5 ms·

Bill and Melinda are better where they are, because they are free from political interference. Can you imagine the opposition they'd get from the GOP for pushin

by foxylad 10y ago

Bill and Melinda are better where they are, because they are free from political interference. Can you imagine the opposition they'd get from the GOP for pushing contraception so centrally? And if they get into power, probably from the democrats too, for not focusing on their favourite bandwagons. OT: Can someone explain the GOP's strident opposition to funding contraception, both domestically and in the US's foreign aid? Apart from the obvious problems with unrestrained population growth, I'd have thought that aversion to abortion would imply whole-hearted support for contraception.

throwaway729 10y ago
> Can someone explain the GOP's strident opposition to funding contraception, both domestically and in the US's foreign aid? It's a culture war thing from the 80's and 90's. Contraception is for godless libs who fuck like rabbits out of wedlock. (Setting aside the fact that most religious right voters probably use birth control themselves...)
vacri 10y ago
There are a lot of Catholics on the conservative side of things, and contraception has been verboten to Catholics since the early days ("sex is for making babies, not fun" is the company line)
- vkou 10y ago
  This is quite false. Catholics split the democrat/republican vote ~50/50. They voted for Gore, Bush, Obama, and Trump with small margins. [1] They care about this question, but not very much. Evangelicals, on the other hand overwhelmingly vote republican. Catholics, in general, are the most liberal religious denomination in the US. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-fait...
  - vacri 10y ago
    Looking more closely at your link, the white catholics were more likely to vote for Trump than protestants were (higher than anyone except evangelicals), and as I understand it, it's white catholics that are the most prominent in congress. Sorry, I meant politicians (as the parent referenced the GOP) rather than laypeople.
    - vkou 10y ago
      Trump overwhelmingly won among white voters - with 58% of their vote. White white catholics voted... Pretty much the same way as white non-catholics. Comparing white catholics to all protestants is comparing apples to oranges. Catholics are only slightly over-represented in congress, at 30% of Christians in congress (While making up 24% of the Christian population in the US.) They are also split 68/70 between democrat and republican. [1] They may be prominent, but they aren't trying to turn the country into a theocracy. [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/congress-religious-affiliation_n_6417074.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/congress-religious-...
  - lostlogin 10y ago
    'Most liberal religious denomination' is a great measure. It's somewhere up there with the 'least nepotistic monarchy'.
  - JetSpiegel 10y ago
    > Catholics, in general, are the most liberal religious denomination in the US. More than Jedi? Or even Scientology?
    - logfromblammo 10y ago
      Generally, religions with a leadership hierarchy are more authoritarian than those that are tenets-based and decentralized. Thus, those religions tend to take political direction on the liberal-conservative axes from their leadership. Based on their treatment of heresy and apostasy, and self-policing of their own "ethics", I would consider Scientologists to be extremely conservative. While the leadership never endorses any candidate, the membership generally votes conservative-libertarian. I would guess that many of them voted for Trump in the last election, though I have no hard data to back that up. Of the mainstream religions, Mormons (70%) are the most reliably Republican, followed by Southern Baptists (64%), Nazarenes (63%), and Presbyterians (60%). The most reliably Democratic are African Methodist Episcopal (92%), National Baptist (87%), God in Christ (75%), the "historically black" churches, along with Unitarians (84%). Catholics break 44% Democrat, 37% Republican, and 19% no-preference, a distribution that closely matches the whole of America. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/23/u-s-religious-groups-and-their-political-leanings/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/23/u-s-religiou... Catholicism is often the most liberal religion in Mexico and Latin America, and members from that cultural region are often considered liberal among other Catholics. As Pope Francis is from there, and I consider him to be very liberal for a Catholic, I would expect Catholics worldwide to gradually become more liberal as his tenure in office continues.
ams6110 10y ago
So I just reviewed the official GOP platform for 2016[1]. Contraception is addressed twice, specifically in the context of providing contraception or abortion counseling to teens in schools (they favor teaching abstinence) and in opposing abortion drugs such as RU-486 and over-the-counter availability of "morning-after" contraceptive drugs. I don't read anywhere any opposition to contraceptives in the context of family planning, nor have I ever heard any conservative outside of Catholic church clergy speak against use of contraceptives in that context. [1] https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/static/home/data/platform.pdf https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/static/home/data/platform.pd...
xapata 10y ago
Since Nixon's very successful plan to distract the electorate with cultural issues, the GOP has taken the strategy to heart. Of course, some Republicans are true believers in the cultural mission, but it started as a plan to set economic policy for their own interests. Case in point, Trump.
ako 10y ago
Their three most important tools, vaccination, contraception, and women empowerment, all seem to be add odds with GOP program (or at least of a vocal part of their voters).

