Apparently Non-Catholics Want the Catholic Church to Move in a "New Direction"

Quinnipiac has a new poll out that purports to show that Catholics are leading the way on moving the country toward same-sex marriage:

American voter support for same-sex marriage is inching up and now stands at 47 – 43 percent, including 54 – 38 percent among Catholic voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 48 – 46 percent statistical tie among all voters on same-sex marriage December 5 and reverses the 55 – 36 percent opposition in a July, 2008, survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. …

“Catholic voters are leading American voters toward support for same-sex marriage,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Among all voters, there is almost no gender gap, but a big age gap. Voters 18 to 34 years old support same sex marriage 62 – 30 percent; voters 35 to 54 years old are divided 48 – 45 percent and voters over 55 are opposed 50 – 39 percent.["]

If you look deeper at the poll results, however, you find out that the poll doesn't really say what the pollsters say it says.    Of the Catholics surveyed, only 31% attend Mass every week, while 39% never attend or attend only a few times a year.   In the middle are another 12% who attend "almost" every week, and 18% who attend only "once or twice a month."

Look, this is simple.   If you (a) don't attend Mass, and (b) don't believe in the long-held and clearly-stated beliefs of the Church about sexual morality, including on marriage, contraception and abortion, you are not Catholic.   You may falsely call yourself Catholic out of some sort of odd sense that you are supposed to, or some ill-considered conception that it's an ethnicity of some sort, or out of habit, or because you think it's somehow "cool" and "edgy" to be a fallen-away Catholic.   But you are not Catholic.  

So why do pollsters persist in polling as "Catholics" people who obviously aren't?   Laziness.   Intellectual sloppiness.   And, more likely, a desire to push a particular agenda -- secular, liberal, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage.   Not by accident, if you go to the press release at Quinnipiac, you read the results under this headline:

American Catholics Support Same-Sex Marriage, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Catholics Want New Direction From Next Pope

Well, I want a new direction from the radical imams in Egypt and Iran and Pakistan and Saudia Arabia and across the Islamic world.   But, since I'm not Islamic, don't believe in Islam, don't practice Islam, don't attend prayers at my local mosque, etc., WHY SHOULD ANYONE GIVE A SHIT WHAT DIRECTION I THINK ISLAM SHOULD TAKE? The same is true with non-Catholics in America.   It's not an ethnicity.   It's a belief.   If you don't believe, get out and stop lying to pollsters about being Catholic.   No one should care what you think about the "direction" of the Church, or the choice of the next Pope.