You Can't Make this Up: NYT declares "President Biden is perhaps the most religiously observant commander in chief in half a century."

Is this some kind of a joke? It's not even April 1 yet.

The full tweet reads:

President Biden is perhaps the most religiously observant commander in chief in half a century. A different, more liberal Christianity grounds his life and his policies.

Wow. I can tell you one thing, this isn't written by an observant or devout Catholic. It is objectively false. Observant is defined as "adhering strictly to the rules of a particular religion". Joe Biden outright violates many tenets of his religion. As a Catholic, he is not permitted to advocate for things which are opposed to Catholicism. It is simply not permissible. Plus, we have no indication that Biden disagrees with his policies even on a personal level.

The two sentences actually contradict each other. The first says he is religiously observant. Well, since he says he is Catholic, it would imply he is a religiously observant Catholic. Well, that's not the case. But the second sentences goes on to say a "different, more liberal Christianity grounds his life and policies". Well, since Catholicism isn't a "different, more liberal Christianity", he cannot be an observant Catholic.

I mean, I suppose he could be an observant member of a "different, more liberal Christianity", but what value does that statement have? In other words, he's a strict adherent of an form of Christianity that he made up himself that happens to conform to his political beliefs? Who on earth doesn't adhere to their own beliefs? It's a meaningless tautology. The Church is meant to change our lives and better conform us to the will of God. It's not a pick-and-choose religion that you make up as you go along.

I think the media are operating under the belief that you just have to repeat a lie over and over until people eventually accept it. This is something a nazi once said anyway. The sad thing is people often just acquire their points of view from the media. The media declares over and over that Joe Biden is a "devout Catholic" and they just believe it.

As I showed in a previous blog post, Joe Biden will be bad for Catholicism. He is one of the most pro-abortion presidents ever and wants to fund international abortion. This is already a grave moral evil. He wants to force nuns to pay for contraception and abortion. He's not good on religious freedom either. So how exactly can anyone say Joe Biden is a good Catholic or advances Catholic causes? He doesn't. I can't judge his soul, I can only judge the public actions he is taking.

What I also find funny is how on Twitter and elsewhere, non-Catholic liberals are all clamoring to say how devout and observant Joe really is. What do they know? They oppose everything the Church stands for. Why do they feel able to tell anyone whether or not Joe is a devout Catholic?

The Catholic Church has strict and specific morals. It's not just a general set of guidelines which Catholics are free to apply or disregard at will depending on their own personal beliefs. It doesn't work that way.

St. Augustine said it best:

If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.

USCCB Statement Upon the Inauguration of Joe Biden as President of the United States

Below is the USCCB statement in full which was issued on January 20, 2021 upon the inauguration of Joe Biden as President of the United States. To see it on the USCCB website, click here.

Statement on the Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., as 46th President of the United States of America from Most Reverend José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

My prayers are with our new President and his family today.

I am praying that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God help him to meet the tests of these times, to heal the wounds caused by this pandemic, to ease our intense political and cultural divisions, and to bring people together with renewed dedication to America’s founding purposes, to be one nation under God committed to liberty and equality for all.

Catholic bishops are not partisan players in our nation’s politics. We are pastors responsible for the souls of millions of Americans and we are advocates for the needs of all our neighbors. In every community across the country, Catholic parishes, schools, hospitals, and ministries form an essential culture of compassion and care, serving women, children, and the elderly, the poor and sick, the imprisoned, the migrant, and the marginalized, no matter what their race or religion.

When we speak on issues in American public life, we try to guide consciences, and we offer principles.  These principles are rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the social teachings of his Church. Jesus Christ revealed God’s plan of love for creation and revealed the truth about the human person, who is created in God’s image, endowed with God-given dignity, rights and responsibilities, and called to a transcendent destiny.

Based on these truths, which are reflected in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, the bishops and Catholic faithful carry out Christ’s commandment to love God and love our neighbors by working for an America that protects human dignity, expands equality and opportunities for every person, and is open-hearted towards the suffering and weak.

