The God Gap Grows

Political Reactions to Papal Election Speak Volumes

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

Governor Chris Christie, a pro-life Catholic, used Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the election of Pope Francis:

No public reaction was forthcoming from his 2013 Democrat rival and radically pro-abortion legislator Barbara “Buckle Up” Buono; at about the same time that Francis emerged to meet his flock, Sen. Buono’s Facebook page celebrated the centrality of “collective bargaining” in functioning democracy.

I suppose the labor movement is the closest thing that liberals like Buono have to a personal theology?

Those same liberals would explain that their disinterest in the papacy is, in fact, rooted in purely political differences; Peter’s successors are uniformly socially conservative and vocally opposed to gay marriage, abortion and contraceptive use.

But you and I know this growing “God gap” between the parties runs much deeper, Save Jerseyans.

Public polls have shown an increasingly dramatic divide between the parties on the topics of religion and faith over the past few decades. And the issue isn’t Catholicism or the Roman pontiff. Modern American politics is marked by an expanding disconnect between those who don’t believe in anything beyond government ‘s power and authority and, on the other hand, those who believe their rights are derived from less temporal realms. Americans were less divided during Civil War in this key respect. 

At the end of the day, New Jersey’s gubernatorial contest proves no exception to this major development. The consequences of selecting one worldview over the other couldn’t be clearer for voters actually paying attention.

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8405 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

4 Comments

  1. I don't care if my Governor/President is Catholic, Protestant, Islamic or Atheist. It's great CC has a better chance of connecting with religious voters in NJ than Buono does, but electoral benefits aside, why does this matter? Politics is a secular business

  2. @Stephen I reject the notion that just because sombody doesn't have strong faith means they don't have deep convictions. Just because somebody doesn't believe in God or have faith in an organized religion doesn't mean they can be easily influenced or tricked. I would even make the opposite argument that deep-seeded religious beliefs can impede necessary progress. American government was designed to be non-religious. Let the First Amendment do its job as the founders intended…let people practice religion on their own watch in their own way. It's not constructive in the political arena

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