‘Betraying the central tenet of Easter’
Biden is facing a barrage of criticism for declaring Easter Sunday a Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV), his latest attack on the Christian faith.
TDOV was created by transgender activist Rachel Crandall Crocker in 2009 in Michigan with LGBTQ+ activists throughout the world now observing it. Biden was the first American president to issue a formal recognition of the event in 2021.
A self-described "devout Catholic," the 81-year-old Democratic president posted his 2024 proclamation on the White House website on Holy Saturday. It reads in part:
On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans … Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back.
The Trump campaign immediately blasted the declaration, calling on Biden to take it back:
"We call on Joe Biden's failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only — the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, along with his wife Candy, posted his disbelief on X:
"I thought this was fake news, but we checked it out and in fact it came from the White House and it is true. Can you believe that we are detracting from the celebration of the resurrection of Christ on Easter this year by declaring transgender visibility day on that same day?"
Vivek Ramaswamy, former candidate for GOP presidential nomination — and a Hindu who is well-versed in the Bible — asserted that Biden’s “declaring the most holy day for Christians as ‘Transgender Visibility Day’ is a slap in the face to every American, whatever their faith.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in saying Biden’s declaration is "betraying the central tenet of Easter." "Banning sacred truth and tradition — while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as 'Transgender Day' — is outrageous and abhorrent," the speaker added.
Fueling the outrage, the Biden White House also banned children from submitting Christian egg designs for the annual Easter Art Event.
According to contest rules, the children had to avoid "religious symbols" and "overtly religious themes" for Easter egg designs. Instead, they were directed to draw "a snapshot of their life — a favorite activity, scenery in your state, your military family, a day-in-your life, etc."
The White House defended the ban by saying the contest guidelines have been in place for decades and were not Biden-generated.
Biden's assaults on Christianity, however, are not without celebrants. On Easter Sunday, Rachel Levine, a pediatrician and US Assistant Secretary of Health, released a video message supporting the president’s actions and celebrating TDOV. Levine who identifies as a trans man, said,
"We celebrate transgender Americans and all they have accomplished. We honor the many contributions transgender Americans make in health, medicine, public service and across our nation."
A Jesuit social media user, who describes himself as "an agreeable son of Ignatius with no strong opinions whatsoever," posted, "[H]appy Trans Day of Visibility to those for whom the day has this special significance. Why not come to Easter mass to celebrate?! At Christ's table all are welcome. We don't have to agree, see eye-to-eye, or even understand one another. Only to love, to serve, to try."
Prominent religious leaders are speaking out about the discrepancy between Biden’s declarations of being a devout Catholic and his public anti-Christian actions.
In a recent interview, the Vatican’s former doctrinal chief, Cdl. Gerhard Müller, noting especially Biden’s radical support of abortion, said Biden is less a "nominal Catholic" than his is a "nihilist."
"The word 'abortion' is too much a soft word. The reality is killing, murder of a living person," he added. "There’s no right to kill another person. It's absolutely against the Fifth Commandment."
The cardinal recommends Christians working together to form a "unanimous U.S. bishops conference, probably together with other Christian religious, other religious leaders, [to give] an absolute, clear, strong statement that [abortion] is against all the standards and principles of humanity.”
The German prelate also broached the dreaded "E" word, saying Catholic politicians who promote "infanticide" should be "excommunicated."
Judie Brown, president and co-founder of American Life League, the oldest Catholic grassroots anti-abortion organization in the US, seconded the cardinal’s statement, saying in part, "Mueller’s call [for Biden’s excommunication] was affirmed in spades today when President Biden issued a Proclamation [on] the Transgender Day of Visibility."
She also expressed "outrage" that Biden proclaimed this "on the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ." Not mincing words, she added:
This is proof positive that Biden has no respect for the teachings of the Catholic Church, does not understand the basic truth that God created man in His image, male and female and that anyone or any statement that violates that basic teaching is an abomination. It is the work of the devil who is operating through the actions and words of Biden himself.
Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington gave a softer but nonetheless definite rebuke on Easter Sunday during a Face the Nation interview:
"I would say that [Biden’s] very sincere about his faith, but like a number of Catholics, he picks and chooses dimensions of the faith to highlight while ignoring or even contradicting other parts."
"There is a phrase that we have used in the past, a 'cafeteria Catholic' — you choose that which is attractive and dismiss that which is challenging," Gregory added.
Easter Sunday will not fall on March 31 again for at least the next decade. But Christians are already anticipating the next boot of the Biden's Democratic party to drop.
Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.
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"Cafeteria Catholics" are dining in Hell's Kitchen.