Getting Religion Wrong: Newspapers
Why do newspapers believe it’s necessary to describe any Catholic who attends mass regularly as “devout”? Or “very” Catholic?
Think about it. Religion writers never feel the need for such modifiers when writing about Protestants. When was the last time the mainstream media described a politician as a “devout Methodist”?
Beyond that, why would any newspaper - no matter how liberal - feel compelled to call Catholic bishops who follow the bedrock teachings of their church on abortion “right-wing”?
The Catholic Church condemns abortion. Bishops right, left and center presumably agree.
Looking at you, Washington Post.
Get a load of this Tweet the paper sent out yesterday that created an immediate backlash among the faithful.
TWEET
So Joe Biden is “very” Catholic? Says who? What exactly is a “very Catholic” anyway?
The Catholic News Agency was quick to respond:
Brian Burch, President of Catholic Vote criticized the media’s exaltation of Biden’s supposed Catholicity. “Joe Biden's press secretary routinely refers to him as 'devout.' And without skipping a beat, the Washington Post calls him 'very Catholic.'”
Yes, the president appears to attend mass every week. Big deal. I hesitate to point this out to The Post’s religion “expert” but that is a basic duty of all Catholics. The church is quite clear that we have a obligation to get our derrières on a pew every single Sunday and on holy days of obligation.
Going through the motions doesn’t make anyone a saint.
This issue of piety also came up in 2016 when Hillary picked Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate. Nearly every gushing news story about him described Kaine as a “devout” Catholic, implying of course, that one could be both devout and shun the church’s teachings on abortion.
I wrote about this offensive description of the vice presidential candidate at the time. To his credit, Kaine never described himself that way.
It’s happening again thanks to clueless religion writers who apparently believe the Catholic Church needs to shake off its quaint notions about right and wrong and adopt the Democratic Party’s far-left platform.
Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, frequently describes her boss as a “devout Catholic,” which the unquestioning press is quick to parrot. A Google search of “Biden” and “devout Catholic” got 115,000 hits.
In a story headlined “Biden’s Abortion Rights Stance Triggers Coming Debate Among Catholic Bishops” the Post reported that America’s bishops are about to decide if Catholic abortion enthusiasts - who not only support abortion rights, but want those who find the practice repugnant to pay for others’ abortions - should receive communion.
That decision is above my pay grade. I have enough trouble keeping my own moral compass set on True North to worry about whether my fellow religionists are in a state of grace.
But it is wrong for the media to trivialize a core tenet of the Catholic faith: respect for life. Someone needs to tell these ink-stained lunkheads that churches are not political parties that change their platforms every few years.
Here’s an idea: If religion writers can’t bring themselves to simply describe Catholics without a modifier perhaps they could try “practicing Catholics.”
Let God decide who’s devout and who’s not.
