So John Kasich is an ex-Catholic

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I like giving examples of such people whenever I find out about then (because of the inanity of the talking points that no one ever leaves the Catholic Church because of CULTURE) but would this affect the election in any way? Check out this talk about Tim Pawlenty: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=81383.25

I say no because while Catholic Republicans would care more than most people I don't see that being a deciding factor for anyone in say a Trump vs. Kasich primary. Which isn't going to happen because Kasich is a lot like Pawlenty in other aspects too, that being that he's boring and not the type of person who gets nominated for President.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This Pawlenty fan boy would never in a trillion years vote for Kasich.

Pawlenty is still effectively Catholic and converted for his wife. Iirc, "Courage to Stand" spoke proudly about the mix of Catholics and Lutherans and the great heritages of Minnesotans.

Kasich is barely religious. Fyi, brtd - his wiki "There's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic"

Is that not what we've been saying all along. You're losing the argument by bringing this up.

I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of the 41% of raised Catholic Americans who no longer identify as such would NOT say something like that. Do you think any of the ex-Catholic hipster Christians I know do?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This Pawlenty fan boy would never in a trillion years vote for Kasich.

Pawlenty is still effectively Catholic and converted for his wife. Iirc, "Courage to Stand" spoke proudly about the mix of Catholics and Lutherans and the great heritages of Minnesotans.

Kasich is barely religious. Fyi, brtd - his wiki "There's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic"

Is that not what we've been saying all along. You're losing the argument by bringing this up.

I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of the 41% of raised Catholic Americans who no longer identify as such would NOT say something like that. Do you think any of the ex-Catholic hipster Christians I know do?

Sometimes I don't think you realize how unrepresentative your type of Christianity is.

Well you're an Episcopalian in Massachusetts, probably tons of ex-Catholics at your church then, do you think almost all or most would say something like that? (Serious question, I honestly don't know.)

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This Pawlenty fan boy would never in a trillion years vote for Kasich.

Pawlenty is still effectively Catholic and converted for his wife. Iirc, "Courage to Stand" spoke proudly about the mix of Catholics and Lutherans and the great heritages of Minnesotans.

Kasich is barely religious. Fyi, brtd - his wiki "There's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic"

Is that not what we've been saying all along. You're losing the argument by bringing this up.

I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of the 41% of raised Catholic Americans who no longer identify as such would NOT say something like that. Do you think any of the ex-Catholic hipster Christians I know do?

Sometimes I don't think you realize how unrepresentative your type of Christianity is.

Well you're an Episcopalian in Massachusetts, probably tons of ex-Catholics at your church then, do you think almost all or most would say something like that? (Serious question, I honestly don't know.)

'Almost all or most'? Maybe not. Enough that not saying so would not be a 'vast majority'? Definitely.

I'll concede that it's probably quite different among the I'm sure significantly greater numbers of former Catholics who've become evangelical as opposed to mainline. This is because evangelical Christianity sends every other religion or culture it touches down the memory hole as a point of pride.

Which is actually something that it shares in common with my whole subculture...which come to think of it actually explains a lot, such as why there is so much overlap between the two when they at first seem almost diametrically opposed.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This Pawlenty fan boy would never in a trillion years vote for Kasich.

Pawlenty is still effectively Catholic and converted for his wife. Iirc, "Courage to Stand" spoke proudly about the mix of Catholics and Lutherans and the great heritages of Minnesotans.

Kasich is barely religious. Fyi, brtd - his wiki "There's always going to be a part of me that considers myself a Catholic"

I fail to see what about Pawlenty makes him so Catholic. He is, of course, a member of the Church by baptism. That's one aspect of it. The other is whether or not he believes the in the teachings of the Catholic Church and it's obvious he doesn't, or at least doesn't care all that much about them.

As for Kasich, he was raised Catholic, fell away in college, and then had an evangelical-style conversion when his parents died in a car accident. I'm not going to defend him leaving the Church obviously, but his life trajectory isn't like he was raised Catholic, got mad at the Church over something, and then went out and joined a different one grinding an ax the whole way. I do think Kasich is religious and think it means something to him. Listen to him talk! Maybe he is just faking it all, but he's never struck me that way.

TPaw still attends Catholic mass somewhat often which is what I would do if forced "out" for family reasons. There are real life aspects that have to be considered in all of this, and it may not be realistic to have two separate churches. So his new church has a lot of cultural Catholic anyway. It's a good compromise. I don't think most people care as much about the intricate doctrines of the faith as you think, but if he was raised Catholic and still participates, I highly doubt he rejects Marian stuff like complete outsiders do, but how are we to know.

As for Kasich - falling away is just as bad as getting mad at the church over something. Honestly worse imo. Why even leave if there is no attachment to another entity or severance with the current one when looking to rejoin? He really has no obvious case. My point was that Pawlenty had logical reason. But whatever - it doesn't matter too much.

The church Pawlenty went to when he was Governor (I've been there, for Ingress reasons), is a pretty standard suburban evangelical megachurch. Nothing Catholic about it at all.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Also why would anyone be a Pawlenty fan boy? How on Earth can someone find him exciting or inspiring?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Why does this even matter.

BRTD has a fascination with ex-Catholics, especially those who, unlike Kasich, entirely disclaim their Catholic background.

As I've said before, "cultural Catholicism" isn't really a thing in Minnesota and North Dakota, so hearing people basically that it applies to everyone who was ever brought up Catholic in any way is pretty bizarre and incomprehensible to someone from my area. It's also demonstrably and statistically proven to be quite untrue.