Is Sarah Palin anti-Catholic after attacks on JFK, Nancy Pelosi's religious beliefs?
By: Patrick Roberts | Published Saturday, December 4, 2010, 11:25 PM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:57 PM

Is
Sarah Palin anti-Catholic?
That might be a real reading of her comments lately on John F.Kennedy when she slams him for making clear the line between his faith and his political beliefs during the 1960 campaign.
She has also questioned
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's faith in comments she made in her new book "America By Heart'
Attacking two prominent Catholics should send its own signal to Catholics everywhere what the real game is about here with the once-Catholic Ms Palin.
However, no signal yet from such guardians of the faith as William Donohoe of the Catholic League who is always quick to jump on any slight, real or imagined
It is very noticeable that Palin has glady accepted
Mormon Mitt Romney's arguments about his Mormon religion and whether he believes in
Jesus Christ or not.
Yet she questions JFK and Pelosi on their interpretation of their Catholic faith.
Who on earth is she to do so?
She has also kow-towed to every fundamentalist preacher, some of whom we know harbor anti-Catholic sentiment.
When JFK was running, leading Protestant figures such as Pastor Norman Vincent Peale launched vicious attacks on
Kennedy and his religion. Is Palin cut from that cloth?
Pastor
Norman Vincent Peale wrote in 1960 that "faced with the election of a Catholic, our culture is at stake"
Is it from sources like this where she got her attack on JFK and Pelosi from?
I am delighted to see that Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, niece of John Kennedy, has come out so strongly to defend her uncle after Sarah Palin launched a bitter attack on Kennedy in her new book.
Palin essentially attacked Kennedy for his 1960 campaign remark that "I am not the Catholic candidate for president.I am the
Democratic Party's candidate for president who also happens to be Catholic."
Kennedy made those remarks because at the time Catholics in power were viewed with deep suspicion
Palin takes those remarks to mean that Kennedy "seemed to run away from his religion."She says that Kennedy declared religion to be "such a private matter that it was irrelevant to the kind of country we are."
That is complete nonsense and Kathleen Kennedy has now defended her late uncle with passion and vigor.
She writes that "Palin's argument seems to challenge a great American tradition, enshrined in the Constitution, stipulating that there be no religious test for public office. A careful reading of her book leads me to conclude that Palin wishes for precisely such a test. And she seems to think that she, and those who think like her, are qualified to judge who would pass and who would not."
Kennedy Townsend writes that Pallin's book makes "clear just how dangerous her proposed path can be. Not only does she want people to reveal their beliefs, but she wants to sit in judgment of them if their views don't match her own. For instance, she criticizes Rep. Nancy Pelosi (
Calif.), a Democrat and a faithful Catholic, for "talking the (God) talk but not walking the walk."
Who is Palin to say what God's "walk" is? Who anointed her our grand inquisitor?" asks Townsend.
Well actually no one did, but Palin's 'holier than thou' mentality permeates her book throughout.
Palin, Kennedy Townsend says " fails to understand the genius of our nation. The
United States is one of the most vibrant religious countries on Earth precisely because of its religious freedom. When power and faith are entwined, faith loses. Power tends to obfuscate, corrupt and focus on temporal rather than eternal purposes."
I
47 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.mamaginnty | Jan 03, 2011, 11:14 AM EST
GOOD ON YE PATRICK, GOT THE SH...HITTING DA PAN ON THIS ONE, ALWAYS WONDERED WHY I DINNY LIKE PALIN.
cuisle1st | Jan 02, 2011, 05:47 PM EST
What is it about religion and this site. Every 2nd article refers to religion. Religion is a practice based on superstition. Superstition is is irrational fear of the unknown, misdirected reverence, etc, etc. I am more worried about Palin's lack of knowledge re the North,South, east and west of this world. The separation of church and state is being constantly blurred.
