As I see it, the Catholic Church is the largest "potential" institutional opposition to Obama, since it has the most and biggest institutions, i.e. thousands of schools at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary level; hospitals, clinics and medical missions; charities, care homes for the aged; adoption, child and family services, etc. --- plus a clear doctrinal mandate in black and white.
On the other hand, it's precisely these institutions --- not owned by dioceses, not controlled by religious orders, existing corporately with their own 501(c)(3)'s or whatever --- whose loyalties have been most vacillating. And in many cases, "vacillating" is putting it mildly.
You'll notice that the Pope has just put out a renewed call for a real Catholic "identity" in Catholic Charities, De Caritate Ministranda. It's just that, a "call," and may not get any more traction than the Ex Corde Ecclesiae which was supposed to be implemented ten years ago to strengthen the Catholic identity of Catholic Universities.
So you've got what ought to have been a united front of very impressive Catholic institutions, which is in fact riven with splits, each one with a war raging within its own walls.
The old, the only war: "Will ye have this Christ, or no?"
My impression is that in most other historically Christian institutions (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist; universities, hospitals, etc.) things are far quieter, even seemingly serene, because the war is long over, and long lost.
In Catholic circles, we are still suffering the noise, smoke, pain and struggle which is our hope: the war goes on, and the battle is hot.
Yes, exactly so. There’s a war within that is being fought, and the last thing we need are heretics and schismatics siding with the enemy.
If you agree with church doctrine, that is one thing. If you disagree with church doctrine, go sit with your allies that are trying to tear us down.
We need all the help we can get - what we don’t need are more enemies who can’t see in front of their own navels. We’ll be around and fighting long after you blow away and are forgotten.
What I have seen over my lifetime, is that there has never been a true fight between the Catholics and their party, only squabbles that occasionally pop-up, this election happened in the middle of one of those squabbles and it didn’t affect the voting.
The true enemy of the democrats and Obama, are his actual enemies, the Evangelical Christians whose vote and whose unceasing, unyielding opposition, haunt the democrats in their nightmares.
We know what the democrats know, that sabers will be rattled, and yet Catholics will not start voting like Obama’s enemies vote.
This is a gentleman’s argument, that the Catholics and their party are having.