--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We're Catholics before we're Democrats…" description: "\"We're Catholics before we're Democrats. We're Catholics before we're Republicans. We're even Catholics before we're Americans, because we know that God..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af2/charles-j-chaput-16023_catholic_we-re-catholics-before-we-re-democrats-w_2074432.jpg" --- # We're Catholics before we're Democrats. We're Catholics… ![“We're Catholics before we're Democrats. We're Catholics before we're Republicans. We're even Catholics before we're Americans, because we know that God has a demand on us prior to any government demand on us. And this has been the story of the martyrs through the centuries.” quote by Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af2/charles-j-chaput-16023_catholic_we-re-catholics-before-we-re-democrats-w_2074432.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af2/charles-j-chaput-16023_catholic_we-re-catholics-before-we-re-democrats-w_2074432.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af2/charles-j-chaput-16023_catholic_we-re-catholics-before-we-re-democrats-w_2074432.jpg) > “We're Catholics before we're Democrats. We're Catholics before we're Republicans. We're even Catholics before we're Americans, because we know that God has a demand on us prior to any government demand on us. And this has been the story of the martyrs through the centuries.” [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He asserts that religious identity precedes political affiliation, emphasizing divine authority over governmental demands. **In simple terms:** Faith comes before politics. Key Takeaway Prioritize spiritual commitments over partisan loyalties. Themes faith politics identity martyrdom Mood reflective serious Type inspirational ethical When to use this quote - Voting decisions - public policy debates - personal moral dilemmas Key Concepts Divine sovereignty citizen responsibility historical sacrifice Questions to Reflect On - How do you navigate conflicts between church teachings and civic laws? - What does martyrdom mean today? A Different Perspective Balancing civic duties with religious convictions can be complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Catholic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholic/) [Catholics Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholics-americans-2164666/) [Catholics Democrats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholics-democrats-4019975/) [Catholics Republicans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catholics-republicans-4019974/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democrat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democrat/) [Democrats Catholics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democrats-catholics-4019972/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/martyr/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Republican](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republican/) [Republicans Catholics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republicans-catholics-4019973/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ## Related quotes > [As Pope Francis visits the United States for the very first time, it is our privilege as Catholics and Americans to welcome His Holiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/as-pope-francis-visits-the-united-states-for-the-very-first-time-it/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [The king has been very good to me. He promoted me from a simple maid to be a marchioness. Then he raised me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-boleyn/the-king-has-been-very-good-to-me-he-promoted-me-from-a-simple-maid/) [Anne Boleyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-boleyn/) > [I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for their religion - I have shudder'd at it. I shudder no more. I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-have-been-astonished-that-men-could-die-martyrs-for-their-religion/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [For me getting paid for art is a class issue. I don't have the luxury not to care. It's great if your parents buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-georges/for-me-getting-paid-for-art-is-a-class-issue-i-don-t-have-the-luxury/) [Nicole Georges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-georges/) > [Russian people, like their Chinese comrades, are well aware of what is going on. And there are tens of millions of their martyrs who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-vltchek/russian-people-like-their-chinese-comrades-are-well-aware-of-what-is/) [Andre Vltchek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-vltchek/) > [All of us have a secret desire to be seen as saints, heroes, martyrs. We are afraid to be children, to be ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/all-of-us-have-a-secret-desire-to-be-seen-as-saints-heroes-martyrs-we/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [Martyrs do not underrate the body, they allow it to be elevated on the cross. In this they are at one with their antagonists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/martyrs-do-not-underrate-the-body-they-allow-it-to-be-elevated-on-the/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [“The first that dies is a martyr, and dies for his religion; and of such it may more truly be said than of soldiers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/the-first-that-dies-is-a-martyr-and-dies-for-his-religion-and-of-such/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) > [Acquiring a repertoire in these days, when the vocal literature is so immense, so overwhelming, that the student with sense will devote all his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alma-gluck/acquiring-a-repertoire-in-these-days-when-the-vocal-literature-is-so/) [Alma Gluck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alma-gluck/) > [It is not a process of bargaining or give-and-take. The peace process is not about giving concessions. 