For many years now, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has tried to help Catholics and others of good will in their reflections on political issues through a publication we call Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship. The most recent edition addresses a wide range of concerns. Among them: abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, immigration, racism, poverty, care for the environment, criminal justice reform, economic development, and international peace.

On these and other issues, our duty to love and our moral principles lead us to prudential judgments and positions that do not align neatly with the political categories of left or right or the platforms of our two major political parties. We work with every President and every Congress. On some issues we find ourselves more on the side of Democrats, while on others we find ourselves standing with Republicans. Our priorities are never partisan. We are Catholics first, seeking only to follow Jesus Christ faithfully and to advance his vision for human fraternity and community.

I look forward to working with President Biden and his administration, and the new Congress. As with every administration, there will be areas where we agree and work closely together and areas where we will have principled disagreement and strong opposition.

Working with President Biden will be unique, however, as he is our first president in 60 years to profess the Catholic faith. In a time of growing and aggressive secularism in American culture, when religious believers face many challenges, it will be refreshing to engage with a President who clearly understands, in a deep and personal way, the importance of religious faith and institutions. Mr. Biden’s piety and personal story, his moving witness to how his faith has brought him solace in times of darkness and tragedy, his longstanding commitment to the Gospel’s priority for the poor — all of this I find hopeful and inspiring.

At the same time, as pastors, the nation’s bishops are given the duty of proclaiming the Gospel in all its truth and power, in season and out of season, even when that teaching is inconvenient or when the Gospel’s truths run contrary to the directions of the wider society and culture. So, I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.

Our commitments on issues of human sexuality and the family, as with our commitments in every other area — such as abolishing the death penalty or seeking a health care system and economy that truly serves the human person — are guided by Christ’s great commandment to love and to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, especially the most vulnerable.

For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the “preeminent priority.” Preeminent does not mean “only.” We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society. But as Pope Francis teaches, we cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion.

Abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family. It is not only a private matter, it raises troubling and fundamental questions of fraternity, solidarity, and inclusion in the human community. It is also a matter of social justice. We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities, and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities.

Rather than impose further expansions of abortion and contraception, as he has promised, I am hopeful that the new President and his administration will work with the Church and others of good will. My hope is that we can begin a dialogue to address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families. My hope, too, is that we can work together to finally put in place a coherent family policy in this country, one that acknowledges the crucial importance of strong marriages and parenting to the well-being of children and the stability of communities. If the President, with full respect for the Church’s religious freedom, were to engage in this conversation, it would go a long way toward restoring the civil balance and healing our country’s needs.

President Biden’s call for national healing and unity is welcome on all levels. It is urgently needed as we confront the trauma in our country caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the social isolation that has only worsened the intense and long-simmering divisions among our fellow citizens.

As believers, we understand that healing is a gift that we can only receive from the hand of God. We know, too, that real reconciliation requires patient listening to those who disagree with us and a willingness to forgive and move beyond desires for reprisal. Christian love calls us to love our enemies and bless those who oppose us, and to treat others with the same compassion that we want for ourselves. 

We are all under the watchful eye of God, who alone knows and can judge the intentions of our hearts. I pray that God will give our new President, and all of us, the grace to seek the common good with all sincerity.

I entrust all our hopes and anxieties in this new moment to the tender heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ and the patroness of this exceptional nation. May she guide us in the ways of peace and obtain for us wisdom and the grace of a true patriotism and love of country.

What does Joe Biden's Presidency Mean for Catholics?

First we must get something straight. Catholic politicians cannot simply put aside their beliefs as a Catholic when entering into the political arena. That is simply not an option. For major moral issues that everyone agrees on, this is an obvious statement of fact. If a politician were to say "I'm personally opposed to killing innocent people for no reason, but I'm not going to try to pass a law outlawing it!" most people would be shocked and dismayed.

Yet when it comes to controversial issues, there seems to be confusion. This is because of several distortions, but basically our morality comes from God, and God established his one true Church which is the Catholic Church and therefore the moral law is complete within the Catholic Church. Purposely violating any of these moral laws is a sin. It doesn't matter if an issue is controversial or whether or not others agree with you. You either believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church and follow them no matter what your role or you don't. You don't get to pick and choose.

