Bishops listen to proceedings during the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, Maryland November 14, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Doesn’t freedom of religion entail the right to be free of those aspects of your own religion’s teachings with which you disagree?

That Rick Santorum lost the Catholic vote in Ohio last night (by 12% percentage points in what was, overall, a squeaker of a race) is yet further evidence of something long observed by political scientists: Catholic-Americans are among the most independent-minded and unpredictable of the nation’s religious voters.

Let’s put this in perspective. White Evangelical Protestants are a lock to give between 70-80% of their ballot to a Republican in a presidential election. Jewish-Americans, save a few blips here and there (e.g., Ronald…

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