JeanneTherese | Jan 02, 2011, 02:51 PM EST
SARAH IS CORRECT IN CRITIXZING PELOSI....SHE IS NOT A TRUE CATHOLIC. NAME ONLY. SHE BELIEVES AND CONDONES ABORTION AND THAT IS TRULY A REASON TO BE EXCOMMUNICATED FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. WHY? SHE HAS NOT? I DO NOT KNOW BUT EVEN SEN KERRY AND THE KENNEDY'S WERE PRO ABORTION...TED, PATRICK AND ?. THEY SHOULD ALL BE EXCOMMUNICATED BUT BECAUSE OF MONEY?? I GUESS, HAVE NOT BEEN. SO DON'T CRITICIZE PALIN....SHE IS ONLY SPEAKING THE TRUTH. WHY SHE IS NOT CATHOLIC ANYMORE...I DO NOT KNOW....BUT THAT IS PERSONAL AND SHOUD NOT BE PUT IN THE MEDIA....FAIR IS FAIR....PELOSI, KERRY, KENNEDYS...IF THEY ARE PROTECTED SO SHOULD PALIN.
teacher1101 | Dec 31, 2010, 11:41 AM EST
take her for what she really is---not much!
rockwood127 | Dec 26, 2010, 02:08 PM EST
i look at palin as third rate.who tells people what they want to hear that all ways end up on the wong side and as far right as you can go
hancock | Dec 22, 2010, 12:56 PM EST
You have one now.
paddypower | Dec 20, 2010, 09:48 AM EST
Palin is quite stupid and absolutely perfect for the job of pretending to be US presidentess. I can't wait to have a complete and total idiot in the White house (again)because it is exactly what USans deserve considering that brand democracy is obsolete in this country anyway. But having said that presidentess Clinton would do just as well at play acting leaderess of the "free" world. Big money will buy the slickest product as always and the show will only get worse.
hancock | Dec 19, 2010, 11:39 PM EST
All Palin, ALL THE TIME.
2BorNot2B | Dec 19, 2010, 05:51 PM EST
Since when is Petrock Roberts concerned about who is a true Catholic or not? --- Oh, I get it... it's only when it gives him the chance to write another dribble piece against Palin.
whiteycat | Dec 13, 2010, 12:57 PM EST
What is wrong with writing speech notes on your hand? I dont see your point. Others use cue cards that have now become teleprompters.Who cares. If thats the only bone you can pick, Sarah is in great shape. I also did not know she was an unwed mother.
whiteycat | Dec 13, 2010, 12:51 PM EST
Have not read her book yet (sent for it tho')but I think the folks that are slamming her interpretation of Kennedy and Pelosi are leftists so its to be expected.On the church and state coming from Townsend, It does not signify. The law was made to keep state out of churches not churches out of state. The left always misstates this.Read the constitution. I read it in school and had no problem understanding it.
Monsoonman | Dec 12, 2010, 12:09 PM EST
Really liked the Sarah palin reality segment I saw last night about halibut fishing off of Homer Alaska. Nice boat!
phearne | Dec 07, 2010, 05:55 PM EST
I am from Alaska and Sarah Palin does not represent the more educated factor,thank God.Sarah Palin wants her 15 minutes of fame and mine and yours. It does not seem to matter to her how she goes about getting it.In that one endeavor,the pursuit of fame or was that infamy, she is brilliant.In almost every other way she is a farce. A self important media hound who represents all that is wrong with America,the political arena, and possibly a large part of the human race.How dare she presume to know what God wants,thinks or feels. She couldn't even write her own book!God help us if she runs for president and actually wins.The book did what it was intended to do,not enlighten or educate,but gain attention and turn the spotlight on this pathetic woman.Ireland could have an influx of American born people with Irish roots begging to immigrate to Ireland.
seanomelbourne | Dec 07, 2010, 05:21 PM EST
seig heil
warrenpoint00 | Dec 07, 2010, 12:17 AM EST
Do not forget my fellow Americans this is the vocal tirade that ADOLPH HITLER spewed before his infamous power surge...beaware of Herr Sarah
galway2001 | Dec 06, 2010, 08:51 PM EST
all of you liberals will eat your words some day sarah palin has the guts to speak the truth
galway2001 | Dec 06, 2010, 08:47 PM EST
i'm sick of hearing about j.f.k.
