Current Events > Was it really that important that JFK was a Catholic president?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Important to him, important to this psycho father, important to the American public? I know Americans have this thing about the different groupings of Christians, but this seems...excessive.

I can only imagine how America would react if a practising Jew ran for the Oval Office. Possibly the first presidential candidate to lose all 50 states (not that he would've gotten through the primaries in the first place, but you get the idea).

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I think you're vastly underestimating how marginalized and hated Catholics were by the vast majority of protestant Americans up to that point. Kennedy winning the nomination and becoming president were massive milestones.
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considering many early american settlers were trying to get the fuck away from catholic oppression yeah, it was a big deal.
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Non Catholics thought JFK was going to give power to the pope and other stupid theories like how Obama was going to take our guns
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I suppose. But it's still hard to understand, as a Brit, how divided American Christians are.
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Sunhawk posted...

I suppose. But it's still hard to understand, as a Brit, how divided American Christians are.

.... not sure if serious. You guys had pub bombings in London and the Troubles in Ireland up to the early 90's due to the Protestant/Catholic divide. And the Catholics were far more persecuted in England than ever in the US prior to Catholic Emancipation in the 1830's or 40's.
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Sunhawk posted...

I suppose. But it's still hard to understand, as a Brit, how divided American Christians are.

That was then tho, I don't think it's much of an issue today.
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Ireland is very different to the rest of Britain. You will just have to take my word for it. They have a lot of serious religious problems. They aren't representative of the UK in general.
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Um yes.
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