Do you mean you were disgusted by the idea of giving health care freely to those that need it???
or did I misunderstand?
I was an unthinking conservative and similarly thoughtlessly irreligious as a teenager; I wrote a kickass campaign speech for Reagan as a classroom exercise. In our mock election, the vote was nearly unanimous, largely on the basis of my forceful presentation, which I can see in retrospect was a huge disappointment to the very liberal guy who was the teacher. He congratulated me on work well done, but it killed him to do it. I also didn’t go to church or think about religion much at all. In general, these beliefs were inherited from my mother.
Then I moved out of my small town to the big city and went to college. In short order, I swung completely to the other side of the political spectrum, turning into a tofu-munching, birkenstock-wearing ponytailed Lib’ruhl. Still didn’t think much about God at the time. In fact, I didn’t formalize my atheism in my own mind until about five years ago, and interestingly I moved slightly toward the center, away from Lib’ruhlism, at the same time.
I regard my beliefs less through an individual lens and more from a perspective of social anthropology: With respect to politics, for example, I think the pendulum swings back and forth pretty regularly, and there need to be responsible, thoughtful people on both sides to stake out the positions and keep the balance between (and away from) the extremists further out, in order for society to remain healthy and functional. So I’ve thought about my views carefully, and I’ve staked out what seems to be the most reasonable, responsible, and internally consistent philosophical terrain for the long term. I haven’t changed my mind on much of anything in the last five years, and I don’t expect to, though of course I’d be insane if I tried to predict who I’ll be in a couple of decades. For now, though, I’m confident and content in what I believe.
The progression of losing my religion hasn’t affected my political worldview at all. In fact, the latter has remained constant through the entirety of my adult life.
I find it interesting, though, how many of the posters do link strong religious views with a further-to-the-right political view. While, of course, in Canada one does find certain religious groups who hold those “right wing” views, it is not uniformly the case. The current Premier of Saskatchewan, Lorne Calvert, prior to his current political career was a Minister with the United Church of Canada (which historically has been the largest Protestant denomination in Canada). And Tommy Douglas, the “Father of Medicare”, a federal Member of Parliament and former Saskatchewan Premier was a Baptist Minister.
Huh. I always figured him for a Socialist.
I was raised Catholic. I mean really Catholic – my parents were believers and quite observant, not just Christmas-Easter-baptisms and weddings Catholics.
Sometime in my early thirties or late twenties, it finally began to take hold, and I now identify myself easily as a Catholic, attend Mass regularly, and so on.
My political leanings have continued to move leftward during this whole process (perhaps because I went for years to Jesuit schools and a lot I learned there really stuck), to the point where I now think that to call myself a socialist would be perfectly appropriate. I don’t mean Soviet-style socialism, more like what in Europe would be a Social Democrat-type socialist. Definitely with a lower-case “l”.
I see no incompatibility with Catholicism and and socialism (quite the opposite, in fact). Just check the current Catholic catechism for a good (if brief) critique of free-market economics.
I didn’t think of it in those terms, unfortunately. To me it was the idea of the government taking over the industry that made my hometown what it was (i grew up in Rochester, MN and both of parents worked for the Mayo Clinic). The thought of the overly intrusive, wasteful, mismanaged goverment telling helthcare how to run itself seemed utterly wrong to me. If people needed care, and couldn’t afford, there were lots of charities that would help them, right?
I grew up, and I’ve seen a lot more of the world now. I don’t think like that anymore.
Same here.
I’ve been an Independent since I first registered to vote nearly 15 years ago: it’s never been an attempt to avoid picking a party, it’s always been a reflection of the fact that I hold some liberal views and some conservative ones. I’m blessed (cursed?) with the ability to see both sides of most issues, and while I do indeed get hit by traffic on both sides I will not be bullied – or bored – into pretending I’m a member of any specific party.
The change of religion was very gradual: it took 10-11 years for me to ‘switch’ from Catholicism to agnosticism, with much soul-searching, research, discussion, and heartache in between – and still. (Many of those years were taken up with figuring out that it was God I’d been questioning, not the Church.) If anything, I think that over the years my religious beliefs have come to be more in line with my political beliefs.