For serious journalists, words matter.
This is especially true when covering a subject as complex and nuanced as religion. So let’s ponder a religion-beat issue that, in political terms, is quite simple. However, in terms of history and doctrine, it’s rather complex.
Fill in the blank: “Joe Biden is a ______ Catholic.”
Now, if you follow the mainstream press, you know that for many the answer is “devout.” As in this CNN headline: “Trump claims Biden, a devout Catholic, wants to 'hurt God'.” And here is a typical news-story passage, care of CBSNews.com:
On Election Day, Mr. Biden, a devout Catholic, started out by attending Mass and visiting the graves of his son, Beau, and his first wife Neilia and infant daughter Naomi, who were both killed in a car crash in 1972.
On Sunday, Mr. Biden did the same, attending Mass with his daughter Ashley and grandson Hunter at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, and then visiting his family members' graves.
Religion-beat veterans will notice that an important detail is missing from that passage — whether or not Biden received Holy Communion. The assumption, of course, is that he did (and that’s a safe assumption in East Coast establishment Catholicism).
It would appear that the key is that Biden says Catholicism has been a crucial force in his life and that Catholic social doctrine affects his political work. He carries a rosary. He goes the Mass — frequently. Other Catholics will note — a statement of fact — that some parts of Catholic social doctrine affect his political work and others clearly do not.
All of this came up for discussion as we recorded this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (click here to tune that in), which focused on a common theme from this blog’s 17-year history. Here it is: While many conservatives claim that the mainstream press is “anti-Christian,” or “anti-religion,” that simply isn’t true.
Take the New York Times, for example. There are Christians that the Times team thinks are wonderful and worthy of praise, Christians who embrace the worldview of America’s newspaper of record. There are also bad, even dangerous, Christians who reject the doctrines defended by the Times and some other powerful news institutions. These bad believers — traditionalists in a number of major faiths — should not expect their beliefs to be covered with respect, or even fairness, in news coverage about debates in religious and political life (hello Bill Keller).
There are good Christians and there are bad Christians and, well, some — not all — journalists seem to think that their job is to tell readers who is who.
The ongoing battles over the adjective in front of “Catholic” in Biden coverage is part of this struggle. Are there relevant facts in this debate? Of course there are. Do doctrinally liberal Catholics have points to make? Of course they do. Do conservative Catholics have points to make? Of course they do. Will both sides get to argue their cases in accurate, fair-minded, mainstream new coverage of these debates? That’s the GetReligion question.
This conflict affects news story at the local level, as well as in national politics. If you are interested, check out my “On Religion” column for this week, which includes some of the story of Jack Denton, a political science major at Florida State University. During a private Catholic Student Union online chat, he defended Catholic doctrines on marriage, sex and abortion. The fact that he applied those doctrines to statements and actions by American Civil Liberties Union and BlackLivesMatter.com offended at least one Catholic in that circle. This offended Catholic took screenshots of these texts and send them to the FSU Student Senate — which, after brutal debates — ended Denton’s term as president of that body.
That’s not how the story ends. But the key, in this post, is to note that this appeared to be another newsworthy clash between “good” progressive Catholics and a “bad” conservative Catholic.
Or how about that post last week about a new member of the U.S. House of Representatives. You may recall this statement in coverage by The Daily Beast:
Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina Republican who will become the youngest member of Congress in history, has admitted he tried to convert Jews and Muslims to Christianity.
Is it strange, or even dangerous, that an evangelical Christian shared his faith, in an openly evangelistic manner, with others? Well, some would certainly find it offensive. But is it wrong for a person to serve in Congress if he or she believes that the Bible passage that Christians for centuries have called The Great Commission remains an important part of the Christian faith? Why did this news report state that Cawthorn “admitted” that he had done one-on-one evangelism?
It would appear that Cawthorn is a “bad” Christian, while those who embrace “universalism” on matters of salvation are “good” Christians. “Good” Christians have freedom of speech and can be active in politics, while “bad” Christians are, well, you know. Ask Sen. Bernie Sanders about those folks.
So is Cawthorn a “good” American or a “bad” American?
Let’s return to the question about Biden’s and that Catholic adjective in news reports. There was an interesting development last week at the online meeting of the U.S. Catholic bishops, as reported in a Religion News Service story with this headline: “Catholic bishops broadcast mixed messages about Biden’s victory.” First read this:
Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was among the first faith leaders to officially take note of Biden’s win after several major media outlets on Nov. 7 projected the former vice president’s victory over President Donald Trump.
“We recognize that Joseph R. Biden, Jr., has received enough votes to be elected the 46th President of the United States,” the statement read. “We congratulate Mr. Biden and acknowledge that he joins the late President John F. Kennedy as the second United States president to profess the Catholic faith. …”
Whoa. Note this word — “profess.”
Later there was this passage, which should be read with great care:
… Gomez closed out the conference by making a statement about the election, saying the heads of several bishops’ committees had come to him to express concerns. He referred to Biden as the “president-elect,” saying the USCCB is “anticipating a transition to a president who professes the Catholic faith.”
But while Gomez went on to laud Biden’s policy proposals regarding immigration reform, refugees, the poor, racism, the death penalty and climate change, he dedicated most of his remarks to expressing concern regarding the president-elect’s views on abortion.
“(Biden) has also given us reason to believe that he will support policies that are against some fundamental values we hold dear as Catholics,” Gomez said. “These policies include the repeal of the Hyde Amendment and the preservation of the Roe vs. Wade. All these policies undermine our preeminent priority of the elimination of abortion. These policies also include restoration of the HHS mandate, the passage of the Equality Act and the unequal treatment of Catholic schools. These policies pose a serious threat to the common good.”
He added: “When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support them, there are additional problems. Among other things it creates confusion with the faithful about what the church actually teaches on these questions.”
What, pray tell, does “profess” mean?
That’s a loaded question. Consider the tension between these two definitions cited in the online Merriam-Webster dictionary:
a: to declare or admit openly or freely : AFFIRM
b: to declare in words or appearances only
What is Gomez saying?
At the very least, it would appear that the archbishop is being careful. He is saying that Biden says that he practices the Catholic faith. Gomez is also saying that some of the president-elect’s stated beliefs and actions create confusion among other Catholics about what it means to practice that faith in an orthodox manner.
Thus, Gomez is saying that Joe Biden is, well, a Joe Biden-kind of Catholic.
Confused? Well, stay tuned for future coverage in the mainstream press.
Enjoy the podcast and, please, pass it along to others.