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Catholics are divided along party lines on whether Biden should be allowed to receive Communion

Shadowed by security detail, Joe Biden leaves St. Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church,his home church inWilmington, Delaware,on Jan. 9, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

How we did this

Pew Research Center conducted this survey to measure what Americans know and think about the religious faith of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The study also explores Catholics attitudes about whether Catholic politicians including Joe Biden should be barred from receiving Communion if they disagree with the Catholic Churchs teachings about a variety of political issues. For this report, we surveyed 12,055 U.S. adults (including 2,492 Catholics) from March 1 to 7, 2021. All respondents to the survey are part of the Centers American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, religious affiliation and other categories. For more, see the ATPs methodology and the methodology for this report.

The questions used in this report can be found here.

Joe Biden is just the second Catholic president in U.S. history, after John F. Kennedy. Most U.S. adults know that Biden is Catholic, including majorities within both major political parties, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

But partisan similarities in views about Bidens religion end there. Republicans and Democrats have vastly different views about how religious Biden is and whether he talks about his religious faith too much, too little or the right amount. This political divide extends even to Bidens fellow Catholics, who are deeply split along party lines over whether Bidens views about abortion should disqualify him from receiving Communion.

Overall, roughly six-in-ten U.S. adults including 63% of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party, along with a slightly smaller majority of Republicans and Republican leaners (55%) say Joe Biden is Catholic. Most of the remainder say they are not sure what Bidens religion is, while about one-in-ten say that Biden practices a religion other than Catholicism or that he is not religious. A small handful of Republicans volunteer that Biden is a fake Catholic or a Catholic in name only, or offer other insulting comments.

While majorities in both parties know that Biden is Catholic, they disagree profoundly about the role of religion in his private and public life. Nearly nine-in-ten Democrats say that Biden is at least somewhat religious, including 45% who say they think he is a very religious person. By contrast, almost two-thirds of people who identify with or lean toward the GOP (63%) say that Biden is not too or not at all religious.

On the whole, the share of Americans who say Biden is a very or somewhat religious person has risen from 55% in February 2020 to 64% today. Over that period, there has been a particularly pronounced increase in the share of Americans who say Biden is very religious (from 9% in February 2020 to 27% today). But virtually all of this increase has happened among Democrats; among members of Bidens own party, 13% described him as very religious early last year, compared with 45% today.

It is possible that Democrats heard Biden talking about his faith on the campaign trail and since his election. Religion has been a consistent theme in his remarks in recent months, from the Democratic National Convention to his victory speech in November to his inauguration in January.

While eight-in-ten Democrats (79%) say Joe Biden mentions his religious faith and prayer about the right amount, fewer than half of Republicans (42%) agree.

Even among Bidens fellow Catholics, partisanship permeates views of Bidens religion. Nine-in-ten Democratic and Democratic-leaning Catholics say they think Biden is at least somewhat religious, including half who say he is very religious. Among Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics, by contrast, a 56% majority say Biden is not too or not at all religious. And while eight-in-ten Catholic Democrats say they think Biden discusses his faith about the right amount, barely half as many Catholic Republicans say the same (42%).

The survey finds, furthermore, that a slim majority of Catholic Republicans (55%) think that Bidens views about abortion should disqualify him from receiving Communion in the Catholic Church. But nearly nine-in-ten Catholic Democrats (87%) come down on the other side of this question, saying that Biden should be allowed to receive the Eucharist. Biden has said that he wants to make Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a womans right to an abortion nationwide, the law of the land, among other policy changes. As a result, some Catholic clergy have called for Biden to be denied Communion, and U.S. bishops may produce a document on the issue.

These are among the key findings of a new Pew Research Center survey conducted March 1-7, 2021, among 12,055 U.S. adults (including 2,492 Catholics) on the Centers online, nationally representative American Trends Panel. More information on how the survey was conducted is available in the methodology.

In addition to asking about whether Biden should be allowed to receive Communion, the survey also asked Catholics whether, in general, Catholic politicians who disagree with the churchs teachings about a variety of issues should be allowed to go to Communion.

Overall, three-in-ten Catholics say that Catholic political figures who disagree with church teaching about abortion should be barred from Communion. But fewer say this should be the case for those who disagree with the church over homosexuality (19%) or the death penalty (18%), and just one-in-ten say Catholic politicians who disagree with the churchs teachings on immigration should be disqualified from receiving the Eucharist.

