The New Evangelicals/Neo-Catholics, Just Following Orders

  JD Vance

Pope Leo XIV

Sean Feucht

Evangelical Prayer meeting

The New Evangelicals/Neo-Catholics, Just Following Orders

“Someone who says ‘I’m against abortion but says I am in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life. Someone who says that ‘I’m against abortion, but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.” 

Pope Leo XIV, on September 30th

“You stand with me and I stand with you, and the church will continue to accompany and stand with migrants.”

Pope Leo XIV, on October 8th

“[I] would reject there is inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration.” 

 White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responding to Pope Leo’s remarks

"This is all a very calculated move, people. IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP! They chose a globalist and woke Pope from the West ON PURPOSE to stand up and criticize the leaders of the Free World."

Social Media Post from evangelical worship leader, Sean Feucht in May.

Having been raised as a protestant (Episcopal/Anglican), even functioning as an altar boy in my teens, my reading and understanding of the New Testament (added to the Old Testament) always emphasized charity, kindness, not sitting of judgement of others and loving/respecting others (the true meaning of “neighbors” that did not limit that love only to those in immediate proximity). The debates between protestants and Roman Catholics on abortion almost always centered around when human “life” would be deemed to have begun. Jews entered that debate, mostly on the same side as protestant beliefs.

For the most part, all of Christianity, Judaism and Islam cherished basically the same values. Indeed, protestants and Jews were offered safe haven in the 15th century by the Muslim Moors in Southern Spain, against Roman Catholic executioners of the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in the north. This was a far cry from the beliefs of the Crusaders hundreds of years earlier as they ventured to “free Jerusalem of the Mohammedans.” This is our cultural heritage for all “peoples of the book” as the Quran defines these faiths. It speaks of our commonality, not of the following centuries where so many religious leaders, for all of the above religions, perverted their holiest books to find reasons to hate, demonize and kill what these zealots defined as less-than-human apostates from those with differing religious beliefs.

My basic values remain that for those who hold these faiths as the basis for all their/our core values; the Torah, the New and Old Testament and the Quran are not “pick and choose” menus with lots of “opt in” or “opt out” choices. I have always wondered about the stated beliefs from powerful contemporary secular and religious leaders. Is a child born in India of Hindu faith, kind and charitable, doomed to hellfire under evangelical definition? Why? Purportedly a devout Roman Catholic, Vice President JD Vance invoked the most questionable concept of “ordo amoris” – “rightly ordered love” – to justify the harsh treatment of peaceful undocumented aliens, living in the United States, in a January 29th interview on Fox News: "There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that." The Pope quickly denied that his notion of “ranked love” was accepted Catholic doctrine.

On the evangelical side, an excellent analysis by Caroline Bologna in the October 11th edition of the Huffington Post, offers a new fundamental perspective on contemporary evangelical beliefs: “For many Americans, the gap between Christian teachings and MAGA politics is baffling. How can people profess faith in Jesus ― who preached love, mercy and care for the oppressed ― while supporting policies that punish immigrants, demonize LGBTQ people and glorify cruelty? … The key to understanding this apparent contradiction might lie in something called ‘vertical morality.’… In the context of religion, the superior is God. In politics, it might be an authoritarian dictator. In a cult, it would be the controlling leader. Whatever the circumstances, the idea is that behaviors are only right or wrong based on what the figure in power says….

“It's the great ‘Vertical morality is just how I describe what’s called ‘divine command theory’ in metaethics,’ she said. ‘I’m a teacher, so I’m always looking for ways to make complicated concepts a little more simple. It’s basically the idea that morality comes from authority above, which is what I was taught when I was raised within conservative Christianity.’” To understand this better, think of a military hierarchy. The generals speak with God, but the sequence of orders, which filter down through the ranks, must be followed. This notion is the great enabler of Trump’s quest for autocracy. Bologna continues:

“‘Horizontal morality prioritizes the well-being of our neighbors, communities and personal relationships,’ [April Ajoy, author of Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding A True Faith] explained: ‘We act in ways that cause the least amount of harm to those around us, regardless of beliefs. Someone with vertical morality may help someone in need because they believe that’s what God wants them to do, versus someone with horizontal morality may help that same person for the benefit of the person that needs help.’… Rather than unquestioning obedience and superficial optics, this approach focuses on genuine empathy, compassion and love toward others, recognizing the actual effects our actions have on people.”

I am disturbed when the purported ministers of Jesus’ most obvious teachings find reason to reject them while still claiming to be faithful Christians. There is something that defies logic in that, but there are enough people making biblical “menu selections” that guarantee that hate and demonization are acceptable behaviors for “good, God-fearing Christians,” a choice that guarantees Americans will continue hating each on that great red/blue divide.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I would like this obvious hypocrisy to fade away so we can just be Americans again.