> The Catholic social teaching also says that Catholics must be against the
> death penalty, but nobody seems to say that we must go against the death
> penalty to court Catholics in the US, probably because 'pro-life' Catholics
> aren't so consistent on their 'adherence' to the Church doctrine nor their
> professed 'pro-life' positions. It seems to me that anti-abortion positions
> mainly come from general social conservativism, and not out of any
> particular religious faith.
This is indeed the $64 question, namely, how many pro-lifers, Catholic orotherwise, are otherwise moderate or liberal on most other issues? If none, my argument is irrelevant. Empirical evidence one way or the other would be welcome. A key case in point is the Church hierarchy itself, in a hierarchical religion.
I'll give a real-world example of what I'm talking about. At the Labor Party convention (of which I'm barely more than a paper member at this point), there was an Ohio farmworkers organization consisting of Hispanics with a fundamentalist religious outlook, strictly pro-life. The LP, faced with the choice of rubbing these folks noses in a pro-choice declaration, abstained and instead passed a WISHY-WASHY one instead, to which I say bravo. The farmworkers are still with the LP (which has other problems, but that's another story).
> Moreover, one mustn't dismiss the pro-choice Catholics, who may in fact
> outnumber anti-abortion Catholics, judging by their behavior and not by
> what thye might say.
>
Of course not, though it's not about counting Catholic noses.
> Besides, in my view, the Left should not adapt our programs and strategies
> to the teachings of any particular faith. It discriminates against people
> of other religious persuasions as well as atheists + agnostics.
This is a straw man. Nobody proposes this.
> Retreat from secularism is disastrous for women.
Retreat from expressions of religious faith, particularly in the U.S.,is (has been) a disaster for the Left.
Cheers,
Max