Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan GOP ticket reflects religious shift
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By naming devout, conservative Catholic U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate, former governor Mitt Romney, once a Mormon bishop, did more than ensure the USA will have a Catholic vice president in 2013.
He established the first Republican ticket without a Protestant since 1860, when Abraham Lincoln, who belonged to no church, chose Maine Sen. Hannibal Hamlin, a Unitarian as his running mate, says Mark Silk, professor of religion and public life at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Yet today’s GOP ticket — two Christians who are neither evangelical nor mainline Protestants — isn’t a major marker of social change, University of California history professor David Hollinger says.
For a real sign of the decline of American mainline Protestantism, Hollinger looks to the Protestant-free U.S. Supreme Court: six Catholics and three Jews. The Romney-Ryan ticket is well in line with today’s wider, less brand-specific Christian culture, he says.
The number of Americans who identify with a Protestant denomination has been steadily slipping from over 60% in the 1970s to 52% in 2010, says Duke University sociology professor Mark Chaves, who tracks religion statistics in the national General Social Survey, conducted biannually by the National Opinion Research Center.
With this comes a shift in assumption about values, says Stephen Prothero, author of The American Bible, examining core civic, political, literary and religious texts of U.S history and society. “We can no longer assume when people speak of American values, they’re speaking in terms of Protestants who dominated American religious and public life” since the nation’s founding, Prothero says.
Besides the Supreme Court’s makeup, he cites today’s diversity in Congress, which has Catholics, Mormons, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims.
The Bible isn’t every candidate’s go-to text any more. Prothero expects Vice President Biden, a Catholic, and Ryan to argue over their different views of Catholic social teachings rather than stand on Gospel quotations.
Some evangelicals claim Ryan as one of their own, says David Brody, chief political correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network and author of a book, The Teavangelicals.
Brody says that Ryan, as a “dedicated pro-life, true blue conservative,” is a Tea Party evangelical, too, because he stands for the movement’s agenda of “fiscal austerity and social conservatism.”
Silk, who blogs at Spiritual Politics, points out, “I haven’t heard any Protestants complaining that Romney didn’t pick one of their own. The default mode is ‘Christian’ and Catholics are seen in the Christian tent.”
Mormons see themselves as Christian and many scholars, but not all evangelicals, agree. [More]
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25 Comments
Neither Mr Romney nor Mr Ryan base any part of their economic platform on the simple teaching of Luke 12, as if to say they’re ashamed of and opposed to it. That could have a lot to do with why many Christians, including Mormons and Catholics, do not believe that these politicians are at all Christian.
Florian — Catholics receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation with regularity. Do you agree?
The Romney Ryan ticket said the team is ok with abortion if the child was conceived during a rape. Sorry guys this is not polife
Catholics believe the result of the rape should not be killed and to do so would victimize the newly conceived child.
Either we are for life or we are not.
Well, Tony, what do you prefer? Being in favor of 1,000 abortions per year, or being in favor of over one million per year, as is Mr. 666?
I am in favor of honoring and respecting life from the first moment of conception, any human life, no matter how it is conceived or what it’s potential problems it may have. This is what the Church teaches, this is whsat the catechism says this is a truly polife stance. Romney and Ryan are not prolife.
They’re much much much more pro-life than Mr. 666.
Walk down the streets of NYC and see the poor, homeless people, go to places like Covanent House and see the poor run away kids who often run away from abuse.
To deny that there are poor among us is to deny reality. Some people, Dennis have eyes but do not see, they have ears but do not hear, yet we know from Sacred Scripture that The Lord hears the cry of the poor. It is up to us to assist them.
Tony. I feel like I am talking to myself so I will keep my posts to you to a minimum.
The Bible contains more than 300 verses on the poor, social justice, and God’s deep concern for both.
But since Jim doesn’t have to worry about the poor (“There are no poor in America.“) he can skip these passages and focus on the more important Bible teachings.
I wonder what they are.
Dennis, I guess if you have a totally myopic one sided small vision of being a Catholic the REAL important Issues are, abortion, contraception, homosexuality and geneitle theology.
As I stated before, to be truly prolife, as we should be, we should be concerned and be willing to care for a person from the first moment of conception all the way though all the stages of human development to a NATURAL death.
Jesus has told us that what we do to another person WE DO TO HIM. If we let another person starve or go without, we let Jesus starve or go without.
Tony. You sucked me in again.
You must have been brainwashed with the same teachings that got me.
Now, how many references are there in the Bible to sexually related issues?
Wonder why the Bible says virtually nothing about that subject.
