Religion and Politics

During the vice-presidential debate, Joe Biden further separated himself from his so-called Catholic faith and beliefs. One topic during the debate was especially indicative of this. When asked about the rights of same-sex couples, Biden stated that those couples would have the same rights as any others under his and Obama’s administration. The Catholic Church has considered this comment along with many other comments—especially concerning both gay rights and abortion—controversial. Biden claims that he is a practicing Catholic but over and over again his views on different matters differ radically with those held by the Church. TIME magazine and the New York Times have both addressed this growing conflict between the two and how the Catholic vote could make or break this election for the candidates.
Approximately 47 million Catholic votes exist in this country and their votes have proven to be very indicative of how elections will end up. The candidate who won the majority of Catholic votes has won the presidential election eight out of the past nine times and large amounts of Catholics live and vote in key states like Florida and Ohio. Thus, the choice of Joe Biden could be especially key in this election. With the growing number of high-ranking Catholics and Catholic organizations speaking out against Joe Biden, this could potentially hurt the Catholic vote that Barack Obama might have received in the past.
In a possible attempt to make his views seem more similar to those of the church, Biden incorrectly stated the church’s position on abortion and when life begins. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke out against his statements and some bishops were even calling on him to remove himself from the sacraments stating that his beliefs and opinions were not Catholic at all. However, Biden has fired back at his critics though statements like "the next Republican that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary down their throat." While his vastly different beliefs might turn some Catholics away, it is that fierce passion about his faith might help to sway others voters who completely disagree with his policies and beliefs towards the Obama-Biden ticket.