Steve Sailer’s done the research, and it appears likely that Kerry’s IQ is actually lower than Bush’s. In itself the point isn’t particularly interesting, but as Sailer points out it gains some interest from the insistence of the Left that (1) “IQ” is an absurd concept that means nothing, and (2) lefties have higher IQs than righties, which means that righties are absurd and mean nothing.
On other fronts, W. F. Buckley notes that Catholic voters aren’t particularly Catholic, and the Newman society finds that Catholic universities aren’t particularly Catholic either (at least if “Kerry supporter” means “non-Catholic”). Neither point is surprising, but they do point up an awkward feature of the energetic response of some bishops to the Kerry candidacy: if support for abortion rights has serious practical consequences for one’s relation to the Church, how come most Catholics don’t seem aware of it? Why did the bishops let the issue slide until a presidential campaign? Still, late is better than never, and my impression is that after the Scandal many people think the time has come to get serious about things.
A majority of Roman Catholics
A majority of Roman Catholics of my acquaintance, those who belong to parishes and usually attend mass on Sunday, do not acknowledge that the bishops have anything *authoritative* to say about abortion, any more than they have in respect to contraception. (And aside from the graver consequences of abortion, what is the difference between Catholic *dissent* from Church doctrine on these two issues?) Catholic bishops continue to speak as if they exercise the local magisterial authority; the larger portion of the laity think and do as they choose, and call it “following their conscience”. Occassional public statements by Chaput or Burke or Myers or Bruskiewicz to the contrary have no effect.
If bishops aren’t prepared to say to their own faithful that, without assent to Church doctrine, they do not belong in the Church, nothing can change. And it would take a great deal of courage to say that publicly, now that dioceses function as modern corporations.
WW
yes mr. kalb,catholic universities are no catholics
by example a catholic university,reputed to be very conservative,designated as a member from their executive board to a man known as representative from playboy channel in south america.
IQ
i’m not sure what point you’re trying to make with the IQs Jim… Personally, I’ve always assumed that most politicians are no-more-than- moderately intelligent—but highly motivated—individuals… but if you’re gonna make your decisions based on IQ, why not cast a write-in vote for me? I scored 150 points higher than Gore on the SAT, and my GRE score was consistent with that…
consider it!
Dave
More election miscellany: defense-of-marriage amendments
Good news indeed for tradcons (i.e., for normal people) coming out of this election: all eleven states to include referendums on defense-of-marriage amendments on their ballots are expected to pass the amendments. As I type this, seven already have passed them:
“Voters in seven states approved constitutional amendments Tuesday to ban same-sex marriage, with similar results expected in most, possibly all, of the four other states considering such measures. The amendments won easy approval, as expected, in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Ohio. Exit polls showed the ban winning by 3-to-1 in Georgia and 3-to-2 in Ohio, while the Kentucky amendment had 65 percent support with most votes counted. The Ohio measure, considered the broadest of the 11 because it barred any legal status that ‘intends to approximate marriage,’ gathered equal support from men and women, blacks and whites.”
Look at those margins of victory! Look at the broad demographic appeal of these amendments, spanning both sexes and the black and white races! These are strong victories for normalness. The other side got Vermont and Massachusetts, it’s true. But it’s starting to be clear they won’t get any more states. They’d better enjoy their victories there because those are the last ones they’ll ever see.
Of course in the days that follow, a number of these resounding victories—perhaps most or all of them—will be stricken down on technicalities by liberal judges, as happened early last month in Louisiana, a real heartbreaker after all the hard work that had gone into that effort by conservatives. But there are only so many times the left can thwart the popular will by diktat. Sooner or later it will have to throw in the towel and admit defeat. That day cannot be far off as regards homosexual “marriage,” thank God!
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“If a tree falls and an expert doesn’t hear it, is there a sound?” Yes, the sweetest, most melodious sound in all creation: the sound of entropy being brought clanking, screeching, grinding to a halt.