There are big partisan differences over whether politicians views about abortion and homosexuality should make them ineligible for Communion. (Both of these are issues on which Catholic teaching might be described as conservative in the context of American politics.) Roughly half of Catholic Republicans (49%) say politicians who support legal abortion should not be able to receive the sacrament; just 15% of Catholic Democrats agree. And there is a partisan gap of 18 percentage points on the question about homosexuality: 30% of Catholic Republicans say politicians should be barred from Communion if they disagree with the church about homosexuality, compared with just 12% of Catholic Democrats who say the same.

On the other two issues raised in the survey the death penalty and immigration, where Catholic teaching might best be described as liberal within the U.S. political context there are no such partisan differences. Large majorities of Catholics in both parties say that Catholic politicians who disagree with the church about these issues should be able to present themselves for Communion.

Combining these questions shows that seven-in-ten Catholic Democrats dont think disagreeing with the church about any of the four issues raised by the survey should disqualify Catholic politicians from receiving Communion.

By contrast, most Republicans say they think it should be disqualifying if a Catholic politician disagrees with the church on at least one of these issues. This includes 18% of Catholic Republicans who think abortion is the sole issue of those presented by the survey that should be a litmus test for receiving Communion, along with 17% of Republicans who name both abortion and one other issue (usually homosexuality). An additional 14% of Catholic Republicans say that three or four of these issues should be grounds for disqualifying Catholic politicians from receiving Communion in the event of a disagreement with the church.

The public is less familiar with Vice President Kamala Harris religious identity than with Bidens, and fewer people say they think Harris is a religious person than say the same about Biden. Two-thirds of U.S. adults say they are not sure what Harris religious identity is, while just 12% say that she is a Protestant (Harris identifies as Baptist).

About half of U.S. adults say they think Harris is a very religious (8%) or somewhat religious person (38%), while the other half say that she is not too religious (28%) or not at all religious (23%). Again, Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to see Harris as at least somewhat religious (69% vs. 19%), although equal shares in both parties say they do not know what Harris religion is (64% each).

The remainder of this report explores these and other findings in more detail.

Two-thirds of U.S. Catholics, including three-quarters of White Catholics, know that Joe Biden shares their religious identity. Three-quarters of U.S. Jews also know that Biden is Catholic, as do two-thirds of self-described atheists and agnostics. Among Black Protestants and those who describe their religion as nothing in particular, roughly half or fewer are able to identify Bidens religion.

Americans are far less familiar with Kamala Harris religion than with Bidens. Overall, about two-thirds of U.S. adults (65%) say they are not sure what the vice presidents religion is. One-in-eight (12%) correctly describe Harris as Protestant, while 3% say she is Hindu. Harris mother was from India and her father was from Jamaica, and she was raised on Hinduism and Christianity, according to Religion News Service.

Majorities across a wide variety of religious groups say they are not sure what Harris religion is. Jews, Black Protestants and self-described atheists and agnostics are able to correctly identify Harris religion at slightly higher rates than those in some other religious groups. Still, even among these most knowledgeable groups, only about one-in-five know that Harris is Protestant.

While Democrats and Republicans are equally likely to say they dont know what Harris religion is, there are differences among those who do give a response. Democrats are more likely to say that Harris is Protestant (18% vs. 7%), while Republicans are more inclined to say that she does not have a religion (15% vs. 3%).

Across a variety of religious groups, sizable majorities say they think Biden is at least somewhat religious, ranging from 60% of White Protestants who are not evangelical to 87% among Black Protestants. There is just one exception to this pattern: Only one-third of White evangelical Protestants (35%) say they think Biden is a religious person, while almost two-thirds (63%) say he is not too or not at all religious.

Fewer people in most religious groups say they think Harris is a very or somewhat religious person. Here again, the view that Harris is a religious person is most common among Black Protestants (78%) and least common among White evangelical Protestants (20%).

These differences among religious groups are in line with patterns of partisanship: Black Protestants are among the most strongly and consistently Democratic constituencies in U.S. politics, while White evangelical Protestants are among the most reliably Republican groups.

The survey also asked respondents about how religious they think former President Donald Trump is, with overall results similar to early 2020. Today, 32% of U.S. adults say Trump is very or somewhat religious, while 67% say he is not too or not at all religious. In February 2020, 35% said Trump was at least somewhat religious and 63% said he was not too or not at all religious.

