LatinaLista — Donald Trump must be confusing himself with Pope Francis when it comes to poll numbers. A new nationwide poll of religious or faith affiliated likely 2016 voters, released by a coalition of labor unions and faith organizations, finds that 51 percent of Latinos have “very favorable” views, while 71 percent have “overall favorable” views, of Pope Francis and his messages of togetherness, community, inclusion and equality.
Latinos polled give a “great deal of attention” to the Pope when he’s talking about children’s issues, poverty, racism and racial healing.
Worker’s rights and family-oriented economic issues and immigration reform are more significant for Latino voters, especially for Catholic Latino voters.
Religiously affiliated Latino voters take to heart six particular issues the Pope has highlighted, whereas non-Latinos polled only embraced four issues.
The six points that resonate with religiously affiliated Latinos are:
That we should apply the Golden Rule when we think about policies and laws – do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
That we need to rebalance our economy so that we put families first because today it is hard for people to provide and care for their loved ones no matter how hard they work.
That there is so much inequality and injustice that our economy is out of balance and needs to change so that fairness and dignity are promoted for everyone and that the value of money today trumps the value of people.
That we are all part of the same human family regardless of racial, political, cultural, and economic backgrounds, and that we need a bigger, more open definition of community because we need one another.
That we are all children of God, and we can do better than perpetuating an economy that is tough on families, from wages, to long hours, to discrimination.
In essence, the overlying messages that the Pope has repeated in various forms are that people should be their best in how they treat one another and to strive to adhere to a high set of values as they go about their daily lives. It’s a message, it seems, too hard for many, especially in public office, to comply with these days.
