a conspiracy against catholics in the white house

[irishamerican]

i think maybe this should be in debates but i thought this is about the white house it should be here but if its wrong go ahead and move it.

ok so im a catholic irish american, shocking i know you would have never guesed it lol, and i have noticed that there has only been one catholic in the white house (by that i mean only 1 catholic pres.) and all the others were protestants. so i was wondering why are the americans so reluctant to electing a catholic into the white house. and i wouldnt care but i dont think its all too fair we are just as hard working as the rest, hell look at jfk our only catholic, and irish yay, president and he was one of our best, so why is it that americans veiw us as not fit enough to run the greatest country on earth, besides ireland of course, now i know some of you are going to say well look at the jews or muslims they have never been in, well i just dont care its all relative seeing as how the protestants run it. also one argument ive heard is that americas are afraid that the most powerful man in the country answers to another person, the pope, so what do you think about that, do you think its right or wrong. so what im asking is what do you guys think about this.

oh p.s. i know its not a conspiracy, i hope not any way lol, i just said that.

[FlyingKiwi]

Moving to Religious Discussion.

[Dolphus Raymond]

Originally Posted by irishamerican

i think maybe this should be in debates but i thought this is about the white house it should be here but if its wrong go ahead and move it.

ok so im a catholic irish american, shocking i know you would have never guesed it lol, and i have noticed that there has only been one catholic in the white house (by that i mean only 1 catholic pres.) and all the others were protestants. so i was wondering why are the americans so reluctant to electing a catholic into the white house. and i wouldnt care but i dont think its all too fair we are just as hard working as the rest, hell look at jfk our only catholic, and irish yay, president and he was one of our best, so why is it that americans veiw us as not fit enough to run the greatest country on earth, besides ireland of course, now i know some of you are going to say well look at the jews or muslims they have never been in, well i just dont care its all relative seeing as how the protestants run it. also one argument ive heard is that americas are afraid that the most powerful man in the country answers to another person, the pope, so what do you think about that, do you think its right or wrong. so what im asking is what do you guys think about this.

oh p.s. i know its not a conspiracy, i hope not any way lol, i just said that.

There are certainly a good few anti-Catholics in the country, and there are areas where it absolutely ruined Al Smith's electoral performance. But that's not really true now. Kerry almost won, and he was a Catholic. I think it's slightly less advantageous to be a Protestant than a Catholic now, but I think the answer to this question pretty much tows line with general sentiments toward Catholicism in the U.S.

By the way, identity politics cut both ways. You may say yay to a President being Irish and Catholic, and might like him more for being like you. But an Anglo Protestant may feel the very same way. Southern whites weren't crazy about Hillary Clinton just because Obama was black, or because of issues; they voted heavily for her in the primaries because she was more like them.

[Neverender]

I realized something after reading this thread. If they were running in Canada, that would be no issue. It's the most popular religion here, but it is yet another rather large difference between Canada and the United States. I just didn't realize there was such an opposite going on between the countries.

[El Badass]

It's mostly because they never wanted a president that would listen to the pope and had this idea that this would some how give the pope a lot of power in the states. I think that is the main reason for it but now that we are being more accepting on who the president can be in regards to race, and gender, religion can't be that big of a deal anymore ether

[standardstate]

Originally Posted by irishamerican

i think maybe this should be in debates but i thought this is about the white house it should be here but if its wrong go ahead and move it.

ok so im a catholic irish american, shocking i know you would have never guesed it lol, and i have noticed that there has only been one catholic in the white house (by that i mean only 1 catholic pres.) and all the others were protestants. so i was wondering why are the americans so reluctant to electing a catholic into the white house.

Up until the middle of the 20th century there was enough anti-catholic bias in the us to make it difficult for a catholic to get elected president.

There have only been three catholic major party nominees for president (as far as I know of).

Al Smith (1928)
John Kennedy (1960)
John Kerry (1984)

http://www.religioustolerance.org/rcc_poli1.htm

I don't think being catholic makes much difference anymore - at least in the 2004 campaign the only criticism kerry got re his religion was from his fellow catholics (bcause of his pro-choice stand on abortion).

and i wouldnt care but i dont think its all too fair we are just as hard working as the rest, hell look at jfk our only catholic, and irish yay, president and he was one of our best,

Most historiand would disagree.

Kennedy was pretty ineffective as president, though to be fair he only served out a part of his first term. But his actions in cuba and vietnam were muddled at best, and it took johnson to get his social legislation passed by congress.

so why is it that americans veiw us as not fit enough to run the greatest country on earth,

I doubt most people would think this.

besides ireland of course, now i know some of you are going to say well look at the jews or muslims they have never been in, well i just dont care

Yo don't care? That's rather sad, and a bit inconsistent with your claims of anti-catholic bias.

its all relative seeing as how the protestants run it. also one argument ive heard is that americas are afraid that the most powerful man in the country answers to another person, the pope, so what do you think about that,

I'm sure a few people think so, but most do not. Further, such a claim is inconsistent with the record of catholic politicians.

[irishamerican]

i wasnt trying to be antisemetic or anti muslim if you had read the rest of it i said that it was all irelevant catholic, jewish, and muslim are in the same boat here, also i under stand kenedy wasnt our best but he motivated an entire nation to go to the moon for gods sake now you must admit thats something

[Elijah]

Hah. Catholic, Jewish, Muslim...

Since when has there ever been an atheist presidential candidate that has made it remotely far? I read somewhere that atheists are the least trusted minority in the U.S...so don't say there's a "conspiracy" against Catholics.

As for Jewish, I don't know if they've had any candidates that got far in a while either. But apparently they're more trusted than atheists.

Muslims, according to the obviously-always-correct Conservapedia, already have a president in office. *facepalm*

So pretty much, the same could be said about most other religions, not just Catholics.

Although to be honest, I'd rather not have a president who does everything the Pope tells him to...

[Durnesque]

As to the President reporting to the Pope, I believe that's an issue Kennedy confronted quite well.

"...But because I am a Catholic, and no Catholic has ever been elected president, the real issues in this campaign have been obscured — perhaps deliberately, in some quarters less responsible than this. So it is apparently necessary for me to state once again — not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be important only to me — but what kind of America I believe in.

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute — where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote — where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference — and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish — where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source — where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials — and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew — or a Quaker — or a Unitarian — or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that helped lead to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today I may be the victim — but tomorrow it may be you — until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril.

Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end — where all men and all churches are treated as equal — where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice — where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind — and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood."

If a Catholic should want to run for office, they would still be held to the First Ammendment. If a Catholic wants to be in office, they could not report directly to the Pope. It's unconstitutional.

[Eretula]

The truth is no one should even care about what a candidate's religion is

[irishamerican]

i didnt say they would i just said thats what some people think

[Danny56]

Fear about the pope gaining power isnt much basis. My moms side is all Catholic and for the most part the Pope does not play much of a part to them at all. He can say all he wants but hes nothing more than a figurehead really.

[madgeisgod]

Originally Posted by Danny56

Fear about the pope gaining power isnt much basis. My moms side is all Catholic and for the most part the Pope does not play much of a part to them at all. He can say all he wants but hes nothing more than a figurehead really.

Which goes against the very foundation of catholicism of the Pope being the mouthpiece of God.

[irishamerican]

No he dose have a point though, at this point only eccentric catholics listen to him to the dot

[BAD BOY]

Im catholic too and i wish there where more catholic presidents but i think u are over analizing everything.... Religion has nothing to do with who becomes president.. There are bigger issuse than that, that account for who becomes president...