Six-in-ten U.S. adults say they think Biden mentions his religious faith and prayer about the right amount, while the remainder are divided as to whether he discusses his faith too much (14%) or too little (21%).

Majorities of people in nearly every religious group analyzed express the view that Biden discusses his religion the appropriate amount, topping out at 78% among Black Protestants. White evangelicals are the only group in which fewer than half of respondents say Biden discusses his faith about the right amount (41%); a similar share (39%) say Biden doesnt talk about his faith enough.

Respondents who identify as atheist or agnostic are more likely than other Americans to say Biden discusses his faith too much (28%), but still, two-thirds in this group say Biden talks about religion the right amount (68%).

U.S. Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week are considerably more likely than those who attend Mass less often to say that politicians who disagree with the churchs position on abortion should be ineligible for Communion (42% vs. 24%). Weekly churchgoers also are more inclined than other Catholics to say disagreements over homosexuality and the death penalty are cause for barring politicians from the Eucharist. But there are no differences among Catholics based on frequency of church attendance when it comes to whether politicians who disagree with the church about immigration should be able to receive Communion.

Catholics ages 50 and older are a bit more likely than younger Catholics to say politicians who support abortion rights should be ineligible for Communion, while younger Catholics are slightly more likely than their elders to say a politician who disagrees with church teachings about capital punishment or immigration should be disqualified from Communion.

More specifically, four-in-ten Catholics who attend Mass at least once a week say that Bidens views about abortion should disqualify him from receiving the Eucharist 15 points higher than the share who say this among those who attend Mass less often. White Catholics and those 50 and older are somewhat more inclined than Hispanic Catholics and those under 50 to say Biden should not be allowed to go to Communion.

See the original post here:
Most Democrats and Republicans Know Biden Is Catholic, but They Differ Sharply About How Religious He Is - Pew Research Center's Religion and Public...

Public opinion polling shows that vaccine hesitancy remains prevalent and diverse in Texas, even as the number of Texans vaccinated against COVID-19 slowly climbs. Perhaps the most important lesson after a year of extensive polling is that although there are well-documented partisan differences in the stated intention to get vaccinated among Texans, hesitancy is not only a Republican problem.

More Republicans than Democrats did express hesitancy or outright refusal to get a COVID vaccine, but 1 in 4 Texas Democrats (27%) also expressed reluctance in a recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. This is representative of a broader underlying problem: Skepticism about vaccines exists among a broad array of Texans.

In order to separate perceptions of vaccines as a medical procedure from partisan impulses that many Texans may harbor, we separated considerations of vaccines in general from the COVID vaccine in particular in our polling. We asked Texans whether vaccines are generally safe and, in a separate item, whether they are generally effective, before we asked their opinions on COVID-19 and the COVID vaccine.

Asked this way, only 56% of Texans expressed that vaccines are generally both safe and effective. So nearly half of Texans, 44%, would not commit to what has been an implicit or explicit feature of vaccine messaging: the assumption that most people trust vaccines, or at least dont experience much internal conflict in reaching the conclusion that the benefits of getting vaccinated outweigh the risk, even if they harbor concerns about coronavirus vaccines.

Texans who view the coronavirus as less than a significant crisis, as indicated in previous polls, are unsurprisingly more likely to express hesitancy about getting vaccinated. Although Texas Republicans make up a large share of this group, it is by no means an exclusively Republican group. More than 1 in 4 voters who dont view the virus as a significant crisis identify as Democrats or political independents.

A relatively high degree of reluctance to obtain the vaccine among Black Americans has already been widely noted and continues to be aggressively addressed by Black opinion leaders and public health officials. Texas is no exception. African Americans, a largely Democratic group, do appear to be less inclined than white Texans to say that they will definitely get a COVID vaccine: 38% of white Texans say they will do so, but only 28% of Black Texans.

Education and age also matter. Texans without a college education, a group made up of similarly large shares of registered voters in both parties, are more reluctant than Texans with college or postgraduate degrees to say they will get vaccinated, as are younger Texans compared with older again, a group not uniformly Democratic or Republican.

Yes, partisan perceptions are informed and reinforced by messages sent by the parties leaders. Donald Trump spent a lot of his time politicizing the virus as an overblown threat, then did the same when he used a promised vaccine as a hail-Mary campaign prop. Gov. Greg Abbotts promotion of vaccines and their availability habitually includes subtweeting reminders like Vaccines are always voluntary, never forced or simply Always voluntary.

