Reading the various political coverage and news of the day I noticed something that I found interesting, the religious identification of politicians who are Catholic. I have seen many stories where they will put the persons name followed by “a Catholic”, yet rarely have I seen the same thing done for other religious beliefs. Have you ever seen the words Al Sharpton or John Edwards followed by the words “a Protestant?” Yet I have seen thousands of references identifying Kerry and Clark as Catholics. Much has been made of President Bush’s faith and that he is a Methodist, yet with President Clinton little mention was made of him being a Methodist even though he would also recite biblical verses (usually in defence). Possibly the Catholic tag is often used since the reporter takes some pleasure in mentioning the identification of the politician when their voting record is in direct opposition to their professed faith. Maybe this is a back-handed compliment since the reporter knows exactly what the Catholic Church’s stand is on many issues even if they disagree with them.
6 comments
i, a catholic, roger that, mr. miller, a catholic.
I take a more pessimistic view: calling a politician “Catholic” is either to alert anti-Catholic readers that this is a person to despise, or to dig at the Catholic Church by pointing out that many politicians who claim to be Catholic disregard some of the most fundamental teachings of the faith.
Also, what would it mean to call someone a “Methodist”? What do they believe as a faith? There’s a “Book of Discipline” but Methodists aren’t expected to know it or follow it. (I was raised a Methodist–converted to Catholicism 2 years ago.) But the Media at least thinks it knows what Catholics are supposed to believe.
I think it’s probably most likely that the media see Catholics as a minority…The Other. They qualify their remarks or references by labeling Catholics, as if anythign we say/do should be taken with a grain of salt. Or, more optimistically, they do it to lend credence to whatever they are saying/doing, under the assumption that we are a moral majority, or something like that…
IT’s an interesting point. I had noticed it as well.
A
Unless he converted at some point, Bill Clinton is a Baptist.
Hitlary is a methodist.
They also note when someone is an orthodox Protestant “right-wing extremist fundamentalist (R) State”
On eriksrant I always follow Al Sharpton with the words “a protestant.” No, scratch that. I use the term “heresiarch,” which also follows any mention of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a noted heresiarch. Bush, Clinton, et al: heretics. Of course I do make a distinction between heretics, you have Anglitics, you have Dingbat Heretics, you have “decent guy for a heretic,” etc.
Eriksrant.com, always on the leading edge of Inquisition Revivalism!