What everybody should remember

[fpb]

To know your enemy is not as easy as people think. To try to understand how he thinks you need to get rid of your prejudices. What got Obama in trouble with the Catholic Church is that he and his people really do believe the propaganda lie that 96% of Catholic women use contraception, and above all the propaganda implication that therefore Catholic beliefs should not be taken seriously. In the same way, the Bourbon troops at Calatafimi had been told that they would meet a gang of ragged brigands. When they met Garibaldi's men, they were astonished to find a uniformed and well-trained army that met them bayonet in hand instead of running for the hills. In the end, it is your own propaganda that kills you. And my conservative friends need to understand that as well as anyone else. Time and time again I have seen townhall.com and American Thinker articles about why liberals think as they do, that bear not the slightest resemblance to what actual liberals actually think. And then you are surprised when they win elections.

Comments

[arhyalon.livejournal.com]

Absolutely right! So often the "Liberals think" or "Conservatives think" arguments are just the opposite of what the person writing it thinks...and Liberals and Conseravatives are not opposites...they are people who value different things and therefore come to different conclusions. The conclusions may be opposites, but that's not how they get there.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Why do you call that a propaganda lie?

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/feb/06/cecilia-munoz/white-house-official-says-98-catholic-women-have-u/

The details seem to be that 98% of US Catholic women who have had sex have used contraception at some point, as opposed to 99% of all US women. 70% of unmarried Catholic women have had sex. The survey is of the 15-44 age group, but the survey has also been done since 1973 finding similar results, so by now it's canvassed the population. And that 70% is including the teenages; 89% of never-married 20-24 Catholic women have had sex.

For "sexually active women who are not pregnant, post-partum or trying to get pregnant" 31% of Catholics are using the pill, which is the same figure as for all women; mainline Protestants use more, evangelicals use it less, though probably within the margin of poll error.

Basically US Catholic women are virtually indistinguishable from average, and have sex outside of marriage a lot, and often use the Pill. Not mentioned is that many women use the Pill *without* having sex, for medical reasons, like controlling their periods.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Lies, damned lies, and statistics. http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/fudging_the_figures_on_contraception
And given your willingness to believe figures quoted by a politician, I wonder if I could interest you in a nice bridge in New York City, excellent condition, one careful owner?