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Instead of being excited that those who claim to be Catholic are being nominated for positions of power in Trump’s administration, I would like to remember what Catholic values I was taught growing up as a 4th generation Catholic. The man you are excited has the Christian tattoos that he proudly displays, was accused of sexual assault and paid a settlement to the victim. He also cheated on not one but two wives with co-workers. Trump himself is a convicted rapist and his attorney general nominee just withdrew due to multiple allegations of underage sex with minors. Some of the Supreme Court justices you are excited are Catholic lied under oath when questioned by the Senate. One is accused of sexual assault and confirmed anyway. With the long standing and swept under the rug sexual abuse history by priests in the Catholic Church that has impacted generations of children, I would hope you would be excited about nominations of people with morals, human decency, kindness, empathy and character rather than being raised Catholic. There is no shame in being Catholic except when we continue to ignore all the abuse, hurt, and trauma that those who are Catholic inflict on others and then fellow Catholics look the other way and praise abusers for being in positions of power. If you want to know why many Catholics are leaving the church, look no further than the hypocrisy and lack of understanding and empathy in this article.

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Hmm. The divide is great. When politics and judgment, framed in character assassinations, are brought into discussions that speak about entirely different things, it's time to exit stage right. Yet, this attack was done on my front porch, splashing epithets for a passerby to see. It's OK to vent dissatisfactions over the winds of change, but I'm fairly certain I'm not the cause of your chagrin. To claim the Catholics in the Trump administration are heinous characters and "claim to be Catholic" is the same assignations folks level at Catholics in the Biden administration. It's a good discussion, but that's not part of this article's direction. We're all sinners. That would be a more level-headed thing to say. While it's important for us to be reminded of that fact, it's an unloving approach to take a paintbrush as a flamethrower. We are not adversaries until a person tosses the first grenade. I won't argue over the titillating lawfare techniques which demonize political opponents but I do not believe that any unbeknownst hypocrisy on my part has the agregious affect of disaffiliating membership in the Catholic Church. That's an influence I doubt God allows me to exhibit. If I'm wrong about that, sheesh, I have mistaken the list of arsenals in my quiver. Any "praise of abusers" that is imagined in my article is a grenade tossed by you. Please save your armaments for a more worthwhile endeaver. The news you are listening to is not being kind to you. I know you can't clean off the mess you've made on my porch, so I hope I can do that for you. Be well. Allow God to take charge. I will try to do the same.

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If you feel that my comments made a mess on your front porch and I used a paintbrush as a flame thrower, imagine how those abused and assaulted by those in your article feel. The people who abused them are being promoted to the highest positions of power in our country and your article praises their freedom to be Catholic representatives at last! While the chances are low that they read your article, my point was a bigger one. You have the privilege of writing an article about the persecution, silencing, “cowering in shame” of those who are Catholic in positions of power. That is your privilege because you are not impacted by their abuse. I don’t wish what any abuse survivor experiences on anyone. I was pointing out that you can be excited about the number of Catholics in the next administration but from where I stand, not acknowledging the abuse and hurt inflicted by some of these cabinet picks shows the hypocrisy that has driven many Catholics away from the church. I don’t think God has given you the power to control how many attend mass on Sundays or that the quivers in your arsenal are vast and magical. Nor do I think your writing has a massive following and therefore the capability of influencing the attendance/faithfulness of the church. Please save your unnecessarily dramatic (insert front porch, flame thrower and quiver in the arsenal comment here) for a reader who is impressed by the emptiness of your response and your verbose wanderings. Overcompensating with vocabulary is not how I choose to spend my time. I will continue to advocate for abuse survivors in all areas. It is just especially sad to see a Catholic author such as your self focusing on the religion of the nominees rather than their character. That is the definition of hypocrisy. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Well, God bless you anyway.

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John I always appreciate your writings. In this case however, I think you have adopted a very strange perspective. The president is a "Mass going, card-carrying Católico" (and was only ever married once). Speaker Pelosi frequently invoked her Catholic faith, drawing praise from progressives who see in her an example of championing the Church's teaching. She also has only been married once. AOC credits her Catholic faith for positions on health care, environment, and she is engaged to be married. The supreme court consists of six Catholics, two Protestants, and one Jew (I believe none of them are adulterous, but I don't know). During the Biden admin, for the first time in my life, the Speaker of the House, The President, and a majority of the Supreme Court, were practicing Catholics. I'm not sure where you perceive an anti-catholic movement, but it is not evident in the highest levels of our government.

Trump, it is important to note, is not a Catholic. He is a convicted serial rapist (just lost his appeal yesterday) who rapes women (or attempt to rapes women) while being married to other women. As he explained it, on tape, "I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the..." I fail to understand how anyone could look at this man as an advocate for our faith, or even our values.

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No disagreement with your comparison of a Catholic and a non-Cathoic, Andy. The difficulty in alluding to politics in this genre is the differing range of tolerance/intolerance for each individual. It's not a win/win subject. Is Trump's womanizing worse than Biden's blatant support of abortion? That's not what I meant to do in steering the subject matter. My point was the place of Catholic influence in the overall scheme, which is not a subject that can be discussed without triggering political frames. No matter how hard I try. The morality of Trump's predilections and Biden's crime-family escapades may be exaggerated by media, or are as horrible as we think. That's a debate i didn't mean to raise.

Anti-'conservative' Catholic attacks are not just perception. The rise of law changes and bills which hinder Catholics has been the norm in the highest levels of government under Biden's administration, including the prison sentences for pro-life protestors and lawfare against religious freedoms in Catholic schools and religious sisters. It's possibly not widely known, but there are three major Catholic law firms who struggle to protect Catholic values across the country that are kept very busy. Their work began under the Clinton presidency, grew in force during Obama's terms, and have been involved in hundreds of cases this past four years.

Thank you so much for being a reader. I have great respect for you, and am honored you take the time to follow.

God bless!

John

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