In the midst of he said, she said, he said coverage of the presidential election thus far, it was very refreshing to run across this unique, interesting article that wasn't exactly time-sensitive, but still was relevant in the up coming election.
This article discusses where Catholics argue they should align on the political spectrum, with conservatives pushing the traditional social values of abortion and gay marriage, whereas liberals argue that the importance of the economy, health care, immigration, etc., are not only more important, but that the Catholic values are more aligned with liberal values on these issues.
On a personal note, I was relieved to read this article, seeing how I've been forever disgruntled that voters put more emphasis on social issues during elections like gay-marriage and abortion when there are other key issues that have a direct impact on the future of the nation. (for example, I am against abortion and somewhat against gay marriage, but I intend on voting for Obama this election, who, as the article points out, is for abortion and gay marriage). Although JFK was both a democrat and a catholic, I always assumed that catholics would vote Republican due to conservative, social values.
But regarding this article, I found it not only to be a great story idea, it was the perfect article for which the writer could get both sides of the argument-which is exactly what the article did. The article not only consulted the sources that this type of article would call for (bishops, cathedrals, etc.), but also found interesting stories, such as some liberal catholic groups.
The only thing I found peculiar was that the article focused a lot on the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, which the article points out is the hometown of Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden. Sure, the town is a blue-collar city dominated by catholics, but the article also points out that there are many other such cities in the country. Why not focus on one of those cities as opposed to the hometown of someone directly involved in the story? It seemed as if the writer was trying to take an interesting angle on the story, which I found to be unnecessary.
Lastly, I would have loved to hear what the two campaigns thought of this. I would only have to assume the writer contacted the campaigns for comment, and that there was no real response.
The article can be found at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/us/politics/05catholic.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin
3 comments:
This article really was interesting. One of my best friends comes from a very Catholic, very Democratic family and I've never been able to understand that dichotomy. This article really opened my eyes in regards to other liberal ideas that Catholics can support besides simply social issues like abortion. Religion can play an interesting role in politics and often church and state seem to be in direct conflict. This article gave an interesting perspective. I enjoyed reading it, although I do agree that the Scranton angle was a little strange and forced.
I found this article really interesting. It's weird because Catholics tended to vote Democratic in the past before abortion was made legal, which then made many Catholics become Republicans. That really shows how important the abortion issue is to many Catholics. However, both parties definitely represent different values that are part of the Catholic religion. When I read my article before about Catholic voters, I also found it interesting how much really seems to lie with them. It all makes for an exciting election.
I thought the article did a good job of presenting both sides, and I agree with you that the reporter talked to a lot of important sources.
I come from a very Catholic family so reading this was interesting for me. I am from a democratic family and Obama has my vote for the upcoming election. I do agree with some liberal ideas, and sometimes consider myself to fall more on the moderate side of things. I don't know if that fact that I am Catholic influenced my political choices at all. I think I would feel the way I do no matter if I was Catholic or not.
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