Dr. Anthea Butler talks democracy, human dignity in Catholics for Harris-Walz national organizing call

As Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz trend upward in national polls for this fall’s White House race against former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance, a national organizing call for Catholic Democrats aimed to galvanize the faithful on Wednesday evening.

Speakers on the Zoom meeting included MSNBC contributor and University of Pennsylvania professor Dr. Anthea Butler, who is among the Black Catholic swing voters in Pennsylvania who are planning to support the Democratic ticket in November.

“I think that we need to talk about Catholicism and democracy together because it's a really important focus of this election cycle,” she said during her remarks on the 45-minute call, originally scheduled for August before being postponed until after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“I believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is the best person, along with Tim Walz, to put us in a place where democracy will stay in place, first of all, and secondarily that we as Catholics will be able to explore and express our faith in ways that are alongside the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

Butler also spoke on the threat of theocratic impulses in her home state of Pennsylvania, where she says “dominionist” evangelicals are advocating for more integration between conservative Christian beliefs and the government.

She did not name particular figures, but media reports in recent years have noted Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano as a prominent advocate of the fusion of church and state—as seen in his unsuccessful 2022 run for governor. Among his allies is the Christian author Lance Wallnau, a self-styled prophet who has promoted the ideologies of Trump while rising in the neo-Pentecostal dominionist movement known as the “New Apostolic Reformation.”

Butler said Harris, on the other hand, can be trusted to carry on the legacy of President Joe Biden in respecting the free exercise of religion while keeping undue religious ideology out of the White House.

“One of the things I think that we have always been accused of historically as Catholics is wanting to have the pope run the country,” she said, noting a popular anti-Catholic strain of thought in American politics.

“We have seen with Joe Biden that's not simply the case… He is faithful to his Catholic tradition. He has not tried to impose that, but what he has done is hold up democracy. And I believe that Vice President Kamala Harris will do the same thing.”

Human dignity also featured heavily in Butler’s remarks, specifically the scourge of racist conspiracies against Haitian immigrants in Ohio that have gained support from the GOP White House hopefuls Trump and Vance, the latter of whom is Catholic. Local officials and media have noted that many in the Haitian community fear for their safety amid unsubstantiated allegations from White neighbors that they are overrunning the region and even committing violence against animals.

Butler framed the issue as a matter of respecting life “from conception to the end of life”—a Catholic principle she implied is honored by many Haitian immigrants and less so by their Republican detractors.

“Many Haitians believe in the Church and all of the tenets of the Catholic Church,” Butler said. “Whether they are immigrants or citizens, we need to be respectful of that. But more importantly, we need to represent the dignity of the human person.”

Though neither Harris nor Walz appeared on the Catholic organizing call, those present heard from Butler, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Joe Donnelly, Sister of Social Service Simone Campbell; and U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.

The call was organized by Catholic advocacy organizations, including the nonprofit groups Catholics Vote Common Good and Catholic Democrats, which have encouraged phone banking from Catholics supporting the Harris-Walz campaign.

On the call, they also encouraged Catholics to donate to support their run, which could result in the nation electing its second Black (and first Asian) president. Harris currently leads Trump in the polls for a number of crucial swing states, though the margins are thin and could shift significantly before November.

“We have some hard work to do. Let's be clear-eyed about where we are. This is a margin of error race,” said host Alex Nason on Wednesday's virtual call.

“Help us to do the work to engage, persuade, and mobilize the voters who will decide whether this election is about chartering a new way forward or going back.”

Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.

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