This is NOT meant as the start of a debate- it’s a genuine question.
I am both Catholic and a right-winger, as regular viewers here already know… but I’ve never viewed the two things as automatically connected. At every Catholic parish I’ve belonged to, there’s been great diversity of politcal opinion (the cars in the parking lot at my present parish had slightly more Gore bumper stickers than Bush stickers, but there were a smattering of Buchanans and Naders, too). There are plenty of conservative Catholics, plenty of liberal Catholics, and plenty who are conservative on social issues but liberal on economic issues (or vice versa).
In the same way, if I tell you that so-and-so is a Methodist, that tells you NOTHING of his political views, does it? He could be a Jesse Helms supporter, a Trotskyite, or anywhere in between.
Even within so-called fundamentalist churches, there’s sometimes more diversity than you’d expect. In my own narrow circle of friends and acquaintances, I know quite a few Baptists who vote a straight Democratic ticket.
And even though Jews are overwhelmingly Democrats, usually liberals, I can think of numerous prominent Jewish conservatives and neo-conservatives.
However… I’ve never encountered or even heard of a Unitarian who was anything other than a dyed-in-the-wool, straught-down-the-line lefty. So, the question is (for Unitarians only), have I just not met enough Unitarians? ARE there people in your congregation who are solid right-wingers politically, despite belonging to what’s generally a very liberal church? Any GOP bumper stickers in your parking lot? Any Reaganites in your midst?
Unitarian Universalist here, and I consider myself a liberal on social issues, and a moderate conservative on fiscal issues. I’ve voted democratic a little more often than republican in the presidential races, but didn’t vote for Reagan (voted Anderson, skipped RR’s re-election).
Having said that, yes, there are other members of our churches (I’ve belonged to two UU congregations in 16 years) that consider themselves conservative, but usually along the fiscal conservative lines, and they tend to be liberal when it comes to individual freedoms and social policy (even a little libertarian). We have a few pro-life unitarians, more than a few 2nd amendment rights supporters, and even a few school choice supporters. We are a non-credo fellowship (nothing you have to believe to be a member) but do tend to attract people who see things in shades of grey, rather than black and white. The 7 principles of UUism are guidelines only, but most of us subscribe to them:
1.The inherent worth and dignity of every person
2.Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations
3.Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregation
4.A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
5.The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
6.The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
7.Respect for the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are a part
Well, that fills my proselytizing requirement for the rest of my life now.
I’ve seen a list giving the number of members of Congress according to what denomination and what party they belong to. This list was done a little over a year ago, so the following numbers apply to the last Congress. There are three Unitarian members of Congress. Two are Republicans and one is a Democrat.
Although I wouldn’t categorize former U.S. Senator William Cohen as a right-winger (he’s more of a moderate), he was both a Republican and a Unitarian.
BTW, has anyone met any Mormons who are liberal Democrats?
The famous Udall clan, which elected four, and maybe a fifth soon, members to Congress, had one Interior Secretary (Stu) and one presidential candidate (Mo) plus a bunch of local officials across Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado are liberal, Mormon and pro-choice to boot. Mo ran to the left of Carter in the 1976 primaries just to finish second in seven straight ones. As for Jews, I am a liberal one, but I know many Jews to the right of Buchanan. I think that we do culturally place a high importance on success and money, and when one attains money Republicanism can be a side effect. Also, socially conservative Orthodox tend more towards Republicans. Plus, the majority of Jews voted Republican in 1984 and 1988, and Jack Anderson got some of his best support from Jews. Still, approximately 30 members of Congress are Republican, but only 3 are Republicans (two of whom are in the party’s moderate wing), and one is a socialist. On another note, the Quakers I know are fairly liberal, but Richard Nixon was one. Go figure.
My ex-wife was raised UU, sort of. Actually that was a compromise between her lapsed Orthodox Jewish dad and her militantly atheist French socialist mom (they met in France during WWII). Just before their marriage, Dad was planning to fast for Yom Kippur, but Maman goes: If you do that, you can forget about marrying me! So he lapsed. There’s no atheist like a French atheist. When raising kids in Boston, they sent them to UU church as a way of participating in organized religion (thought to be socially necessary) without actually having any religion. My ex-inlaws themselves attended the Ethical Society on Sundays. The Ethical Society is like a church for atheists: the trappings of organized religion, without the religion. My first wife and I at the time were just the opposite: freeblowing hippie Kabbalistic Magickal pothead mystics. We had the religion minus the organization.
My ex was not even into UU when she was with me (though we did employ a UU minister for our DIY wedding); in recent years she’s gotten serious about it and went to divinity school and got ordained as a UU minister herself.
She told me the well-worn UU jokes:
Q. What do Unitarians believe in?
A. They have the “Ten Suggestions.”
Q. What do Unitarians do?
A. They burn question marks on people’s lawns.
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