seamusmoore | Dec 06, 2010, 08:44 PM EST
@REMITROMJR Eunice Shriver was a good Catholic as well, she spoke out against abortion unlike her brother who changed his position for political expediency after Roe vs Wade in 1973. Don't worry, Teddy "No Game" is probably extra crispy at this point. With respect to Sarah Palin "abandoning her Catholic faith", that is a load of nonsense. It was Sarah's mother who changed the family's religion to Pentecostal when Sarah was a toddler because of her dissatisfaction with the Catholic church after Vatican II.
KAOS13AL | Dec 06, 2010, 07:09 PM EST
DID TODD EVER GET A BLOOD TEST FOR SARAH'S 1st BORN TO FIND OUT WHO THE REAL FATHER IS?!?!?!
KAOS13AL | Dec 06, 2010, 07:06 PM EST
UP IN ALASKA THEY CALL UNWED MOTHERS WHO CAN'T KEEP A JOB "GRIZZLY MOMS"...IN THE LOWER 49 WE CALL'EM "TRAMPS"...WHAT? OLDEST DAUGHTER IS AN UNWED MOM, TOO? WELL,THEN,WE CALL THEM "SLUTS"...
redhand32 | Dec 06, 2010, 05:26 PM EST
Knowing that there are Irish-Americans that actually take someone that writes debate "answers" on her hand like some 4th grader makes me somewhate embarrassed of my heritage. I guess that makes me an elitist to these people. Palin fell out of the stupid tree and hit evry branch on the way down ! From a Progressive Independent
irishwxman | Dec 06, 2010, 04:38 PM EST
Patrick...seriously...you have got to get over your Palin Derangement Syndrome. It is starting to get ridiculous. Surely there are other things you could be reporting on...like the economic trouble in Ireland...or the corruption in the Dail. But no, you still waste your time writing liberal hit pieces on Sarah Palin.
REMITROMJR | Dec 06, 2010, 04:07 PM EST
Kennedy "faith" was a hypocritical ruse; the only practicing Catholic in the Kennedy clan was matriarch Rose. Pelosi could be the poster girl for a cafeteria Catholic; any part of the faith the conflicts with her liberal politics is ignored. I've heard Palin ridiculed for "abandoning" her birth faith of Catholicism, but she's adopted a faith that she obviously can live every day...unlike Kennedy, Pelosi and the unmentioned Kerry.
haikued2 | Dec 06, 2010, 01:28 PM EST
The article is stupid! It is not Catholicism she slams, but their lack of practicing that faith in their daily lives. Nobody can or should drop their faith for political expediency. JFK and Pelosi did/have.
Cuanmara | Dec 06, 2010, 11:29 AM EST
Please, do not insult our intelligence with comments about JFK and Nancy Pelosi being Catholic. They were and are poor examples of what it means to live the Catholic Faith. JFK was an adulterer in spades. Pelosi is one of the worst examples of the Faith she professes to practice. Being Catholic means to practice what the Church holds as truth, which includes a condemnation of abortion and homosexuality. As exemplary Catholics, both she and JFK are jokes, making a mockery of the Faith they profess(ed) to follow. That they have convinced anyone they were and are devoted Catholics is a testament to the shallow understanding of the Catholic Church by multitudes including the majority of those who call themselves Catholics in this age of crisis in the Church.
manhattan | Dec 06, 2010, 11:00 AM EST
I wish Pallin would just go far into the Alaskan wilderness and be heard from no more. I'm been a conservative republican all my voting life, but if she is now who the conservatives follow (Barry Goldwater and Bill Buckley are turning in there graves) I'M OUTA HERE!
cvmichael | Dec 06, 2010, 09:52 AM EST
Come on, folks - she was criticizing "sainted" JFK because he did not have the courage to stand up for his faith (to be fair, he did divorce his faith from his politics as well as he did in his private life - (any one remember Marilyn?). If you read Mrs Palin's speech to the Susan B. Anthony List on May 14, 2010, you will see she is more pro-family, pro-life, pro-woman, pro-Christian, pro-God & probably more pro-Catholic than any of the Kennedys, and certainly more "Catholic" than Nancy Pelosi!
