“Wait, you’re a Democrat?”
I have been asked this question at college enough times to be puzzled by it. Am I really that cryptic about my political affiliations? Do I unintentionally rattle off conservative talking points?
The real reason becomes clear with further probing.
“I just figured, what with the whole Catholic school thing…”
So that’s what it is. For some reason, speaking openly about my thirteen happy years in the Catholic school system and my own Catholic faith puts me squarely in the Republican column in the eyes of my peers. I am not petty enough to be insulted by this assumption, but its frequency makes me wonder how American Catholicism became synonymous with the Republican Party platform, especially considering that Catholics broke for Obama in both 2008 and 2012. But more importantly, the conflation of Catholicism and conservatism confounds me because my own political ideology is fundamentally shaped by my religious beliefs.
My political philosophy boils down to one maxim: Love thy neighbor. Across the United States, there are people who embody this principle every day—the people Mr. Rodgers famously called “helpers”. But we can do better. We can fix the crisis of mass incarceration. We can ensure that mothers receive full support with mandatory paid maternity leave. We can address illegal immigration in a way that upholds the dignity of people who risk everything to come to America. We can advocate for life by reducing gun violence in our communities through sensible regulation. We can guarantee that every child, not just the brightest, receives a world-class education. We can make sure nobody is denied access to the healthcare he or she needs. We can apply the radical spirit of egalitarianism that Jesus embodied toward his disciples to every policy we implement. We can feed the hungry. We can give drink to the thirsty. That is what I believe my faith asks of me, and that is why I consider myself a progressive Democrat.
Not every Catholic draws the same political conclusions from their faith, and I don’t ask that they do. The beauty of a God-given intellect and a two-thousand year tradition of scholarship and debate is that we can each develop our own political conscience. That’s precisely why Catholics should not be pigeonholed into a single end of the political spectrum.
The progressive Catholic movement is not as vocal as other political-religious groups, but it exists and it is thriving. Until we become more prominent, I’ll have to wear a button: “Ask Me About My Progressive Catholicism.”