The religious “left” is moving in on Trump’s base:
“This election is different because President Trump rejects our Catholic values and does everything in his power to divide us while our economy and health care systems collapse under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Lee Morrow, elections manager for Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice and head of the new initiative. “Catholics cannot be single-issue voters.”
For Morrow, Catholic values involve caring for immigrants, the elderly and the poor and addressing racism, among other issues.
“To be true to my Catholic faith and the teachings of Pope Francis, I have to do everything in my power to make sure that Donald Trump loses in November,” he said.
“These former Trump voters are becoming Pope Francis Voters.” [Religion News Service]
Look for Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice to be investigated by Attorney General William Barr. And probably this pastor as well:
[Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice] joins several liberal Christian groups aimed at influencing religious voters. Among them is the New Moral Majority PAC [NMM], a group co-founded this month by the Rev. Noel Anderson, a longtime faith-based immigrant rights organizer, and the Rev. Ryan M. Eller, a veteran faith-based organizer based in Louisville, Kentucky.
The group has created a digital tool geared toward getting faith leaders to endorse Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ campaign, making the endorsement blitz its “primary focus” heading into November.
Several faith leaders, such as the Rev. Jacqui Lewis of Middle Collegiate Church in New York City, endorsed Biden and Harris via NMM this week.
“The policies of a new Biden-Harris administration will be built on principles that more closely align with our Christian beliefs,” Anderson said in a press release.
Look for Rev. Lewis, his church, and his compatriots to be placed under investigation by Barr, particularly with relevance to the Johnson Amendment, under which faith leaders who take advantage of tax-free status for churches may not endorse political leaders. Which makes me shake my head, as the right wing religious leaders have railed for decades against the Johnson Amendment.
Unless they’re ineffective and so don’t draw Trump and Barr’s attention.
Historically, Trump and Barr try to throw mud on anyone and any institution they don’t like. If they do attack these groups, though, they may forget that many of these groups glory in the mud – that is, the more the powerful attack them, the more they see it as a justification of their activities.
