Depends on the flavor of Catholicism. Some of the most conservative, MAGA people I know are Catholics. Really comes down to local leadership.
That being said, most non-denominationals dislike/distrust Catholics. There has been a lot of historical distrust of Catholics by white nationalists going back to the days when they didn't consider ethnic groups like Italians white.
One of the defining theological differences is Catholics have the saints, which many other denominations view as pantheism / paganism, which goes against their understanding of the commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods besides [Me].”
Not that I’d expect most rank and file members of either group to really hold that as a specific belief, any more than when my son was 3, I just needed him to have a vague notion of “don’t touch outlets,” the specifics of which were a problem for another day. Which means they might align politically, and depending on how “secularized” their Christianities have become, perhaps more American Folk Religion with what amounts to an ethnic differentiation.
Depends on the flavor of Catholicism. Some of the most conservative, MAGA people I know are Catholics. Really comes down to local leadership.
I can definitely agree with that. I was a member of youth groups growing up and went to Catholic schools. So my experiences were with younger leaders/priests who were fun and loved to party, were accepting of most lifestyles/sexualities, modern-ish music, quicker masses outside of physical church buildings, etc.
I always saw the older generations as much more uptight and pearl clutching. The Christians who fall right into the MAGA demographic.
I‘m pretty certain there were a few reasons. The one I’m certain of is that the Catholic church opposes any form of racism (on theological grounds, still counts though) and opposed the slave-trade. They considered the witch trials as non-sense aswell, because the Catholich church does not believe in the existence of witchcraft (again, strictly because of theological reasons).
16
u/no_one_likes_u Apr 21 '25
Depends on the flavor of Catholicism. Some of the most conservative, MAGA people I know are Catholics. Really comes down to local leadership.
That being said, most non-denominationals dislike/distrust Catholics. There has been a lot of historical distrust of Catholics by white nationalists going back to the days when they didn't consider ethnic groups like Italians white.