Were You Surprised by "Big Christian" in the Biden Rollout


Perhaps Christian conservatives were as surprised as I was by the number of times God was evoked during the Biden inauguration and related events. There was a lot of it. On atheist sites there are complaints.

I'm guessing here, I think both conservative Christians and atheists alike thought the appearance of Biden's rollout would be similar to the look of Obama's second term. In my recollection it was light on prayers and either in the inauguration or shortly after Obama began referring to "various" religious groups "as well as those with no religion."

Only by reading Ross Douthat in the New York Times did it soak into my slow brain the Christianity on display in the inauguration was aimed, not at atheists or Protestants, but at other Catholics. Douthat is a conservative Catholic, at least that's how I regard him, so he is not all that enthusiastic about the Pope's nor Biden's brand of "let's believe our own thing but not push it too far" brand. He points out that liberal Catholicism was thought all but dead during recent decades. Popes Benedict and John had no use for it. They appointed their own kind as Bishops and hammered home anti abortion and anti gay politics. Now the appearance of Biden's liberal Catholicism is so enthusiastic it is called by some "main stream."

I've repeated here many times the best hope for survival of Christianity is its liberal branch. That is in both the Catholic and Protestant branches. Practical thinking makes it the only way forward.

Conservative Christianity years ago chose a street with a big "dead end" sign. It now finds itself facing the actual dead end. The public is not buying anti abortion, anti gay or anti a list of other sins as long as your arm. It most importantly does not buy passing laws against sin. We are seeing the prohibition experience revisited.

Biden's lesson for conservative Christians is he knows how to play their card--maybe better than they do. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more