But while 52% of Republicans expressed skepticism about vaccinations in general, so too did nearly 1 in 3 Texas Democrats (30%).

Elected officials of both parties need to send clear signals about vaccination without partisan pandering. Relentless promotion of COVID-19 vaccination strategically targeted at skepticism wherever it resides will both address the public health crisis posed by the pandemic and spur economic recovery. And in doing so, it can overcome the false dichotomy between the two that partisan politics have propagated.

Resting the explanation for vaccine hesitancy on partisanship alone does Texas and the country a disservice. It reinforces an already costly, dangerous and deadly manifestation of partisan polarization. Achieving herd immunity requires addressing Republican skepticism toward the coronavirus and the vaccines, but it will also take turning collective public health attention toward the many other Texans who are less certain about vaccines than is often assumed.

Jim Henson is the director of the Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin.

Joshua Blank is the research director of the Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin.

A version of this op-ed appeared in the Dallas Morning News, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express News, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Kaiser Health News, and the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Read the rest here:
Vaccine Hesitancy in Texas is More Than a Republican Issue - UT News - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin

Doug Deters| Florida Times-Union

First of all, as a school teacher, proud Republican and citizen of Florida I want to sincerely thank our political representatives in Tallahassee for having in-person learning all year! You stepped up and took the lead nationally when many states caved and some states/school districts are still not having in-person learning, which is disgraceful in my opinion.

With that said, please focus on getting us "back to normal" in regards to fighting COVID-19, continuing to get our citizens vaccinated at break-neck speed and keeping our economy open and growing.Please stop with the anti-union legislation and focus on what is most important during this critical time in history.

The Republican sponsored Senate Bill 1014 requires actions such as all teachers union membership applications to add phrases like "Right to Work State" in bold print. Newsflash my fellow Republicans: Teachers are professionals and we are already well aware what the laws are concerning our local unions.

Members would have to "renew" their membership yearly. Doing this entails filling out another application, contacting human resources to renew our payment deduction from our paychecks and essentially adds unnecessary paperwork for us and the school district. But we all know how much teachers love paperwork! This particular part of the bill makes as much sense as my wife and I renewing our marriage license yearly or having to renew our mortgage and car loan applications on a yearly basis. Newsflash to my fellow Republicans: Teachers are professionals and if we want to terminate our membership (which we are free to do any time) we are well aware how to take the appropriate steps.

Currently union membership is anonymous. SB 1014 will make named membership rosters available to the Public Employee Relations Commission. Don't worry readers, I don't know what that is either so let me translate. Currently principals do not have an active roster of who is a member and who is not a member at each school for privacy reasons. This helps ensure that members (or non-members) are not targeted.

I think my fellow Republicans will see many unintended consequences that will hurt the very people they want to "strengthen;" non-members. Let's think about this from a principals perspective. If a school administrator has to reduce his or her workforce (which happens quite often) and they have access to an active roster, they will likely target the non-members. Why? Non-members will not be able to "put up a fight" that an active member will be able to. Active members have the power of representation, which is a best advantage of being in the local union. A union member has someone that will fight for their rights and exhaust every avenue possible for a particular member to keep their job. Newsflash to my fellow Republicans: Your bill will likely hurt your base of voters.

So my fellow Republican leaders please stick to your strengths like battling COVID-19, getting people vaccinated, growing our economy and getting our state back to normal (I am sick of wearing a mask!!). The citizens of Florida need you focused on that more than ever!

Doug Deters is aClay County teacher and Duval County resident.

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Guest column: Republican leaders, focus on the economy not taking away teacher rights - The Florida Times-Union

BALTIMORE, April 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --b.well Connected Healthtoday announced a partnership with Mastercard to provide individuals a simpler and more secure way to prove their identity online and in-person when accessing healthcare services.

The b.well platform brings together patient data across providers, insurers, pharmacies, and a patient's own apps and devices, so people can share their information, manage their medications, understand their costs, and receive personalized health insights and alerts. Now, with the introduction of Mastercard's ID Verification service, b.well users will also be able to securely verify their identity in real time using their mobile phones.

"Consumers want to use their phones to connect with their doctors, get information about their insurance, and share sensitive information with trusted sources, but the process for authenticating themselves is complicated, difficult, and not always secure," said Kristen Valdes, CEO and Founder of b.well. "Our partnership with Mastercard solves that problem by enabling consumers to protect their identity, while at the same time simplifying the verification of their identity, giving them more control over their personal information and streamlining interactions with their providers and health plan."

