As he ran for president early in 1960, a Christianity Today editorial asserted it’s “perfectly rational” to oppose the election of John F. Kennedy because “a Catholic presidency would be torn between two loyalties.”
To rectify this, Kennedy gave his famous speech to the Houston Ministerial Association that fall; in it, he assured voters that his Catholicism had no effect on his political judgment.
Sixty years later, Kamala Harris apparently wants to reignite anti-religious intolerance. Unlike bigoted pundits, however, Harris has the power to wield her perniciousness against Catholics and groups whose moral practices are inapposite to hers.
Harris has long been eager to impose unconstitutional religious tests on federal bench nominees. In 2018, Brian Buescher was nominated as a District Court judge. Harris unleashed this appalling pre-written question to him:
“Since 1993, you have been a member of the Knights of Columbus, an all-male society comprised primarily of Catholic men. In 2016, Carl Anderson, leader of the Knights of Columbus, described abortion as “a legal regime that has resulted in more than 40 million deaths.” Mr. Anderson went on to say that “abortion is the killing of the innocent on a massive scale.” Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization?”
Without elaborating on the ignorance of the senator’s vitriol, the Knights are a faith-based organization that feeds the poor, assists in disaster relief, provides scholarships for struggling students, helps refugees fleeing violence and persecution, and many other philanthropic efforts.
Buescher was confirmed, and thanks to Sen. Ben Sasse, the senate voted to reaffirm the constitutional clause forbidding religious tests for public officeholders.
As Alexandra DeSanctis explained earlier this month:
“The trouble comes when she suspects that a Catholic might actually believe what the Church teaches about marriage or abortion. Instead of focusing on the judicial philosophies that might guide a judge’s decisions on the bench, Harris has chosen on several occasions to drill down on nominees’ religious faith, motivated by the bigoted belief that membership in a Catholic organization is a cause for suspicion and possible disqualification.”
Harris’s animus toward Catholicism extends to harassment of public organizations whose missions are consistent with theology. In 2015, she used her power as California attorney general to put several Catholic hospitals out of business on behalf of the radical Service Employees International Union.
She also teamed with pro-abortion groups to draft a law compelling crisis pregnancy centers to advertise for abortion, and used her office to target pro-life whistleblowers.
Harris then arranged a home raid of pro-life activist David Daleiden because he documented Planned Parenthood employees exchanging money for aborted infant body parts.
As senator, Harris introduced the Do No Harm Act last year, which waters down the federal 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The bill would empower governmental authorities to force people of faith to comply with laws they find morally objectionable. It also makes Catholic physicians perform abortions if they participate in government reimbursement programs.
Harris co-sponsored the “Equality Act,” which compels Catholic hospitals to perform gender transition surgeries and open women’s restrooms to men.
Harris is an authoritarian in every sense of the term. And with the cameras on last week, she went back on the warpath, embarrassing herself with demagogic rants that the unflappable Judge Amy Coney Barrett easily dispatched.
From improving race relations, to equality of the sexes, and the success of our American experiment, America undeniably makes progress each day; yet radicals like Kamala Harris resent this.
When watching tonight’s presidential debate, ponder if someone this iniquitous should hold the power to invoke the 25th Amendment and move into the Oval Office.
A.J. Kaufman
A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.