We must now look at Joe Biden and some of the things he has promised with regards to being president. We will see that his presidency will not be good for the Catholic Faith. On top of the commitments that Biden has already made, we can conjecture as to other paths this president may take. Remember, some people are accused of slippery slope thinking, but who would have thought a year ago that the actual president of the United States would be banned from virtually all forms of social media while still in office? Who would have thought that credit card companies would stop conservative groups from using their payment system? If anyone had predicted these things, they'd be termed a conspiracy theorist, and an extreme one at that. So to just simply notice where things are heading isn't some kind of reckless activity.

Now on to the specifics. Much of the information that I will use for this article comes from a great article written by Peter Wolfgang for the Catholic Herald, which can be found here. I highly encourage you to check it out. But, as a loyal fan of this blog (obviously!) I would love for you to keep reading!

In the linked article from Mr. Wolfgang, he says the following:

He moved heaven and earth to put three originalist judges on the U.S. Supreme Court in four years and appointed hundreds more to other federal courts. He allowed states to defund Planned Parenthood, he defunded the pro-abortion U.N. Population Fund, he restored and expanded the Mexico City policy, he protected groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor against oppressive Obamacare rules, and he supported the nuns in their Supreme Court fight. He implemented the Protect Life Rule, which prohibits federal funds from going to facilities that perform on-site abortions.

Those are positive actions taken by Mr. Trump during his presidency which Joe Biden will seek, to the best of his ability, to undo as soon as possible. Donald Trump was the most pro-life president the United States has ever had. How can I make such a bold statement? Well I think it's probably true since prior to the 1970s, practically everyone thought abortion was wrong anyway. So to say they were anti-abortion or pro-life prior to that would simply mean they were normal people with normal morality.

The difference with Donald Trump is that he was pro-life in an era when doing so is politically and socially dangerous. It's not a topic for which there is automatic agreement among the masses. If he wanted to advance his political career more, he could have been a more standard pro-life-by-default Republican. But he wasn't. He went out of his way to speak about life issues, to defend the innocent. He spoke, in person, at the March for Life - the first time ever for a president.

With Biden, this goes out the window. He is blatantly ignoring his Church's teachings and will seek to increase access to abortion, rather than limit it.

Biden says he will not allow an exception for the Little Sisters of the Poor in the case of paying for abortion and artificial contraception. Think about that for a minute. He will not let a group of nuns with a vow of poverty to not pay for something they are morally opposed to. I can't believe anyone thinks that's okay.

Biden is obviously looking to end the Mexico City Policy which is an American policy of not giving foreign aid to groups in other countries who perform abortion. Basically not funding abortion abroad. If you read the misleading critics, they will claim that by banning this funding you are doing all kinds of other harm. That's an invalid moral argument and meant to muddy the moral waters.

Trump has done innumerable good things when it comes to preventing or slowing down abortion. Biden seems set to abandon them all.

When it comes to free speech and freedom of religion, Trump was one of the best modern-day presidents. Biden, in line with Democrat policies, will crack down on speech he disagrees with and will be a major threat to religious freedom.

In virtually any area that a serious Catholic cares about, Biden is set to make things much worse.

Some people bring up the detention camps on the border and the overall policies concerning refugees as reasons why Catholics should favor Biden. There are many issues with this proposition. First of all, the camps on the border (that were set up by Obama) are not torture chambers, they are processing facilities for people illegally entering into the country without permission.

Think what you will about these facilities, it is not a specific Catholic moral issue. There is legitimate debate about immigration policy. Catholic teaching has things to say about it, but it's not a cut-and-dry case such as with abortion, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. Some people seem to think unless the US allows anyone and everyone into the country without question, Catholics must oppose it. This is simply not the case which is affirmed by centuries of writings by saints and theologians.

We have no idea how bad things can get. The plans which have already been announced by Biden are frightening and it will only get worse from here. Catholics have good reason to not be welcoming to a Joe Biden administration.