by foxylad 10y ago

throwaway729 10y ago

> Can someone explain the GOP's strident opposition to funding contraception, both domestically and in the US's foreign aid? It's a culture war thing from the 80's and 90's. Contraception is for godless libs who fuck like rabbits out of wedlock. (Setting aside the fact that most religious right voters probably use birth control themselves...)

vacri 10y ago

There are a lot of Catholics on the conservative side of things, and contraception has been verboten to Catholics since the early days ("sex is for making babies, not fun" is the company line)

vkou 10y ago
This is quite false. Catholics split the democrat/republican vote ~50/50. They voted for Gore, Bush, Obama, and Trump with small margins. [1] They care about this question, but not very much. Evangelicals, on the other hand overwhelmingly vote republican. Catholics, in general, are the most liberal religious denomination in the US. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-fait...
- vacri 10y ago
  Looking more closely at your link, the white catholics were more likely to vote for Trump than protestants were (higher than anyone except evangelicals), and as I understand it, it's white catholics that are the most prominent in congress. Sorry, I meant politicians (as the parent referenced the GOP) rather than laypeople.
  - vkou 10y ago
    Trump overwhelmingly won among white voters - with 58% of their vote. White white catholics voted... Pretty much the same way as white non-catholics. Comparing white catholics to all protestants is comparing apples to oranges. Catholics are only slightly over-represented in congress, at 30% of Christians in congress (While making up 24% of the Christian population in the US.) They are also split 68/70 between democrat and republican. [1] They may be prominent, but they aren't trying to turn the country into a theocracy. [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/congress-religious-affiliation_n_6417074.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/05/congress-religious-...
- lostlogin 10y ago
  'Most liberal religious denomination' is a great measure. It's somewhere up there with the 'least nepotistic monarchy'.
- JetSpiegel 10y ago
  > Catholics, in general, are the most liberal religious denomination in the US. More than Jedi? Or even Scientology?
  - logfromblammo 10y ago
    Generally, religions with a leadership hierarchy are more authoritarian than those that are tenets-based and decentralized. Thus, those religions tend to take political direction on the liberal-conservative axes from their leadership. Based on their treatment of heresy and apostasy, and self-policing of their own "ethics", I would consider Scientologists to be extremely conservative. While the leadership never endorses any candidate, the membership generally votes conservative-libertarian. I would guess that many of them voted for Trump in the last election, though I have no hard data to back that up. Of the mainstream religions, Mormons (70%) are the most reliably Republican, followed by Southern Baptists (64%), Nazarenes (63%), and Presbyterians (60%). The most reliably Democratic are African Methodist Episcopal (92%), National Baptist (87%), God in Christ (75%), the "historically black" churches, along with Unitarians (84%). Catholics break 44% Democrat, 37% Republican, and 19% no-preference, a distribution that closely matches the whole of America. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/23/u-s-religious-groups-and-their-political-leanings/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/23/u-s-religiou... Catholicism is often the most liberal religion in Mexico and Latin America, and members from that cultural region are often considered liberal among other Catholics. As Pope Francis is from there, and I consider him to be very liberal for a Catholic, I would expect Catholics worldwide to gradually become more liberal as his tenure in office continues.

ams6110 10y ago

So I just reviewed the official GOP platform for 2016[1]. Contraception is addressed twice, specifically in the context of providing contraception or abortion counseling to teens in schools (they favor teaching abstinence) and in opposing abortion drugs such as RU-486 and over-the-counter availability of "morning-after" contraceptive drugs. I don't read anywhere any opposition to contraceptives in the context of family planning, nor have I ever heard any conservative outside of Catholic church clergy speak against use of contraceptives in that context. [1] https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/static/home/data/platform.pdf https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/static/home/data/platform.pd...

xapata 10y ago

Since Nixon's very successful plan to distract the electorate with cultural issues, the GOP has taken the strategy to heart. Of course, some Republicans are true believers in the cultural mission, but it started as a plan to set economic policy for their own interests. Case in point, Trump.

ako 10y ago

Their three most important tools, vaccination, contraception, and women empowerment, all seem to be add odds with GOP program (or at least of a vocal part of their voters).