Not true, DENNIS, but you are not only irrational as I’ve illustrated previously in your inability or unwillingness to follow a logical progression; you also don’t listen. I previously pointed out two specific verses to you in the Bible that refer to sexual purity; and, my guess is there are at least 100 verses that address this issue. For example, there are penalties prescribed in the Old Testament for someone who gets a woman pregnant before he marries her. There is the instance in the New Testament where Jesus approaches the woman at the well, and He tells her she has six husbands; another verse where Jesus tells us that if we divorce and then remarry, we are committing adultery. Now DENNIS, here’s a heads-up to you: I doubt I will respond to your response to this post, because you are illogical with a fair degree of consistency. Also, you have misrepresented yourself, by your own admission. So, bottom line, here is what I know about you: (1) you don’t follow a logical progression, but rather demonstrably twist my words; (2) you don’t listen to input — you have ignored the multiple Scripture verses I have offered with regard to sexuality; (3) you have misrepresented yourself; and (4) as icing for the cake, you are incredibly arrogant. I have, for the most part, ignored Michael Joseph Francisconi’s posts because I think he may be beyond help; and I expect to ignore yours, unless you change your ways. One last comment: your designation of others as “mental midgets” reveals your arrogant contempt for others. Google Narcissistic Personality Disorder and see if you feel like you are reading about yourself.
Jim. I put the mental midgets comment in just for you and someone else – can’t remember who. Glad you noticed.
It is not my fault you don’t know what metaphor or truism means.
I misrepresented myself. What did I spell my name wrong?
I will gladly match you verse for verse on helping the poor versus any sexual interpretations you can find.
Lets get things started.
Luke 6:20-21. Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Your turn.
Blessed am I, because I am going to bed. I don’t have confidence, Dennis, that if I were to go verse-for-verse with you, that it would yield results — you’ve demonstrably twisted my posts in the past. I work at something if there is a reasonable chance of success — I don’t believe a back-and-forth with you is worth my effort. Besides, even if there are more verses about helping the poor than about sexuality, that in and of itself proves nothing. The fact is, mismanagement of sexuality leads one away from God faster than any other sin. The Blessed Mother told one of the Fatima visionaries (Jacinta) in a private revelation that “more souls go to Hell for sins of the flesh than for any other reason.” I don’t care if that is not Scripture — the Fatima apparition has been ruled valid by the Church, and there is every rational reason to believe it occurred.
Awwwwww!!
God bless you.
Goodnight.
And Dennis, here’s one more reason why it makes no sense for me to take you up on your challenge: the verse you just identified (Luke 6:20-21) does NOT do what you say it does — it does NOT talk about helping poor. All it says is that the poor, in the end, will be rewarded. Notice, again, the difficulty you have of staying focused, maintaining a logical progression in your thinking.
Quoting I believe it was you: you can’t argue with an illogical, irrational person.
Jim. That is true but I give you the benefit of the doubt.
Darn that one didn’t pass muster – no problem I have hundreds.
How about this one:
Luke 3:11. And [John the Baptist] would answer and say to them, “Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise.”
Is that one too ambiguous for ya Jimmy.
Do we have a “Catholic” Vice President? I thought Catholics opposed abortion, gay marriage and other moral issues. Wearing ashes on one’s forehead on Ash Wednesday doesn’t necessarily make one “Catholic!”
Hi Michael.
Well, you thought wrong.
I’m Catholic and I don’t have a moral problem with any of the issues you mentioned. In fact, there is not one passage in the Bible that refers to abortion. Although there is one reference to homosexuality, it is not a negative reference. It is an observation that it exists.
Would you like to learn about Catholics?
I thought we are to live justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with God. That’s what Mica tells us to do
Hi Tony.
Notice I don’t respond to your posts but please respond to mine.
The reason I don’t respond is because you are usually right on and don’t need any help dealing with these uncaring, mental midgets.
Don’t forget what Jim said and I quote:
“There are no poor in America.“
I would like to know where he lives – physically and mentally.
“Ultimately, the symbolism of the Romney-Ryan ticket may be that it doesn’t matter any more which religion a candidate claims as long as he claims one….”
A label that one calls him/herself does not make a person a “Christian;” one’s actions makes one a “Christian.” One can participate in the true “Christ Conscienceness” in many different faith traditions — whether Catholic, Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu,Jew, Sufi or Sikh.
P.S. The “Christ-consciousness” existed long before Christianity as a religion.
Dear Recovering, your statement is not correct. The God that these other relions worship is not the same God that Roman Catholic or Protestant Christians worship. For example; the Jewish Religion does not recognize Jesus as their Messiah and are still awaiting his appearance, while we worship the Holy Trinity – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.