Democrats risk voter backlash with continued anti-Catholic attacks on Amy Coney Barrett

Even before President Trump selected Amy Coney Barrett on Saturday to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Ginsburg, the federal appeals court judge already received attacks against her deeply-held Christian beliefs. However, these anti-Catholic attacks could backfire against Democrats with religious voters during the November election.

Barrett belongs to People of Praise, a South Bend, Ind.–based, nationwide charismatic Christian community of Christian churches from various denominations, though membership is predominately Catholic. Critics in the media are upset that women in the group referred to themselves as “handmaids,” a Biblical reference to Jesus' mother Mary who called herself a "handmaid of the Lord."

This sparked critics to say that Barrett endorses the dystopian HBO series "The Handmaid’s Tale," where women are suppressed. After that series began airing in 2017, media reports People of Praise instead started using the phrase “women leaders" instead. Barrett has not publicly spoken about her affiliation with People of Praise.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Tuesday issued a statement against "outrageous smears, laundered through publications like Newsweek and Reuters."

“People of Praise is basically a Bible study—and just like billions of Christians around the world, Judge Barrett reads the Bible, prays, and tries to serve her community," Sasse said. "Senators should condemn this wacky McCarthyism.”

Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network and a devout Catholic, told Just the News that anti-Christian attacks against Barrett could hurt Democrats by galvanizing voters who believe in religious freedom.

"I don't think religious bigotry, is something the American people want to see," Severino said. "And I think that the Democrats would be wrong to go down that route, and I think the American people will reject that."

She said that these latest anti-Catholic attacks are nothing new in American public life and that Barrett isn't the only nominee that has suffered these attacks.

Severino noted an incident in 2018 when Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) raised concerns about federal judicial nominee Brian Buescher's membership in the Knights of Columbus.

"This flies right in the face of the Constitution's demand that there not be religious tests for office. It's outrageous, and I'm ashamed to say the party of JFK is going down this line," she said.

Severino tweeted out several excerpts from a 1960 speech that then-candidate John F. Kennedy gave to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association: 

"[C]ontrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for president. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for president, who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me," Kennedy was quoted in Severino's tweet.

Prior to Barrett's successful 2017 U.S. Senate 55-to-43 confirmation vote for a seat on the 7th District Court of Appeals, the former Notre Dame law professor was questioned by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) about whether Barrett would be objective in her rulings or if she was too heavily influenced by her faith.

“I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the Dogma lives loudly within you," Feinstein said. "And that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have thought fought for--for years--in this country.”

Severino said anti-Catholic bias is "the last remaining prejudice that is a socially acceptable."

"They have said, time and again, literally, nothing's off the table," Severino said.

Severino also notes that the "particularly inappropriate when you consider Justice Ginsburg on very eloquent statements about her own faith and how her Jewish faith influenced her choice to go into the law and her pursuit of justice in her own life. This is something that is firmly entrenched as an American value, and I would have hoped would be one that the Democratic Party would endorse, as well. Again, this is the party of JFK, this is the party of RBG. It's outrageous that they would be going down a line of attack of attacking a nominee, because of her deeply held religious faith."

Severino called on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both whom are Catholic, to condemn attacks on a nominee's faith.

Just the News previously reported that Joe Biden's Catholic faith continues to clash with his publicly stated position on abortion, a discordance that has put him at odds with some Church leadership even as it appears to matter relatively little to Catholic voters.

Father Frank Pavone, a Catholic priest and director of the pro-life advocacy group Priests For Life, said any religious attacks on someone seeking a public service role are unconstitutional.

"Remember, our Constitution prohibits a religious test for public office, whether it's president, senator, judge, or anything." Pavone told Just the News in an interview. "If to make your decision about someone to be in a particular public office or not, you'll look at the job description of the office, you'll look at that, not what that candidate believes in his religious life. You look at what that candidate is promising to do in his or her office, which he or she wants to assume. And then you look at a third question, what's the evidence that this candidate will be able to carry out the responsibilities of the office to which they aspire?"