NedoftheHill | Dec 06, 2010, 08:58 AM EST
A slow news week Patrick ? Had to recycle last week's article ? I think Sarah Palin is living rent-free inside your head.
maireadinmelb | Dec 06, 2010, 03:42 AM EST
All her other views seem straight out of 1950 why wouldn't her religious views be from then too? Further she needs to get in with those crackpot religious zealots to grow the tea bag brand!!
hancock | Dec 06, 2010, 12:56 AM EST
The present idiot once said "all 58 states"
Seamusdhu | Dec 05, 2010, 08:33 PM EST
I wouldn't worry to much about it Sarah Palin is the one who thought north Korea our ally and south Korea our enemy. Good luck
forflann | Dec 05, 2010, 07:27 PM EST
Back in the day,many people thought JFK had a purple phone next to the red one with a direct line to the Pope. I would be more interested in what this lady did in the state she did not care to continue to "serve". If this is an example of how she would run the US,by letting the Alascan[above ground] pipe line not be maintained correctly[her husband an oil company employee of many years]so that a massive leak happened. A shut-down while a"pig" went throught line to check for problems would have prevented the rupture. Big companies who dont have to play by the rules,because they get a free pass to do as they please, America would be in worse shape,with someone playing pat-a-cake with these guys.Do go to history 50 years ago talk about the problems in your own backyard you chose to leave.
McNabb1966 | Dec 05, 2010, 07:04 PM EST
More PDS, I see. The answer to the question is NO, she is not an "anti-Catholic bigot." The real anti-Catholic bigots are mostly found on the Lunatic Left. The same wingnuts who are in the habit of calling Israelis "Nazis."
njirish | Dec 05, 2010, 06:10 PM EST
Why doesn't this guy give it up with the Palin articles
Sapwolf | Dec 05, 2010, 05:26 PM EST
Nancy Pelosi Catholic? You're kidding right? There is nothing Catholic about the woman. She's been a heretic almost her entire life. I'm Catholic and an American. I know these things. She is quite possibly the most Leftist and Secular person we have ever had in the US House of Representatives. Another phony Catholic who tries to use the federal government to gain more power and control over Americans to push the 'progressive/statist/ agenda. She is pure BS. Kennedy Townsend DID NOT read all of Sarah's book. I DID. There is nothing holier-than-thou about it. Hey Townsend, who annointed you and your disgusting corrupt clan as Gods over us real Catholics? What drivel. Pelosi a faithful Catholic? Dream on.
seanomelbourne | Dec 05, 2010, 05:23 PM EST
Palin is anti common sense and thrives on ignorance. Her book is an exercise in fear mongering,lies and innuendo. Have you seen the handwritten drafts of her book which were removed from her dustbin. they look like the scribblings of a 10 year old.
JOHNTOBIN | Dec 05, 2010, 03:28 PM EST
To plastic paddy-I am one'medieval catholic'that is proud to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding gay marriage and abortion.
GeorgeDillon | Dec 05, 2010, 02:35 PM EST
brondell, Catholics don't follow palin, they follow the Pope, you fool. Get your big mouth out of my church and mind your own business.
