I agree. I'm a protestant, but I don't fault Catholics on their faith either. It is Weyrich's statement I have a problem with:
"I think he is a secret believer," Weyrich says of Bush.
No. He is not. He is a very public believer!
I interpret this to mean he was a follower of the Pope as he was reading his writings. I believe Bush read his book and writings to prepare himself to converse with the Pope when he met him. That would make Bush a boy scout, always prepared. Not a “closet” Catholic. It shows that Bush reaches out to others to understand them. Weyrich’s statements are silly.
Muslims are believers in Islam. Jews are believers in Judaism. Democrats are believers in Stalinism. And Catholics are believers in Catholicism. Protestants are believers in Protestantism. More broadly, Catholics and Protestants are believers in Christ. Weyrich was talking in the narrower sense: that Bush is a believer in Catholicism. I know in some Bible-Belt speech, “believer” means “Christian.” But Weyrich wasn’t speaking in that context. I’m sure he didn’t intend to say that Protestants aren’t believers in Christ.