Hidden in the flock: fake Catholics in the Democratic Party

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The days of religion influencing public policy in meaningful ways are over, no matter what watchers and readers of The Handmaid’s Tale may say. While America has always had the “separation of Church and State,” there was an undeniable reality that America was a nation apologetically founded by Christians, and for Christians. Despite this, there has always been a large, anti-Catholic sentiment in the country.

Most infamously, there was the Know-Nothing party, dedicated to undermining any Catholic influence in America. As marginalized as they may have been, immigrant Catholics found a safe haven in the Democratic party, who needed a large constituency of Catholic supporters to be competitive. Catholics still have a presence in the Democratic party today, with approximately half of American Catholics voting for the Democratic presidential candidates in the past four elections.

In this upcoming election, we even see Catholic candidates like Joe Biden, Julian Castro, and John Delaney. Yet, we often see the most anti-Catholic and anti-religious rhetoric fall from the lips of those who proclaim their religiosity and try to use it for political gain. While candidates of other religions mention their belief or how it may have influenced them, no one pimps it quite like the “Catholics” of the Democratic Party.

The aforementioned Joe Biden is the most infamous example of “fake Catholicism” to faithful American Catholics. The most blatant form of this shift is with his stance on abortion. A core component of Catholicism is its insistence on the protection of life from conception to natural death. This means Catholic support of abortion is prohibited. As noted by the National Catholic Register, Joe Biden began his political career as an anti-Roe v. Wade pro-life senator.

Even through the 1980’s, Joe Biden was firm on his stance, going so far as to introduce an amendment prohibiting the delegation of American foreign aid to biomedical research involving abortion. Yet, as is the case with many lifelong Democrats who have been around since the 70’s and 80’s, Joe backtracked as soon as it was no longer to his advantage to defend the sanctity of life.

In an interview with the Catholic, Jesuit magazine America, Joe Biden stated, “I’m prepared to accept that at the moment of conception there’s a human life and being, but I’m not prepared to say that to other… people that have a different view.” In short, despite the sizable portion of Americans, Catholics, Christians, and other religious that oppose abortion, Joe is unwilling to impose any ban on baby murder because others might disagree with it.

In the same interview, Joe Biden reiterated his view that there’s a place for people who are pro-life in the Democratic Party. You would be hard pressed to find any evidence of this, as all of the current Democratic candidates for president are pro-abortion and the Democrat-supporting Women’s March removed a pro-life group from its ranks. It’s safe to say that there is “no country for pro-lifers” in the Democratic party.

Another anti-Catholic scourge exists in the Democratic party – opportunism. While Joe Biden certainly is guilty of this, Julian Castro is perhaps the most egregious offender. He shares the same pro-abortion, pro-LGBT views with his competition, he also takes advantage of his Catholic upbringing to resonate with his Hispanic constituency who are largely Catholic themselves.

While I have no doubt that Castro believes some of what he says, his persistent invocation of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico reads like a less egregious form of Hillary Clinton saying she carries hot sauce everywhere she goes. At least Castro is undeniably “Catholic;” he was born, baptized, and raised in the religion. Yet in the same breath he preaches his Catholicism to the world, he says “I can’t say I go to church as much as I like,” and disagrees with Catholic orthodoxy seemingly at every chance he gets.

No matter what these candidates may proclaim, none of them are truly Catholic. It influences them insofar as it is beneficial to their election, but no further than that. While Catholics may vote for Joe Biden because of his Catholicism, he denies any influence of this constituency on his voting record, instead choosing to pander to the donor class and whatever the Democrat’s legion of wine aunts demand next.