The partnership enables healthcare organizations to provide their members and patients with a biometric alternative to verify their identity in-person or virtually, replacing traditional processes involving physical documents such as a driver's license. Mastercard's ID Verification service employs a combination of government ID document scanning, facial biometrics with liveness detection, and mobile phone intelligence to deliver high success rates for automated user verification.

ThedaCare, a 7-hospital Wisconsin health system that has made b.well available to its communities under the name "Ripple," is the first U.S. health system to use Mastercard ID Verification.

"As part of our mission of creating a healthier community, we strive to make it easier for our patients and community members to use digital tools to engage with our providers and manage their health," said Jim Albin, Chief Information Officer of ThedaCare. "The Mastercard ID Verification provided through Ripple offers added safety and security for them to use their smartphones to verify their identity when accessing virtual care or sharing personal medical information, adding convenience as well as peace of mind."

"Mastercard is working to deliver a globally interoperable ID, ensuring strong security and governance. Our partnership with b.well offers consumers the ability to interact with their health plan providers and third parties while better protecting their personal identity information," said Sarah Clark, Senior Vice President Digital Identity of Mastercard. "We're pleased to join b.well in helping to provide consumers with a trusted and truly patient-centered digital health care journey."

b.well will offer the service to its health plan and health system customers, who depend on b.well's Connected Health Platform to engage and connect their members and patients in a single mobile application.

Mastercard ID Verification is designed to comply with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2), the federal government's highest level of assurance for remote consumer-facing identity proofing.The NIST IAL2 benchmark is cited as a requirement in many healthcare use cases involving patient data sharing, aligned with the ONC Cures Act Final Rule for secure patient access to their medical record.

About b.well Connected Health

b.wellConnected Health is a healthcare technology company providing platform services comprised of five core capabilities that work together to enable health systems, payers, and employers with a configurable and personalized digital health experience for their populations. The b.well technology platform is transforming how consumers interact with the healthcare system by integrating data, insights, and partners into a single customized solution that helps people take control of their healthcare experience.

Media Contacts:

Todd Stein for b.well

510-417-0612

todd@toddsteincommunications.com

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bwell-and-mastercard-partner-to-give-consumers-secure-mobile-control-over-their-digital-health-information-301259815.html

SOURCE b.well Connected Health

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b.well and Mastercard Partner to Give Consumers Secure, Mobile Control Over Their Digital Health Information - Herald-Mail Media

Cox today unveiled new eye-tracking technology in Phoenix and Tucson that empowers people with disabilities to control their TV with their eyes. The Accessible Web Remote for Contour gives those who have lost fine motor skills whether from degenerative conditions or paralysis the ability to browse the video guide with a glance.

Specifically, afreeweb-based tool is navigableusing various assistive technologies already owned by customers, including eye gaze hardware and software, switch controls, and sip-and-puff systems, which the user controls by gently blowing into a tube.

READ ALSO: Cox Business launches work-at-home solution for remote workforce

Eye-tracking technology gives people living with conditions like paraplegia, Parkinsons disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) the same access to their TVs as customers with the latest edition of Contour.

Innovative technology like this gives people with disabilities an added level of independence, said Steve Gleason, founder of Team Gleason and former New Orleans Saints football player who has been living with ALS since 2011. We appreciate that companies like Cox continue to empower their users by adopting products like the Accessible Web Remote, which allows every customer to do something most people take for granted, like controlling their TV.

According to the Bureau of Internet Accessibility, approximately 16% of people in the United States have difficulties with their physical functioning, making things like using a traditional TV remote either a challenge or impossible, depending on the condition. Throughout the last three years, Cox has partnered with organizations like Team Gleason to ensure accessible design and development of its products, increase awareness and education, and improve processes and procedures focusing on disability inclusion.

Cox is proud to partner with Team Gleason because we believe in its mission to improve life for people living with conditions such as ALS, said John Wolfe, Senior Vice President and Region Manager for Cox, Southwest Region. We will continue to create products and solutions with accessibility built in, so all Cox customers can use our products.

Customers can now visithttps://webremote.cox.comto sync their device and begin changing channels, set a recording, search for programming within the Contour guide, and access integrated streaming apps all with a glance of their eyes.

To learn more about accessibility, please visitcox.com/accessibility.

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Cox uses eye-tracking technology to help disabled control TV with eyes - AZ Big Media