Since Joe Biden’s inauguration, the rhetorical tongue bath he’s received in the press has been a sight to behold. I’m not sure it tops Barack Obama’s first few days on the job, but it’s darn close, and it’s the polar opposite of the treatment Donald Trump was privy to.

Even still, this seems a bit excessive, right?

President Biden is perhaps the most religiously observant commander in chief in half a century. A different, more liberal Christianity grounds his life and his policies. https://t.co/G27AWibfSe

— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 23, 2021

Contrary to your typical beltway journalist’s assumptions, simply going to church does not make you religiously observant. An atheist can go sit on a pew every week. So can a dog if they were so inclined. That doesn’t mean they are actually observing the religion they claim to be a part of. Biden is not a Catholic in any real sense of the word. He’s a typical liberal that picks and chooses what he likes like from Christianity is some kind of buffet. The church is more of a social club than fits one’s political sensibilities than it is an organization of infallible truth in God. Biden is free to be that kind of “Christian,” but he’s not free to pretend he’s devout or observant when he’s clearly not.

Further, the baseline assertion by the Times is false anyway. George W. Bush not only went to church, he also held to the actual teachings of Christianity far more devoutly than Joe Biden. By every definition, he was more observant than Biden. Last I checked, his two terms were not over 50 years ago.

No matter, Biden is also like the Pope.

He’s been President for 3 days and the media has already crowned him the new pope

Absolutely mind blowing pic.twitter.com/ZrswxL50FM

— The Dank Knight 🦇 (@capeandcowell) January 24, 2021

Look, I’m not a fan of the latest Pope, nor am I a Catholic so my thoughts on the entire idea of such an office will differ from others. Regardless, I am confident that the Pope has about as much in common with Joe Biden as I do with Bernie Sanders. Yes, there are environmental and economic issues with which a lot of Catholics (and non-Catholics) disagree with the Pope on, but he does still affirm life, biological realties, and traditional marriage, among other long-standing teachings of the church. Biden can’t even hold to the most basic of tenants of his religion. That doesn’t make it him observant. It makes him a heretic if you want to get technical. There is no such thing as “liberal” Christianity.

I’m not a fan of having to critique someone’s else’s religion in this setting. RedState is a political website after all, but when the media (and Biden himself) so blatantly try to gaslight everyone in this way, it deserves a response. Biden may wake up on Sunday and listen to a sermon, but his actions and policy positions clearly show he’s not taking much of what he hears to heart. That’s his right in a free country, but no one should pretend he’s anything more than what he is.

(Please follow me on Twitter…@bonchieredstate)