The Supreme Court's right-wing Catholics are destroying true religious freedom

[marmar]

The Supreme Court's right-wing Catholics are destroying true religious freedom
Religious faith isn't the problem — but Texas ruling shows Supreme Court has been hijacked by Christian nationalism

By PHIL ZUCKERMAN - ANDREW L. SEIDEL
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 9:29AM


"The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion."

What forthright American declared such words? Bill Maher? Christopher Hitchens? Emma Goldman? No. They come from the Treaty of Tripoli, negotiated under George Washington, approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate and signed by President John Adams in 1797.

This early declaration — along with the First Amendment, which Thomas Jefferson solemnly revered "as building a wall of separation between church and state" — illustrates the unprecedented experiment our founders sought to test: a secular republic ruled by democratic laws, not sectarian faith; a nation whose government based its authority upon "we, the people" and not commandments handed down by distant gods. It is a brilliant endowment, given that in a pluralistic democracy such as ours, with people of many faiths and no faiths at all, we purposefully govern ourselves via secular legislation, not religious decrees

But today, this bold pillar of American democracy is rotting fast. It is under attack by theocrats, especially those who sit on our Supreme Court. Their recent ruling making it nearly illegal for a woman to get an abortion in Texas is the latest terrifying case in point.

The problem is not religion, or even Catholicism. After all, many of our leaders, such as President Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, are themselves Roman Catholics, and they all affirm reproductive choice as a constitutional right. In fact, 56% of Catholics in the United States support this right. Heck, Mexico — a nation of more than 130 million people, over 80% of them Catholic — just legalized abortion last week. And Mexico is only the latest in a long line of heavily Catholic countries to do so, including Argentina in 2020, Ireland in 2018 and Uruguay in 2012, along with Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Rwanda and others before them.

So again, the problem isn't religion, per se. Rather, it is the kind of religion at play. The kind that a majority of our Supreme Court embraces: a crusading, activist, theocratic religious fundamentalism that prioritizes fealty to a particular conservative interpretation of God's supposed will over the democratically-sustained rights of American citizens. It's the lethal mix of religion and politics that our founders sought to restrain. It's Christian nationalism. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/09/14/the-supreme-courts-right-wing-catholics-are-destroying-true-religious-freedom/

[malaise]

1. Many Catholics don't believe in religious freedom

or any other freedom. They'd reintroduce the orthodoxy of the holy Roman empire in a flash.

[multigraincracker]

3. Well, as this is a Christian Nation as

confirmed by them because the majority of Americans are Christian, it is now determined that Catholics are the majority in this country. This and the Supreme Court have now declared this a Catholic Country, by their own logic.

I don't think this idea is going to fly with some, but so be it. After the current Pope is gone, look for the new Pope to be the final word in this new Catholic County.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations_by_number_of_members

[no_hypocrisy]

2. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has been warning about this situation for decades.

[Wounded Bear]

4. K & R...nt

[snowybirdie]

5. One of the

Reasons there are so many ex Catholics and cafeteria Catholics.

[Demsrule86]

6. Oh please, it is to be expected that this court will do what they do...that is why in 2016 it

was imperative to elect Hillary Clinton. We didn't and now face consequences for decades. You lose the court this is what happens.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. I remember when protestants were really worried about Catholic intolerance.

LOL! They gave JFK a really hard time.

And, look where we are today.

[3catwoman3]

8. I am pretty much at the point where I think there...

...SHOULD be a religious test for holding office - only atheists and agnostics need apply.

[ShazzieB]

9. But that would disqualify Joe Biden and the others mentioned in the o.p.!

And many, many others besides!

There are plenty of religious people around who understand the separation of church and state and realize that belonging to a religion that espouses particular views does not give them the right to enact those views into law or enforce them as such.

Or to put it another way--

NEWSFLASH: ALL people of faith are actually NOT 100% evil! I swear!

Seriously, the knee-jerk religion bashing around here is a bit much sometimes. This is one of those times.

[UTUSN]

10. K&R

Last edited Thu Sep 16, 2021, 12:23 AM - Edit history (2)