The first source I chose was an article published in the Chicago Daily Tribune in September of 1928 in which Al Smith confronts the Klan and the G.O.P. for their anti-Catholic sentiment. Smith recognizes that his religion is only an issue and only being discussed throughout the presidential campaign because he is Catholic. He admonishes the Republican Party for trying to “inject bigotry, hatred, intolerance … Continue reading Can a Catholic be President?

          As has been established many times before, there is not a Catholic vote. With the exception of the Kennedy election in 1960, the Catholic vote has been close to a 50/50 split in virtually each election previously and since. The ‘Catholic’ vote; however, is shifting because of the changing demographics of the American Catholic population. The rising number of Hispanic … Continue reading The 2018 Midterms & the Catholic Electorate

      As we have established throughout this semester, the Catholic vote has always been diverse, and while there have been fluctuations towards the right or the left, Catholics have always landed on both sides of every issue. Despite the positions taken by the bishops or the Pope, many lay Catholics did not agree with their decisions or, more importantly, did not base their voting … Continue reading Catholic Voter Trends

After attending Open House Chicago and reviewing the readings for this week, I agree with the base premise of the New York Times article “All Politics is Local? The Debate and the Graphs” by Andrew Gelman that elections have become increasingly nationalized and “politics is less local than it used to be”. However, I believe that in Chicago, politics remain more local than in other … Continue reading Are Politics Local?

On October 7, 2018, Father Pfleger bellowed from the pulpit about violence, the end of the van Dyke trial, and the midterm elections, somehow rounding it back to Jesus’ love and what he calls for Christians to do in the world. I have attended very few Catholic masses, yet from my experience in protestant churches, and limited days in mass, I have never witnessed a … Continue reading Radical Activism for Social Justice

Like the rest of America, Catholics were on both sides of the argument for and against war. This was especially apparent during the Vietnam War and through Daniel Berrigan’s protests. However, since at least the Civil War, Catholics have both supported and opposed every war that America has fought in, and do not agree as a group on the merit of war or whether such … Continue reading Catholics & the Politics of War

My interest in this course initially stemmed from the chance to study politics in a unique setting, one in which I could research a topic of my choice in depth. However, the more I learned about the Ramonat Seminar, particularly the direction of study for the 2018-2019 school year, I knew I wanted to apply. Although my knowledge of Catholics and Catholicism is limited, I … Continue reading Why Catholic Politics?