GeorgeDillon | Dec 05, 2010, 02:33 PM EST
Columnist Roberts now defending the Catholic Church? Get real, Roberts, you're just an anti-Catholic bigot. My definition of a Catholic is one who seeks to follow the teachings of the Church. If you don't like the teachings, that's fine, but you're no longer a Catholic. Ms Pelosi and blubber Kennedy are/were big fans of abortion. That's their right under the constitution, but it sure means they weren't Catholics. Some despicable renegade bishops showed up for Kennedy's despedida, but that just proves that there's an element in the Church that always follows the money--they have the same weasels in Ireland. But Roberts defense of Catholicism is a bit like him protesting that a guy who wolfs down a couple of Big Macs a day is a vegetarian. Roberts, keep your ugly nose out of my Church and Mind Your Own Business.
brondell | Dec 05, 2010, 02:20 PM EST
Keep your flashlight shining on the fatuous Palin and the other No-Nothing Copperheads who find your attention so discomfiting. (Even if they are "Catholic" in name and demand that every other Catholic follow the impulses of THEIR conscience.)
Monsoonman | Dec 05, 2010, 02:02 PM EST
Sarah Palin is not well educated? Just who do you think got us into the present mess we find ourselves? That's right, ivy league "highly educated" eastern liberal blue bloods, who told us it is good economics to spend more than you take in and it is great economics to loan money to uncreditworthy people to purchase houses. I've had enough of the tassle shoed experts running things. I'll take a regular American citizen who knows which end of a gun is the business end, knows how to skin a moose and knows that you can't spend more than you take in and expect to last economically.
CitizenWhy | Dec 05, 2010, 12:56 PM EST
US fundamentalist protestants, especially Catholic converts to fundamentalism, regularly attack Catholicism. As the Archdiocese of New York has stated, it is part of their sincere belief system and represents profound and real theological differences. ... P.S. One tenet of many fundamentalists is that the USA was founded as a Christian nation and Christianity (Protestant style) should be the official religion. To them Catholicism, by definition, is not Christian.
CitizenWhy | Dec 05, 2010, 12:42 PM EST
Sarah Palin is not well educated but lucky to be where she is at. Her ignorant comments about the Catholic faith and who may or may not be devout or practicing their faith notwithstanding we increasingly are treated to a media created hype about a vacuous person. If she is truly a person of solid faith, start by staying home and attending to your children rather than running all around the Nation pretending to be someone of importance. Her achievements are what?
wgman062 | Dec 05, 2010, 11:37 AM EST
Any sort of religious talk from Palin is hypocrisy, given that we can now see that the number one "God" she worships is money. What other excuse could there be for her to be doing a million dollar a week "reality" TV show? And one in which she moans about her "lack of privacy?" LOL!!
plasticpaddy | Dec 05, 2010, 11:06 AM EST
Well its good that some 'Catholics' don't follow the medieval teachings of the church in regards to abortion and gay marriage. Maybe you backward thinking Neanderthals who have commented below will someday have yere minds freed.
CMartel2 | Dec 05, 2010, 05:54 AM EST
You've got it backwards here. Ms. Palin would support a Catholic who actually stood by the teachings of the Church. However, when you have a scrooge like Pelosi who claims to be an upright Catholic and yet who supports abolishing the defininton of traditional marriage and who supports abortion on demand (and even sponsored by the state), that individual is due a good thumping for utterfly failing to walk the walk. Pelosi is further no champion of individual liberty and personal accountability. And you seem to want it backwards and both ways. Sarah Palin can't judge, yet somehow seem to argue that the core beliefs of a candidate and their adherence to them should not be viewed with scrutiny. I'm sorry (really, I'm not), but Nancy Pelosi is a disgrace of a Catholic by anyone who knows two bits about the teachings of the Catholic Church. I say that as a Presbyterian admirer of the Church. Criticizing a candidate for failing to live up to the teachings of their self-proclaimed religion is not a religious test: it is a judgement on character and conviction. I think you'd find Ms. Palin far more accepting of a Catholic who actually seemed to give a rip about the teachings of the Catholic Church.
brianc2221 | Dec 05, 2010, 01:21 AM EST
JFK, unlike Al Smith, downplayed his Catholocism in the 1960 election. That is a matter of historic fact. To label Nancy Pelosi a "faithful Catholic" is dishonest at best. There are a number of bishops who have stated they would deny her communion because of her support for abortion and other issues. Patrick, whenever I think you can't be any more dishonest, you "rise: to a new low.