this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2025
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Incase anyone is not aware, they used President John F Kennedy's Catholicism against him in campaigns.
I'm not actually sure why they target Catholics. One thing I can think of is that it's Christian Nationalism targeting the group most in common to be separated from Protestants. Another reason is that Catholics, historically, tended to have a bigger social justice (ok, their version of social justice) that wasn't beneficial to conservatives.
I read somewhere that the main tactic in attacking JFK's Catholicism was to say that he'd be the Pope's lackey. They were worried that he'd follow the Pope's orders and not do what's best for Americans. It's kind of funny to think that was a tactic now when the same opposition party managed to vote in a transparent Russian asset.
From what I know the Protestant vs Catholic hate was intense. https://youtu.be/2EQCpQbUrzI
Yeah there have been several wars over this or in which it's a major identity factor
The protestant reformation led to serious conflicts between protestants and Catholics.
So by the founding of the united states there was distrust and conflict between Protestant europe like the English, Dutch, Swiss, and some germans, and catholic Europe like the French, Italians, Spanish, and other Germans. This spilled over into the English colonies where the Quebecois and Marylanders were the only largely catholic demographics, and the Quebecois were subjected to politics. Catholics were seen as loyal to the pope over the crown or republic whichever you were under.
Then you get new American religious movements and early American nationalism. This morphed theological arguments over things like the role of Tradition and religious institutions into accusations of foreigners seduced by the devil in their black mass loyal only to the pope.