Washington Post: ‘Joe Biden’s Catholicism Is All About Healing’
The Washington Post has published another glowing essay fawning over Joe Biden’s purportedly “devout” Catholic faith as a source of healing for America.
Joe Biden presents the image of “a devout, churchgoing liberal,” writes Michelle Boorstein in Tuesday’s article. “The country will soon observe for the first time a president who goes to Mass every Sunday, plus on Catholic feast days, and sprinkles conversation casually with scripture, religious hymns and references to religious history.”
Ms. Boorstein notes, on the other hand, that millions of U.S. Catholics “don’t even see him as a legitimate Catholic at all, because of his support for abortion access and LGBT equality.”
Nonetheless, “Biden could redefine what it means to be a Catholic in good standing,” Boorstein proposes hopefully, since his version of Catholicism is “less tied to doctrine.”
Catholic pro-life leaders have denounced the Catholic Bishops Conference for congratulating abortion supporter Joe Biden. https://t.co/8kCwu07CJM
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 17, 2020
“Millions of Americans hungry for a faith focused on healing and inclusion will embrace it — especially on the left, where believers have felt trampled by the religious right into nonexistence since the 1970s,” she states.
Boorstein quotes Villanova University professor Massimo Faggioli in suggesting that Biden’s willingness to thumb his nose at Catholic teaching is “unapologetic.”
“Joe Biden is a Catholic in the public square who doesn’t take lectures from bishops about what being Catholic is about. This is totally new,” Faggioli said.
Boorstein’s hagiographic essay paints Mr. Biden as a healer, while trashing President Trump as a serial executioner with a “laisser-faire” approach to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms. Boorstein’s puff piece joins a growing list of left-wing panegyrics to Mr. Biden’s Catholicism that have appeared on CNN, in the Jesuit-run America magazine, NPR, and again in the Washington Post, among others.
The central thrust of all of these essays has been to downplay the importance of Catholic teaching in favor of religious sentiment and symbolism. A willingness to flout Catholic doctrine — even on the most serious issues — has been depicted as a mark of strength, rather than of rebellion and disunity.
Last December, Catholic League president Bill Donohue called out the left for its hypocrisy in gushing over Joe Biden’s supposedly “devout” Catholic faith while pillorying those who actually embrace Church teaching.
It is okay “for Catholics to bludgeon the Little Sisters of the Poor provided they carry a rosary,” Dr. Donohue noted in his essay pointing out that for the mainstream media, the only good Catholic is a bad Catholic.
Joe Biden’s rejection of key Church teachings highlights divisions between practicing and nominal Catholics, the Catholic League notes. https://t.co/Bnari9DqR6
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 22, 2020
What all the left-wing media love about Biden’s particular strain of Catholicism is his unapologetic rejection of the Church’s core moral teachings about life and marriage and religious freedom while maintaining all the external trappings of the faith, Donohue suggested.
“Biden rejects the teachings of the Catholic Church on abortion — he has become an extremist — marriage (he even officiated at a gay wedding), foster care, gender ideology, healthcare, contraception, sterilization, religious liberty, and school choice,” Donohue observes, all of which makes him a darling to the mainstream media.
Donohue underscored the sharp contrast between the media’s sycophantic treatment of Biden’s faith with their harsh attacks on the Catholic faith of another public figure: Amy Coney Barrett.
In dealing with Justice Barrett, a practicing Catholic with seven children, the media were “anything but kind,” Donohue notes. “Indeed, her ‘devoutness’ was a source of discontent, even rage in some quarters.”
The difference is that Barrett actually believes and affirms what her Church teaches, while Biden only accepts those teachings that happen to coincide with the platform of the Democrat Party, Donohue noted.
“The moral of the story is plain: It is perfectly fine to be a Catholic public official just so long as he or she rejects the teachings of the Church on matters of public policy, even when those policies are life and death issues,” Donohue concluded.
Late-Term Abortion Advocate Democrat Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Presses to Abolish Death Penalty
Democrat Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who has advanced late-term abortion even up to birth, said in his state of the Commonwealth speech earlier this week that the death penalty needs to be abolished.
“But when we all agree that a crime deserves the strongest punishment we can give, it’s still vital to make sure our criminal justice system operates fairly and punishes people equitably,” Northam said in his prepared remarks.
