Considering the majority of Catholics in this country are what I would call Progressive Catholic and do not agree with the Pope on BC, I would think any votes coming Romney's way due to these issues would be marginal at best. For those who this is an overriding issue, many pastors are telling their flock not to vote. They view Mitt's Mormonism to be equally as offensive as Obama's views on abortion and gays. So I dont't see this issue hurting or helping either Obama or Romney in any significant way.

up2sumptin, I'm not sure what churches you've been going to lately but the ones I visited are encouraging their members to vote for Romney, that includes the Catholic Church in Hinesville I visited with a friend two weeks ago.

What Church encourages their members to vote for a certain person? Thats new to me. I have heard in Church where a Pastor may encourage members to vote, but not for a particular Candidate.

Wow. Father Murphey has not been the Pastor at St Stephens for about 10 months now.

Sporty: I've been aware of churches as proponents for political candidates for as long as I can remember. You should have been a Catholic (as I was) in 1960 when Kennedy was running for President. We had Kennedy posters and buttons all over the place - in church and in parochial school. And the last time I checked, the airways were filled with videos of the Reverend Wright, the Reverend Jackson, etc., etc., selling Obama in 2008. I'm not sure they're selling quite as hard this time around, but I suspect the sale is still going on. There are also a recent batch condemning the President for his stand on gay marriage and abortion. When a church condemns one candidate and there are only two - guess who they are "supporting?"

The "separation of church and state" only rears its head when the state is supposedly promoting or interfering with (perceived or otherwise) religion or religious matters. It rarely becomes an issue when the "promotion" occurs the other way around.

Let's face it: politicians are panderers - plain and simple. They'll take their support from wherever they can get it.

Wrong again murrelet, Father Adam is now over the Church in Hinesville.

You are correct about one thing murrelet, if you vote according to Catholic principles you are against abortion and therefore you are against Obama.

Like it or not it's happening more than we think. I also recently attended service at a local Baptist church and there were a few members politicking in church for Romney.
The preacher did encourage members to get out and vote without mentioning any name but you could tell exactly who he was for.

"I’m not for politics."

B.S.

Religion and Politics should not mix, but you know candidates run on the premise of religion.

Has anyone else ever noticed how local politicians start attending church services as election day draws near?

Yes I see that all the during elections and campaigning.

I don't see them as I attend "The Church of the Machine."

Back to Catholics and politics:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012...