RENDER
Scoring politicians against 2,000 years of moral tradition
Catholic Social Teaching · Political Alignment Index
What is Render?
Render measures how closely a politician's legislative record — votes, executive actions, sponsored legislation — aligns with Catholic Social Teaching. It is nonpartisan, non-denominational, and based exclusively on what politicians do, never what they say.
Every score is sourced and auditable. We track 13 issues across two categories: Intrinsic Evils (moral absolutes the Church admits no exceptions to, weighted 2×) and Prudential Issues (areas where the Church mandates ends but allows debate on means, weighted 1×).
Each politician receives two composite scores: Composite A (doctrinal purity — how aligned is the overall record?) and Composite B (pragmatic Catholic — where the politician has power, are they using it in alignment with Church teaching?). The gap between them reveals whether alignment is performing or merely theoretical.
Featured Politicians
View all →Donald Trump
President of the United States
Composite A
1.9/10Doctrinal
Composite B
1.6/10Pragmatic
Gap (B−A)
-0.25Doctrinal↑
Gavin Newsom
Governor of California
Composite A
6.6/10Doctrinal
Composite B
6.7/10Pragmatic
Gap (B−A)
+0.15Pragmatic↑
Zohran Mamdani
New York State Assemblymember, District 36
Composite A
7.5/10Doctrinal
Composite B
8.3/10Pragmatic
Gap (B−A)
+0.82Pragmatic↑
Doctrinal Scale
Every issue gets a score from 1 (actively legislating against Church teaching) to 5 (full alignment). A ±0.5 ecosystem adjustment extends the range to 0.5–5.5.
Source Tiers
Evidence is ranked: votes and executive actions (Tier 1) outweigh sponsored bills (Tier 2), official positions (Tier 3), and statements (Tier 4, tiebreaker only). Every dossier entry links to a primary source.
Two Composites
Composite A measures doctrinal alignment across all issues. Composite B weights by actionability — how much power this politician actually has to move each issue. The gap (B − A) shows whether alignment is active or rhetorical.
13 Issues Tracked
Intrinsic Evils — 2.0× Weight
- Abortion
- End of Life Policy
- Torture
- Capital Punishment
Prudential Issues — 1.0× Weight
- Immigration
- Labor Rights
- Criminal Justice
- Healthcare
- Housing
- Foreign Aid
- Economic Policy
- Environment
- Foreign Wars
Render does not evaluate the faith, sincerity, or Catholic identity of any politician. A low score does not mean someone is a bad Catholic. A high score does not mean someone is a good one.
Render is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of the Catholic Church, the USCCB, or any Catholic institution.