Greg Can't Spell

theatlantic:

America’s Deepening Bible Belt Divide

Gallup notes the relationship between religious intensity and American voting patterns, with the most religious states generally skewing Republican and the least religious trending Democrat. Our own analysis bears this out. We found a substantial positive correlation between religiosity and the percent of state residents that voted for McCain (.67) and consider themselves conservative (.78), and a substantial negative one between religiosity and the percent of residents who voted for Obama (-.64) and consider themselves liberal (-.75).

Religion also conforms to the faultiness of socio-economic class across U.S, states, hewing closely to its three key dimensions — income, education and occupation.

Religiosity is higher in lower income states where poverty is prevalent. The share of state residents who say religion is very important to their daily lives is correlated with the poverty rate (.60) and negatively associated with state income levels (-.56).

Education plays a role. Religiosity is higher in less educated states, and negatively associated with the share of state residents that are college grads (-.55).

Religion is also associated with the types of work people do. Religiosity is positively associated with the share of working class jobs (.61) and negatively associated with the share of workers doing knowledge, profession and creative work (-.38).

Read more. [Image: Gallup]

stfuconservatives:

I keep seeing people ignorantly posting shit like “OBAMA IS FORCING CATHOLIC HOSPITALS TO GIVE ABORTIONS!!!” “OBAMA WANTS CATHOLIC CHURCHES TO GIVE AWAY FREE BIRTH CONTROL!”

I just want to quickly explain what is actually happening, since obviously the right-wingers have zero connection with reality on this one. Under the new healthcare law:

• Employers, including hospitals, have to provide comprehensive health insurance for their employees.
• That insurance has to cover a number of premandated conditions and types of medication.
• Including birth control.
• As part of the Human Health Services’ new guidelines, there will be no co-pays for birth control for anyone.

So it’s not a “birth control mandate” and it has nothing to do with forcing Catholic hospitals to give abortions. It’s just stating that if you work for a Catholic hospital, they have to give you the same level of coverage as any other employer. You don’t HAVE to take birth control, they don’t HAVE to give it to you directly (you can go to a secular pharmacy… like you were probably already doing), and it does NOT impose upon anyone’s religious freedom because it’s not forcing anyone to do anything.

So, to clarify: HHS doesn’t force Catholic institutions to do anything other than provide standard health care.

-Jess

newyorker:

Birth Control in the Cabinet: Planned Parenthood in the Archives

As I write in this week’s magazine, Planned Parenthood has a long and tangled and controversial history. It stretches back nearly a century. Its history can’t be Googled. Reporters have had to scramble to try to figure out what Cain and other critics of Planned Parenthood’s past are talking about because, although there are several terrific histories of the birth-control movement and biographies of some of its leaders, the history of Planned Parenthood hasn’t been written yet: it’s in the archives.

- Jill Lepore on Planned Parenthood: http://nyr.kr/tSEWtz

theprincessleah:

hannahisawful:

ajonesco:

You might be a conservative if…

1: You’re irate over the president taking so many vacation days on the taxpayer’s dime (61 thus far), but you thought George W. Bush earned every minute of his leisure time (196 days at the same point in his presidency).

2: You’re happy with your 40 hour work week, paid vacations and company-provided healthcare, but you’re strongly anti-union, because those commies haven’t done anything for you lately.

3: You strongly support the First Amendment and it’s guarantee of religious freedom to all, but you don’t think Muslims have a right to build an Islamic Community Center in Manhattan.

4: You believe Ronald Reagan was a devout Christian, even though he hated going to church, but any president who spends twenty years going to the same Trinity United Church in Chicago must be a Muslim.

5: You believe when a Republican governor creates a healthcare package with an individual mandate for everyone in his state, that’s a good idea. But when a Democratic president does it, suddenly it’s unconstitutional.

6: You’re so enthused about demonstrating your Second Amendment rights, you can think of no finer place to brandish your pistol in public than at a presidential rally.

7: You believe Bill Clinton was responsible for Osama bin Laden’s escape ten years ago, but thankfully George W. Bush caught up with him and killed him in Pakistan.

8: You believe in putting American jobs first, except when president Obama rescued 1.5 million GM and Chrysler autoworkers, because that was socialism.

9: It angers you that you can’t communicate with the Mexican busboy at your local Olive Garden, but when you took a vacation to San Francisco’s Chinatown, you thought it’s quaint that so many Chinese-Americans are holding fast to their traditional language. Because that’s America!

10: You deny that the lunatic who tried to murder Gaby Giffords was a conservative, even though he targeted a Jewish, pro-choice, pro gay rights, Democratic Congresswoman.

11: You thought it was perfectly normal that every president in history had an untethered right to raise the debt ceiling when warranted, but when Obama asked the GOP held congress to do it, you thought it only natural that it be tied to cutting Social Security and Medicare.

Oh my god, ALL OF THIS

Oh man. I know this list would piss off a lot of people who follow me.

^^THIS.

(via brandonjt)