The hope that the hate in America would subside following the presidential election has been shattered. It’s worse!
On January 20, 2021, Joe Biden became only the second president who is Catholic. John F. Kennedy was the first, and there was controversy over a Catholic being in the White House. During the presidential campaign of 1960, Senator Kennedy went to great lengths to assure voters that he would not use his Catholic faith to guide his decisions and that he would not consult with the Pope before making key decisions. President Kennedy often attended Mass.
It’s 2021, and the new Catholic president is being criticized for going to a Catholic Church on Sunday. President Biden attended Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in nearby Georgetown, a church he often attended during his eight years as vice president. The President attended with his son, Hunter and two of his grandkids.
As Biden entered the church he was greeted with a BLM banner that carried a quote from Pope Francis: “We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.”
A news story about President Biden attending the Catholic Church was posted on the WWL Radio Facebook page; and the criticism was appalling, particularly following a president whose words and actions contradicted any notion that he was a Christian.
Here are a few of the actual comments posted under the story about President Biden going to church on the WWL Radio FB page:
Danny: A crackhead [Hunter] and a pedo [Biden] go to church. No Communion for these sick f****.
Brian: Nobody believes they are practicing Catholics, they can’t even receive Communion.
Donnie: Church should have kicked them out for their stance on abortion.
Jody: He’s a hypocrite a person that thinks killing babies has no business in Chruch. He is so fake.
Scott: Looks like he brought the cameras with him.
Mary Rose: He is as Catholic as Hitler.
Comparing President Biden to Hitler explains the frustration over Trump losing the election and the contempt that exists for the new president. The post suggesting that Biden brought people with him to capture the moment is insane and disregards the fact that presidents are always followed by cameras.
Also interesting is to wonder how many of those who are passing such harsh judgment on President Biden for going to a Catholic Church see themselves as better Christians or Catholics than Biden?
It is true that President Biden is pro-choice, but so are many Catholics. In fact, as a Catholic, my position of being pro-choice but anti-abortion is shared by countless Catholics who receive Communion every week. Many Catholics are against abortion, but they respect the legal right for a woman to make a decision up to a certain point. And for those who will argue that President Biden supports late-term abortions - that is a typical criticism many will use when he might favor a family making a decision about life when it is between mother and child.
The right-wing intrusion into the specific religious beliefs defies the merits of conservative ideology, which respects every individual’s privacy. But what must be taken from this is that it is nothing more than an unjustified reason to bash Biden out of the frustration and denial of Trump’s loss.
And the criticism of the President’s son, Hunter, because of past drug use ignores one of the most important teachings of Christ - forgiveness.
Any Catholic receiving Communion would have to look in the mirror and admit that they are a sinner. We all need to be careful not to assign greater meaning to those sins that are not our sins. How many Catholics had cheated on their spouse or lied or not treated their neighbor as thy self and proudly receive Communion as a righteous Catholic?
As this criticism of President Biden attending a Catholic Church continues, it should totally be dismissed as the rantings of modern-day hypocrites.
