Although the credibility of the Catholic League is not that great, this story about anti-Catholicism among evangelical GOP supporters is entirely plausible.
Voters are urged by Pastor Tim Rude to choose Huckabee, a Protestant, over Brownback, a former Protestant who converted to Roman Catholicism a few years ago. The money quote:
“I know Senator Brownback converted to Roman Catholicism in 2002. Frankly, as a recovering Catholic myself, that is all I need to know about his discernment when compared to the Governor's.”
A lot of Catholics I know are in denial about the extent and intensity of anti-Catholic sentiment among evangelical Protestants. I was raised to distrust Catholics and to believe that they aren’t even Christians, and even to this day my gut reaction to someone’s converting to Catholicism is negative. Intellectually, I realize it’s none of my business, but it evokes prejudices on a visceral level. The Pope’s recent reiteration that Protestant churches aren’t real churches will only make it worse.
Evangelical Protestants might be willing to support a Catholic candidate if he let it be known that he is not one of those really Catholicky Catholics. Otherwise, the whole Catholic thing freaks them out. You know who else is Catholic? The hated Mexicans!
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