American Values Survey | National Catholic Reporter

American Values Survey | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: A few things - young adults not going to Church is not a new concept and many return to some religious practice once they have kids, although some do not. Second, spiritual but not religious is often code for ex-Catholics who go to Alcoholics Anonymous.


That the majority of Catholic voters think abortion is not the prime issue is not surprising and is not an act of rebellion. It is because Abortion is not an issue at all. It is settled law and the pro-life movement is seen by many as a con game to turn out Republican voters and separate old people from their money. Many have also had miscarriages and given the lack of comfort provided them by the Church find it easier to deny the humanity of the child than grieve in silence. The question of miscarriages under law is why first trimester embryos will never be called people under the law. This is the reason the pro-life movement has no bill or vision for what their goal actually is. Paint a picture of an America where first trimester embryos are legal people and tell me whether you really want to live in it. The rest of us simply don't and we have a right not to.

Contraception is the issue they more likely disagree with the Church on. They deny that celibates are entitled to any opinion on their unitive sexuality's completeness with or without birth control and they have a point. They have also taken high school biology and know the difference between generative and regulative development (and that ensoulment is not possible during generative). If they've taken a Thomistic ethics class, especially if they are older, they know that life cannot begin until regulative development. When the Church has the scientific facts wrong, that is the Sensus Fidelium speaking.