Are John Kerry's Conservative Critics Anti-Catholic?
Photo by Sharon Farmer, Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
October 2004
He doesn't wear his faith on his sleeve, but John F. Kerry is a man of strong religious beliefs. He was born and raised Catholic and his personal beliefs are shaped by his church. Like the Pope and many Catholics around the world, John Kerry opposes the cruel and unusual nature of the death penalty1; he believes helping his fellow man is a basic tenet of Christianity; and while he steadfastly believes in a woman's right to choose, he personally opposes abortion.
It is precisely these beliefs that so infuriate his conservative critics. Many of his detractors are angered by John Kerry's opposition to executing minors and the mentally retarded; and some even question his belief in ensuring the accused have every opportunity to defend themselves in a court of law. The Pope and his council of Cardinals have spoken out against the American system of capital punishment. Indeed, a basic belief of Catholicism is that murder, even in the name of the State, is always morally wrong. "'Vengeance is mine,' sayeth the Lord." Yet Mr. Kerry's critics oppose this belief. They fail to understand that while people of the Catholic faith do have a strong belief in justice, they have an even stronger belief in morality. Revenge for it's own sake does not provide adequate justification to Catholics.
John Kerry also believes in helping his fellow man. He believes one of the core principals of government should be to provide a social safety net and to see to the health and safety needs of all its people. Mr. Kerry wants to guarantee health insurance for all of the nation's children 2. He wants to ensure that unemployment benefits are available to everyone who had the misfortune of losing their job -- a pain particularly acute because of the failed economic policies of the Bush administration. Conservative critics of Mr. Kerry's decry this helping hand as "wasteful social spending." They oppose a tax system that redistributes the wealth so that the most fortunate give to the least fortunate.3
Anti-Catholicism is nothing new to this country. In addition to their hatred and violence against African Americans and the Jewish People, the Ku Klux Klan was also vehemently anti-Catholic. The Klan believed that Protestantism was the one true faith and those who followed the Church of Rome were sub-human. The Klan still practices all it's original forms of bigotry and many of its hate filled beliefs have seeped into some parts of society. Could Kerry's opponents have subconsciously absorbed these hate groups' vitriol towards people of the Catholic faith?
Whether John Kerry's conservative critics are anti-Catholic or simply ignorant of the beliefs of the Catholic faith is a question that can only be answered by the critics themselves. It is often difficult to recognize the bigotry within oneself; to do so requires great personal introspection and a willingness to accept your own faults and to try to grow out of them.
John Kerry would be only the second Catholic ever elected president; but his election would signal a great growth in the acceptance and open-mindedness of the American people. Is America ready to move forward into a more tolerant and welcoming future, or will it retain the hatred of the past? We'll know in November.