This is a rant. As such, it isn't orderly nor necessarily logical.
I had to let this percolate a few weeks to let the rancor in me subside a bit. It has come up a few times in the recent past, but what got my dander up was a few bishops opining that Joe Biden should be banned from receiving communion. Well, my opinion is that these bishops should be removed from their responsibilities and assigned remedial Catholicism.
Lets start with this: JOE BIDEN IS NOT THE POPE! While this seems like a simple, straightforward statement, apparently the fact is lost upon some misguided individuals, most of whom tend to believe a lot of non-factual information fed to them by unreliable sources (I'm not naming names but you know what I'm referring to).
The pope is the leader of a religious group. His actions and pronouncements can be separated into two categories: Ex Cathedra (full authority, implying infallibility), and other. But even in "other" those words and actions reflect the Catholic Doctrine. Joe Biden is leader of various religious, non-religious, and anti-religious groups. As such, his actions as president are guided and restricted by the Constitution and laws of the United States. His actions separate from those as president are guided by his personal beliefs. By all accounts (that I have read), he is a good, practicing Catholic. Sometimes I wish he were more mean-spirited like the previous president, but that is deviating from my rant. Even Pope Francis has nothing against his receiving communion.
Why would you not want a president who upholds the law of the land? Whether or not you believe in them, they should be upheld unless or until the laws change. For those Catholics who want to withhold communion because he is not, in his capacity as president, advocating the end to abortion, let me pose this: what if we had a Jewish president, a Moslem, a Buddhist, an atheist. Would you be upset if they started imposing their beliefs on you?
Separation of Church and State is a cornerstone of democracy. According to a March 2021 Gallup post, in 2020 47% of respondents identified with a church, synagogue, or mosque. I guess you could be a Christian and not go to a church but once again I diverge from the topic.
