VICTOR JOECKS: Democrats’ unequal treatment of Biden, Barrett’s faith

If Joe Biden really believed Catholic teaching, the left would tear him apart. Just look at how they’re attacking Amy Coney Barrett.

On Thursday, the Biden campaign announced a series of ads highlighting his Catholicism. The ads are running on faith-based programs in 14 battleground states, including Nevada.

“You can tell how important Joe’s faith is to him. It’s what motivates everything — Joe’s beliefs, his values, the kind of president Joe would be,” says a woman named Bernadette, who’s been at the same parish as Biden for decades. If a Republican ran an ad like that, the left would have accused him of wanting to create a theocracy.

His values are “from the nuns who taught Joe Biden his Catholic faith. That’s Joe Biden, a man guided by faith,” Bernadette says in the ad. Translated: “The dogma lives loudly within Biden” — or so he wants you to be believe.

Biden isn’t the only high-profile Catholic seeking higher office. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is also a Catholic. To Democrats and mainstream national media — but I repeat myself — her faith isn’t an asset, but a line of attack.

During her appeals court confirmation hearings, Sen. Dianne Feinstein zeroed in on Barrett’s faith. Feinstein said, “When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you and that’s of concern.”

“Handmaid’s Tale? U.S. Supreme Court candidate’s religious community under scrutiny,” Reuters wrote about Barrett.

The left’s obsession with tying Barrett to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopian novel, is particularly amusing. Barrett is about to become one of the most powerful woman in the country. That’s a long way from the subservient sex slaves named in the book’s title. But don’t let the facts get in the way of your preconceived narrative.

“Some worry about judicial nominee’s ties to religious group,” The New York Times headline warned ominously. Rest assured, you’ll never see a similar headline from the Times relating to Biden’s faith.

There’s a reason for this disparity. The left doesn’t fear Biden’s faith because he disregards it when it conflicts with his political interests.

“Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion,” Catechism of the Catholic Church reads. “This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.”

Biden now believes in taxpayer-funded abortion. In June, he expressed support for abortion “under any circumstance.” In August, Cardinal Raymond Burke said Biden and other pro-abortion politicians shouldn’t receive communion.

The Catholic Church believes marriage is between a man and a woman. That was Biden’s position for decades. In 2012, he flip-flopped, announcing his support for gay marriage. Biden has also pledged to make nuns pay for abortion-causing drugs through their health care plans.

So much for his values coming from “nuns who taught Joe Biden his Catholic faith.”

Not even Biden’s own staffers take his faith seriously. On Monday, his deputy data director Nikitha Rai tweeted that she’d prefer orthodox Catholics, Muslims and Jews “not be elevated to SCOTUS, but unfortunately our current culture is still relatively intolerant. It will be a while before those types of beliefs are so taboo that they’re disqualifiers.”

Ironically, it’s not Barrett’s sincere Catholic faith that leftists should fear, but her originalist judicial philosophy. Roe v. Wade was a garbage decision — whatever you think about abortion. For decades, the left has used the Supreme Court as a “super” legislature, gaining victories it couldn’t win at the ballot box. Barrett understands the Constitution gives the judiciary a more limited role.

It’s a smart political move for Biden to woo religious voters. Trump’s character flaws and belligerence leave much to be desired. But Biden would have more success with religious voters if his walk matched the talk in his ads.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.