Religious-right organizations are quick to falsely portray criticism of their political positions or tactics as an attack on their faith—and they can be just as quick to mock or demean the faith of others.
Ben Johnson, a reporter and editor for the Family Research Council’s “outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview,” began his review of the first day of the Democratic National Convention with a snarky critique of the opening prayer offered by Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Johnson’s commentary appeared under the heading, “A ‘Christian’ invocation without Jesus or a cross?”
The cardinal’s prayer recognized that the U.S. is “a nation composed of every people and culture, united not by ties of blood but by profound aspirations of life, freedom, justice, and unbound hope.” It called for unity and “the courage to imagine and pursue a loving future together.” That was apparently not a message that FRC and its right-wing Catholic allies wanted to hear.
“The Democratic National Convention began its first day in prayer — but not one that mentioned the Name of Jesus Christ or displayed the symbol associated with His death and resurrection,” Johnson began. He noted, “although Cupich did not mention Jesus, he did, however, quote Pope Francis.”
Francis is frequently reviled by far-right Catholics and their religious-right allies. In another article critical of the cardinal’s prayer, LifeSite News quoted one of the pope’s most rabid critics, the Trump-promoting and recently excommunicated former archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who ranted, “The scandalous endorsements of Blase Cupich and the heretical ultra-progressive Jesuits in favor of Harris and Walz and the radical Left woke agenda confirm the blood pact between the globalist Deep State and the … Deep Church.”
FRC’s Johnson quoted the right-wing group Catholic Vote, which declared, “The DNC is demonic.” Right Wing Watch reported recently that Catholic Vote has falsely smeared Vice President Kamala Harris as someone who possesses a “vile hatred of Catholics.” As RWW noted about Catholic Vote and its leader Brian Burch:
Catholic Vote postures as a political organization representing American Catholics, but most American Catholics disagree with the group’s support for a total ban on abortions. In fact, 61 percent of U.S. Catholics believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Catholic Vote supported Ohio Republicans’ democracy-limiting effort to stop voters from enshrining the right to an abortion in the state’s Constitution. Catholic Vote supported the Arizona 1864 total abortion ban that went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and Burch opposed the law that overturned it.
Similarly, most U.S. Catholics support marriage equality for same-sex couples, but Catholic Vote does not, and the group regularly attacks progressive Catholic political leaders who support abortion rights or LGBTQ equality.
As Right Wing Watch has noted in the past, the Family Research Council postures as champions of religious liberty while having a selective track record on the topic. FRC, which energetically supported Donald Trump’s illegitimate efforts to stay in power after his 2020 defeat, is a participant in the right-wing government-takeover plan Project 2025. FRC President Tony Perkins and board chair Michele Bachmann are involved in the American Family Association’s Christian nationalist effort to ensure that only judges who meet the group’s “biblical worldview” standard are nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court and other federal courts.
Johnson’s report was also critical of other DNC speakers who cited their own faith while supporting legal access to abortion. He quoted Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life—who calls for criminalization of all abortion nationwide with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest—as saying, “Hey maybe the party that promotes abortion through all nine months until birth and all kinds of sexual degeneracy shouldn’t be quoting from the Bible that condemns both.”
President Joe Biden is the nation’s second Catholic president. In July, Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki prayed at the Republican National Convention.
| Every day, Right Wing Watch exposes extremism to help the public, activists, and journalists understand the strategies and tactics of anti-democratic forces—and respond to an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian far-right movement. The threat is growing, but our resources are not. Any size contribution will help us continue our work and become more effective at disrupting the ideologies, people, and organizations that threaten our freedom and democracy. Please make an investment in Right Wing Watch’s defense of the values we share. |
