If you vote for Biden, you ain’t Catholic

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If you vote for Biden, you ain’t Catholic
Joe Biden speaks with supporters in Iowa. | Flikr

On Tuesday night, Catholics had the perfect opportunity to see why a Joe Biden presidency should be the last thing they want.

 At the first 2020 presidential debate, the Democratic nominee and President Donald Trump faced each other in one of the most anticipated standoffs of the year.

Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News started the debate by discussing President Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has faced harsh scrutiny since her nomination last Saturday.

 Biden, a self-proclaimed Roman Catholic, voiced his party’s concern that Barrett would “fundamentally change” a woman’s right to an abortion. 

“She thinks that the Affordable Care Act is not constitutional,” Biden said. “If it’s struck down, what happens? A woman could pay more money because she has a pre-existing condition of pregnancy.”

In the past, Barrett has criticized members of the court for supporting the Affordable Care Act. Democrats fear that if appointed, she will work to undo the court’s feminist “progress,” repeal Obamacare, and strike down the 17 reproductive rights cases passing through the courts right now. 

But voters should be less concerned with the Supreme Court nominee’s moral compass and more worried about the former vice president’s — especially if they’re Catholic. 

In 1982, Biden served on the Senate Judiciary Committee. During that time, he voted for a resolution that would effectively overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that protects a woman’s ability to have an abortion. While the bill didn’t make it to the full Senate that year, it was back the next year. That time, Biden voted against the resolution.

Biden has since called that decision the “single most difficult vote I’ve cast as a U.S. Senator.” His reasoning? He wasn’t sure if he had “a right to impose” his religious beliefs on others. 

If Jesus taught us anything, it’s that a good faith is not a timid one. 

It’s not my job to tell Biden how to live faithfully — but it’s one thing to say you’re Catholic and another to live it. 

When Christ died on the cross for our salvation, he did it so that we could live an abundant life of faith. For Catholics, living a life of faith includes strict respect of all human life — no matter how young. The Catholic Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion, defending lives from the moment of conception.

It can be difficult to separate morals from political ideology. Can be — but shouldn’t be. For Catholics, the answer is clear: any candidate that supports abortion should not get your vote. It is evil to vote for a candidate that promotes one of the most grievous sins publicly and proudly.

But don’t take my word for it — the Catholic Church agrees with me. 

Former prefect of the Catholic Church’s highest court, Cardinal Raymond Burke, said in August that Biden “is not a Catholic in good standing and he should not approach to receive Holy Communion.”

“First of all, I would tell him not to approach Holy Communion out of charity toward him, because that would be a sacrilege, and a danger to the salvation of his own soul,” Burke said. “But also he should not approach to receive Holy Communion because he gives scandal to everyone. Because if someone says ‘well, I’m a devout Catholic’ and at the same time is promoting abortion, it gives the impression to others that it’s acceptable for a Catholic to be in favor of abortion and of course it’s absolutely not acceptable. It never has been and it never will be.”

Biden has previously said he would increase federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the world, and most recently during a forum held by Planned Parenthood, he said he didn’t support the Hyde Amendment, a bill that bans the use of federal funds to pay for a woman’s abortion except in extrenious cases. 

You can’t pick and choose which church teachings you follow. This sort of “Cafeteria Catholicism” must be stopped — you don’t get to choose a little bit of the Sacrament of Marriage, or decide to only baptize a few of your kids. You don’t accept the Eucharist one week and deny it the next, just like you can’t oppose the church’s stance on abortion.

It’s simple: direct support of a candidate whose platform vehemently supports pro-abortion legislation goes against Catholic Church teachings.

Right now, your vote as a Catholic isn’t about party affiliation, federal spending, overseas trade, or healthcare — it’s about the moral duty you owe the Lord. 

For the love of God, the love of state, and for the repose of more than 31 million unborn souls, don’t vote for Joe Biden. You don’t want that on your conscience.

 

Haley Strack is a sophomore studying political economy.