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To imprison me is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-taymiyyah/what-can-my-enemies-do-to-me-my-paradise-is-in-my-heart-it-is-with-me/) [Ibn Taymiyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-taymiyyah/) > [Martyrdom has always been a proof of the intensity, never of the correctness of a belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schnitzler/martyrdom-has-always-been-a-proof-of-the-intensity-never-of-the/) [Arthur Schnitzler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schnitzler/) > [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [The oppressed martyrs of our culture have shed blood that nourish the red tulips of our nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmud-tarzi/the-oppressed-martyrs-of-our-culture-have-shed-blood-that-nourish-the/) [Mahmud Tarzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmud-tarzi/) > [When Jesus Christ shed his blood on the cross, it was not the blood of a martyr; or the blood of one man for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/when-jesus-christ-shed-his-blood-on-the-cross-it-was-not-the-blood-of/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) ## More by Charles J. Chaput > [“The point of this work and the Christian life as a whole is not burden and drudgery, but joy. Jesus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/the-point-of-this-work-and-the-christian-life-as-a-whole-is-not/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [ “This post-Christian confusion—MacIntyre calls it “emotivism”—now shapes American public life. In such an environment, the purpose of moral discourse, he writes, “\[becomes\] the attempt… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/this-post-christian-confusion-macintyre-calls-it-emotivism-now-shapes/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“We live in a culture eager to make truth a boutique experience as malleable as our personal tastes require.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/we-live-in-a-culture-eager-to-make-truth-a-boutique-experience-as/) [Charles J. 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Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“in a chapter on “repairing God’s house,” they’ll find no new ideas for projects, programs, studies, procedures for nominating bishops, committees, structures, offices, synods,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/in-a-chapter-on-repairing-god-s-house-they-ll-find-no-new-ideas-for/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“Parents often complain that America’s education establishment abuses the classroom and misuses their children by preaching new moral orthodoxies on a whole range of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/parents-often-complain-that-america-s-education-establishment-abuses/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“One of Christianity’s key contributions to Western civilization was to give men and women a sense of freedom from the whims of fate, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/one-of-christianity-s-key-contributions-to-western-civilization-was/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“One of the ways in which a good Christian marriage mirrors the divine is that, just as God’s love overflowed into creation, so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/one-of-the-ways-in-which-a-good-christian-marriage-mirrors-the-divine/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“It also attracts thousands of others to the faith. Bland secular platitudes, consumer junk, and cheap nihilism feed nobody’s soul. These things strangle the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/it-also-attracts-thousands-of-others-to-the-faith-bland-secular/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“When we hope, we trust in God. When we despair or presume, we choose to trust ourselves instead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/when-we-hope-we-trust-in-god-when-we-despair-or-presume-we-choose-to/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“The late distinguished sociologist Robert Nisbet, following Tocqueville, argued that when the forces of personal liberation are dominant in a culture, the result is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/the-late-distinguished-sociologist-robert-nisbet-following/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [Epic: A Journey Through Church History fills an urgent need for adult Catholics to recover their history as a believing community, debunk false criticisms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/epic-a-journey-through-church-history-fills-an-urgent-need-for-adult/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“Latino evangelicals are much more socially conservative than Latino Catholics … So when these people convert from Catholicism to evangelicalism, they actually come closer to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/latino-evangelicals-are-much-more-socially-conservative-than-latino/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) > [“M. Scott Peck’s classic book People of the Lie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-j-chaput/m-scott-peck-s-classic-book-people-of-the-lie/) [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) [Explore all 41 Charles J. Chaput quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) ## More Catholic quotes > [I am a practicing Catholic, but my lineage is Jewish, so if someone asks me if I'm Jewish, I say yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-campbell/i-am-a-practicing-catholic-but-my-lineage-is-jewish-so-if-someone/) [Neve Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neve-campbell/) > [I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-catholic-and-i-can-t-commit-suicide-but-i-plan-to-drink-myself-to/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [ The young man \[Turgot\] destined for an ecclesiastical career was placed within walls carefully designed to keep out all currents of new thought; his… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-dickson-white/the-young-man-turgot-destined-for-an-ecclesiastical-career-was-placed/) [Andrew Dickson White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-dickson-white/) > [Like many other scientists who hold the Catholic faith, I see the Creator's plan and purpose fulfilled in our universe. I see a planet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/like-many-other-scientists-who-hold-the-catholic-faith-i-see-the/) [Kenneth R. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [I'm the daughter of a Kenyan Catholic father and a Mauritian Hindu mother, and I have a Jewish husband who was born in South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suella-braverman/i-m-the-daughter-of-a-kenyan-catholic-father-and-a-mauritian-hindu/) [Suella Braverman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suella-braverman/) > [The reason I went to an all-boys Catholic school was because they had the best football team. 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