want to. Dad didn’t finish for various reasons, including having to support his mother and getting called back to active duty for the Korean War (he’d already fought in WWII).
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I can relate to this. Neither of my parents went to college. They ran a mom and pop business and did fine. I think most people of that time period did not go to college. They just went to work.

My parents also were democrat all of their lives until the abortion issue and same sex marriage issue became so important to the democratic party, they just felt they could not vote for anyone supporting these issues.

They also believed very strongly, as democrats at that time did, in the importance of hard work, so they also could not vote democrat when the party became too “big brother” and began leaning socialist.
 
These terms are also very relative to a particular time and place. The “conservatives” of 2018 America would be considered very “progressive” in 1950. Civil rights for “colored” people? Women working outside the home? Just to list two examples.
Conservative Americans very much advocate the American model of the republic. Traditionally, Catholics were very much monarchists.
Conservative, traditional, liberal, progressive are all moving targets.
 
Absolutely. I have also noticed that in general, so probably not the Catholics generally speaking, people in Europe have a lot less of the well-founded fear of government that is engrained in American values.

I was in Germany for the summer, and most of the friends I made there are plenty happy to trust the government to take care of everything. They give them as much money and power as the government asks for. If there’s one country that should run kicking and screaming away from socialism you’d think it’d be Germany …
 
It actually baffles me that such a no-brainer, human rights issue like abortion has become a matter of partisan politics.

Pro-life is actually a really Left-leaning position, when you think about it - i.e. defending an extremely vulnerable sub-group, not to mention all of the structural/societal sexism leading women to abortion, (e.g. can’t have a baby and finish school, partner threatening to leave her, etc.)
 
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twf said:
These terms are also very relative to a particular time and place. The “conservatives” of 2018 America would be considered very “progressive” in 1950. Civil rights for “colored” people? Women working outside the home? Just to list two examples.
Conservative Americans very much advocate the American model of the republic. Traditionally, Catholics were very much monarchists.
Conservative, traditional, liberal, progressive are all moving targets.
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You do realize that the civil rights legislation of the 50’s passed with significant help from Republicans… right? 82% of the Republicans in office at the time voted for it, compared to roughly 66-70% of Democrats.

Really, both parties voted in favor.
 
Cough cough, the massive disproportionate amount of abortions that kill black babies, cough cough
 
JanetF said:
Question: Is is better to give a hungry person fish to eat (a one-time offering), or a fishing pole so that he can learn to fish on his own and provide for himself on a continuing basis?
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Well, if he’s he’s on the brink of starvation, it’s much better to give him a fish right now.

Then maybe he’ll be able to make it to those fishing classes.
 
Absolutely irrelevant. I wasn’t talking about parties.
If one is in favour of radically changing society, one is a progressive.
You’re really trying to tell me that increased rights for blacks was a “conservative” value? It was a progressive value in 1950. Regardless of which party was for or against it.
By definition, conservatives seek to uphold the status quo and progressives to change it.
This obsession with Democrat vs republican is absurd from a historical perspective… reading posts here you would think these two parties correspond to two eternal immutable forces.

My point was that “conservative” and “progressive” are moving targets and Catholics could fall into either camp.
 
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It was a human value, and the record shows that it was a value held by the majority of elected officials.

What I don’t get is why people keep trying to compare the modern landscape to the 50’s. Both parties are different than they were, which is, I think, the point you’re trying to make.

I think we agree…
 
twf said:
Traditionally, Catholics were very much monarchists.
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I don’t find that to be the case at all.

I think if you poll the people on this, Catholics are no more like to support monarchy that folks of other religious traditions.
 
blackforest said:
I think it’s wrong to co-opt His teachings to promote one political party or the other.
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Not when one party actively upholds, promotes, and treats as “good” things which are completely and totally opposed to God in literally every way…
 
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