“We know the death penalty doesn’t do that,” Northam said. “But make no mistake—if you commit the most heinous crimes, you should spend the rest of your days in prison.”
He then went on to compare the United States to China and Iran.
“Over that time, most countries in the world have turned away from capital punishment. So what parts of the world continue to use capital punishment?” Northam said. “Here’s a list, in order: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, and the United States.”
“We’re taking these actions because we value people, and because we believe in treating people equitably,” Northam said.
Those sentiments do not apply to the unborn, who face late-term abortion even up to birth under Northam’s leadership, as Breitbart News has reported.
Northam said in June of 2019 that a bill introduced in the House of Delegates would allow “abortion” even during childbirth itself, permitting an “infant” to be “delivered” and “resuscitated, if that’s what the mother and the family desired,” until the physicians and mother discuss what to do.
Northam also advanced his abortion agenda on Good Friday this past year, as Breitbart News reported:
Senate Bill 733 and House Bill 980, which are identical pieces of legislation, rescind the required 24-hour waiting period, ultrasound, and counseling prior to having an abortion.
In addition, the measures allow non-physicians to perform abortions and roll back building safety standards in abortion clinics that are required of other outpatient facilities, restrictions Northam and Democrats say are used to force closures of abortion facilities and block access to the procedure.
The Virginian-Pilot reported on Northam’s plans for 2021:
With Democrats in control of Virginia’s General Assembly for a second year, Gov. Ralph Northam called Wednesday for ambitious policy changes that would continue to steer this historically conservative state in a liberal direction.
In his annual State of the Commonwealth address at the start of this year’s regular legislative session, Northam urged lawmakers to end the death penalty, legalize marijuana, give teachers raises and automatically restore civil rights for ex-felons.
Virginia law does not allow Northam to run again for the governorship when his term expires in 2022.
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter or send news tips to pstarr@breitbart.com
Annual March for Life Moves to Virtual Event
The annual March for Life event that takes place in January on the National Mall in Washington, DC, will occur virtually this year.
An announcement from the March for Life organization Friday cited the reasons for the change as “the protection of all those who participate in the annual March, as well as the many law enforcement personnel and others who work tirelessly each year to ensure a safe and peaceful event.”
Additionally, the March for Life noted, “We are in the midst of a pandemic, which may be peaking.”
“[I]n view of the heightened pressures that law enforcement officers and others are currently facing in and around the Capitol, this year’s March for Life will look different,” the statement read, and added:
The annual rally will take place virtually and we are asking all participants to stay home and to join the March virtually. We will invite a small group of pro-life leaders from across the country to march in Washington, DC this year. These leaders will represent pro-life Americans everywhere who, each in their own unique ways, work to make abortion unthinkable and build a culture where every human life is valued and protected.
Thousands of pro-life Americans and citizens of other nations travel to the U.S. capital each year to celebrate life at the rally and march, which are held on the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. In 1973, the High Court created a right to abortion, though none ever existed in the Constitution.
The virtual March for Life will take place on Friday, January 29. Those who would like to participate can do so by responding on the site to watch it live.
In January, 2020, President Donald Trump became the first U.S. President to speak at the March for Life rally.
Thank you @realDonaldTrump for continuously working to build a culture of life where the beauty and dignity of every human life are valued and protected. https://t.co/LvnVIWpx9L
— March for Life (@March_for_Life) January 22, 2020
In advance of the event, Trump proclaimed January 22 – the Roe v. Wade anniversary – to be “National Sanctity of Human Life Day,” a day when the nation “proudly and strongly reaffirms our commitment to protect the precious gift of life at every stage, from conception to natural death.”
The president said in his proclamation:
Every person — the born and unborn, the poor, the downcast, the disabled, the infirm, and the elderly — has inherent value. Although each journey is different, no life is without worth or is inconsequential; the rights of all people must be defended. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our Nation proudly and strongly reaffirms our commitment to protect the precious gift of life at every stage, from conception to natural death.
Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, noted Trump’s many pro-life accomplishments.
“From the appointment of pro-life judges and federal workers, to cutting taxpayer funding for abortions here and abroad, to calling for an end to late-term abortions,” she said, “President Trump and his Administration have been consistent champions for life and their support for the March for Life has been unwavering.”
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