Imagine being a Jew living in a kibbutz in the 1940s. You listen as your colleagues discuss how awful the Allies are because they're dropping bombs on bridges and factories and killing German soldiers. They never mention Jews being rounded up and shipped off in railroad cars. Your friends are hard-working and they seem to be very devout, rarely missing community prayer, yet they openly support the very people who oppress them.

Such is the case of many devout Christians today who live and work alongside those who share the same faith yet support a political party whose goals are diametrically opposed to everything they claim to believe. How do Christians belong to a religion that condemns and forbids such horrors as abortion and transgenderism, yet enthusiastically support politicians who promote those very things? And those same Christians will demonstrate a smug superiority over traditionalists who subscribe to scripture and the teachings of the church. Some Protestant denominations are more liberal than others on these issues, with their pastors openly advocating transgenderism and an active homosexual lifestyle while the Evangelical Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church have always condemned them.

When a person holds conflicting beliefs or behaviors, it creates a state of psychological discomfort known as cognitive dissonance. Catholicism upholds the sanctity of life from conception, defines marriage as a sacramental union between a man and a woman, and roots human sexuality in biological reality. If a Catholic supports a political party that advocates for abortion, same-sex marriage, and transgenderism, it presents a clear conflict. This tension may manifest as guilt or discomfort and can prompt the individual to employ self-justification strategies to reconcile their Catholic identity with their political choices.

Over the years, I've heard my colleagues informally vocalize quite a few such strategies. One is to compartmentalize faith and politics, treating them as separate domains. This allows the person to claim, for example, that they personally oppose abortion but they support Democrats for their social welfare policies. Another common strategy is to raise certain Church teachings, such as social justice, over others, such as the sanctity of life. They may believe that helping the poor is more urgent than protecting the unborn. They might reinterpret doctrine, aligning Church teachings with modern values. Such people can be heard to say, "God accepts same-sex marriage because love is love." I've heard colleagues say things like, "Abortion is just one issue among many," (minimizing the conflict), and "Both parties are flawed, so I will choose the lesser evil", (externalizing responsibility) and "My conscience guides me to support this party," (appealing to personal conscience untethered from doctrine). While these strategies may reduce discomfort, they dilute or remove adherence to the Church's holistic moral teachings.

The paradox becomes particularly striking when I hear Catholics claiming moral superiority over those who support a party opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and transgender interventions, positions which are more aligned with Catholic doctrine. Leftist narratives frame support for abortion, same-sex marriage, and transgenderism as compassionate or enlightened, which can lead some Catholics to adopt these views as morally advanced. They may see issues like poverty or immigration as more pressing and view conservatives as deficient in these areas, labeling them as “hypocritical” or “judgmental.” I have heard, for example, “The Republican party only cares about babies before birth, not after.” This deflects scrutiny from their own contradictions.

It's not uncommon to see leftists cherry-picking Scripture in order to construct a narrative that aligns with their politics, dismissing traditional teachings as outdated. They will, for example, cite "Love your neighbor" (Mark 12:31) or "Welcome the stranger" (Leviticus 19:34) or "Judge not lest you be judged" (Matthew 7:1) not as calls for mercy, hospitality, and justice but rather as a philosophical club with which to beat Christians. Left-leaning Christians use the same club to beat conservative Christians. As noted above, selective moral reasoning is an attempt to redefine Catholic identity, emphasizing personal conscience over strict adherence to doctrine. This enables them to claim a "higher" Catholic morality while casting those who follow the Church's teachings on life and sexuality as rigid or uncharitable. Pope Francis once made this very accusation.

Catholicism teaches that its moral doctrines are not menu items from which we may pick and choose, but a coherent framework that is based in divine truth. The Church has always taught that abortion is an intrinsic evil, marriage is a divinely ordained institution and human sexuality is tied to biological reality. A Catholic, and I would say that any Christian lives in contradiction when he supports politicians or political parties that promotes opposing policies, and when he condemns a party that aligns with traditional Christian teachings. Claiming moral superiority in this context ignores the objective moral framework that traditional church teachings provide and prioritizes cultural trends over doctrine. The U.S. conference of Catholic Bishops' document "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship" emphasizes that issues such as abortion carry significant moral weight due to their direct harm on human life. This underscores the inconsistency of prioritizing other issues while dismissing those.

Spending much time with left-leaning Christians inevitably results in difficult conversations. It is good to engage with them, as we can plant seeds for deeper alignment between their faith and their political choices. One way is by asking questions. For example:

 "How do you balance the Church's stance on abortion with the Democrat party's platform?"

 "The Church teaches that protecting the unborn and caring for the poor both flow from human dignity. How do you prioritize those?"

 "I understand that you might support them for social justice, but how do you weigh that against transgender interventions for children?"

Christians must align their faith with their political choices, embracing a consistent moral framework that upholds the sanctity of life, marriage, and human dignity. Respectful dialogue and reflective questions can guide believers toward a faith that shines consistently in all aspects of life.

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