Vous trouverez sur cette page :
- des analyses sur l'importance électorale du facteur religieux;
- des réactions du monde catholique : le pape Benoît XVI et le président de la conférence épiscopale américaine;
- la réaction de Americans United for Separation of Church and State;
- l'un ou l'autre article plus spécifique.
Ce dossier sera complété ultérieurement, le cas échéant.
Importance électorale du facteur religieux
Le Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life a consacré un important dossier à "Religion & Politics 2012". Il aborde notamment les préférences électorales en fonction de l'appartenance religieuse.
Un autre article du même site, intitulé Latinos, Religion and Campaign 2012 aborde également le sujet, estimant que les catholiques soutiennent majoritairement Obama tandis que les évangéliques sont divisés. L'analyse du Pew Forum aborde également certaines thématiques (mariage homosexuel,...).
Ces informations sont en anglais.
En français, voir l'analyse de Cathobel : Pour qui ont-ils voté ?
En néerlandais, voir l'aperçu de Kernet : 'GODSDIENST GEEN BESLISSENDE FACTOR IN VERKIEZINGEN VS'
D'autres informations sur le web concernent le vote des juifs (Haaretz - accès réservé), le vote des musulmans (Saphirnews) ou l'importance des Mormons (Huffington Post, 14 Nov. 2012).
Enfin, pour la première fois, un élu bouddhiste et un élu hindou -des élues en l'occurence- siègeront au Congrès (plus d'info sur le site du Huffington Post, 7 Nov. 2012).
Réaction du pape Benoît XVI
D'après le Vatican Information Service (VIS) :
BENOIT XVI SALUE LE PRESIDENT OBAMA
Cité du Vatican, 7 novembre 2012 (VIS). Le Saint-Père a fait parvenir un message de félicitation au Président des Etats-Unis d'Amérique, qui vient d'être réélu pour un mandat de quatre ans. Il assure M. Barack Obama de ses prières afin que Dieu l'assiste dans ses hautes responsabilités, tant envers son pays qu'envers la communauté internationale, "afin que les idéaux de liberté et de justice qui ont guidé les pères fondateurs continuent de resplendir dans l'histoire du pays". Pour sa part, le Directeur de la Salle de Presse du Saint-Siège a déclaré que la tâche du Président constitue une immense responsabilité, étant donné le rôle que jouent les Etats-Unis d'Amérique sur la scène internationale: Puisse-t-il, a ajouté le P.Federico Lombardi, "répondre aux attentes de ses concitoyens, servir le droit et la justice de tous, dans le respect des valeurs essentielles, spirituelles notamment...dans le développement de la culture de la vie et de la liberté religieuse qui sont chères à la tradition américaine".
Information sur le site de Cathobel
Réaction de la conférence épiscopale américaine
Communiqué du 7 novembre 2012 :
Cardinal Dolan Congratulates President Obama On Re-Election
Promises bishops will continue to work to defend life, marriage, religious freedom
Urges President to work for most vulnerable, including unborn, poor, immigrants
Asks for restoration of civility to the public order
WASHINGTON—Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, congratulated President Barack Obama, November 7, the day after his re-election as President of the United States.
Cardinal Dolan promised the prayers of the bishops saying that "The Catholic Bishops of the United States offer our prayers that God will give you strength and wisdom to meet the difficult challenges that face America."
He added that "In particular, we pray that you will exercise your office to pursue the common good, especially in care of the most vulnerable among us, including the unborn, the poor, and the immigrant. We will continue to stand in defense of life, marriage, and our first, most cherished liberty, religious freedom. We pray, too, that you will help restore a sense of civility to the public order, so our public conversations may be imbued with respect and charity toward everyone."
Source primaire et texte intégral de la lettre au président Obama
Réaction de Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Election Outcome Is Bitter Defeat For Catholic Bishops And Religious Right Groups, Says Americans United
Sectarian Lobbies Largely Failed At The Polls, But Culture War Is Still Likely To Escalate, Says AU’s Lynn
Nov 7, 2012
Efforts by the Catholic bishops and Religious Right groups to control the outcome of the 2012 elections largely failed, but the culture war over marriage, birth control and individual freedom may heat up anyway, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
The Catholic hierarchy and Religious Right leaders waged an aggressive campaign to unseat President Barack Obama and deny Democrats control of the U.S. Senate. They also unsuccessfully pushed state referenda votes requiring taxpayer funding of religion (Florida), imposing restrictions on abortion (Florida) and denying marriage equality to gay couples (Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington State).
Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “The bishops and the Religious Right bent every rule to try to impose their political will, but they failed badly. The American people clearly are not inclined to take voting orders from presumptuous preachers.”
Lynn noted that churches and other 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups are barred by federal tax law from intervening in elections. Yet many did so anyway.
Lynn said members of the Catholic hierarchy issued statements before the election steering parishioners toward voting against Obama and other Democratic candidates. Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky even went so far as to compare Obama’s policies to those of Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.
Religious Right leaders took a similarly aggressive approach, Lynn said. After a Mitt Romney meeting with evangelist Billy Graham, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association bought full-page ads in The New York Times and other newspapers urging people to vote for “biblical values” – specifically, candidates who oppose marriage equality for gay couples and abortion rights.
Lynn warned that despite their losses at the polls, the bishops and their Religious Right allies are likely to escalate their lobbying campaigns. He predicts major conflicts over issues such as contraceptive coverage, marriage equality, faith-based job bias in federally funded programs and church electioneering law.
“I think the battles over contraceptive coverage, marriage equality and other social issues are likely to heat up, not cool down,” Lynn said. “The Catholic hierarchy and their fundamentalist friends are increasingly desperate. They see their political clout slipping away, and they are going to do everything possible to implement their agenda now.”
Lynn said Americans United will undertake a variety of initiatives to see that church-state separation and individual freedom are preserved.
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
Source primaire
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