Joel Connelly challenges Bill O’Reilly to come to our “unchurched” part of the country and meet some of the local believers. Because we’re not all asshole atheists around here. That’s sadly true. But this line of Connelly’s leapt out at me:
Ham-fisted attacks on the Democrats’ 2008 ticket by some Catholic prelates—e.g., bishops in Scranton, Pa., and Denver—did not stop Barack Obama and Joe Biden from winning a majority of Catholic voters, and sweeping states with the heaviest Catholic populations.
While not technically a Catholic prelate—your imagination doesn’t count, Joel—Connelly was in charge of meting out ham-fisted attacks on behalf of the local Catholic church during the 2008 election. Connelly was the No on I-1000 campaign, masking his religious objections to I-1000 up in accusations of anti-Catholic bias on the part of I-1000’s backers. Connelly also detected anti-Catholic bias on the part Washington state voters despite the fact that Chris Gregoire, Dino Rossi, Maria Cantwell, and Patty Murray are all Catholics.
Washington state voters overwhelmingly approved I-1000—does anyone know how Catholics voted on I-1000?
I don’t know how Catholics voted on I-1000, but this ex-Catholic voted for it. Thanks for pointing out Connelly’s hypocrisy.
In The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith thought a nifty way to help his readers grasp the concept of free market competition would be to use the vibrancy of religion in the US, where churches compete for followers. Because they were all too familiar with the bureaucratic complacency of their own state-sanctioned snooze pastors.
Calling the Freedom From Religion Foundations sign “ham fisted” is missing the point. It is a laser-guided precision strike intended to remove all religious displays from government property. In most places the mere threat of putting up the sign gets the job done. A few slow learners like Washington have to go through a season of this nonsense before we wise up.
My own father, who works for the Catholic church, voted in favor of I-1000.
Wonder how Catholics voted in California on Gay marriage?
On its second round with tons of money and Oregon as a good working model, I -1000 was a slam dunk from the beginning. As you all know, Washington has low church affiliation compared to most of the US. That helps in many ways…. if you are not shackled to myriad bishops of every ilk.
If gay rights ever come to another vote in Washington, wonder where the Catholics will be?
What say all the lapsed and still massing C’s?