May the dogma be with you

Catholic dogmaCatholics are well-represented on the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor are Catholics. Retiring justice Anthony Kennedy is Catholic.

Three justices are Jewish: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Elena Kagan. The only Protestant on the Court is Neil Gorsuch, who was raised Roman Catholic, but now attends an Episcopal church.

Catholic dogma

Amy Barrett is on President Trump’s short-list to replace Justice Kennedy. Interestingly, she also is a Catholic, which should be a non-issue. After all, religious litmus tests are un-Constitutional, and after all, the Court has confirmed a number of Catholics in recent decades.

And after all, the Senate confirmed her to the circuit court by 55-43 last October.

However, Judge Barrett’s Catholicism was a significant impediment to Democrats in her confirmation hearing last year. Their unspoken concern seems to be that she takes her Catholicism seriously. In other words, she appears to be a practicing Catholic who embraces Catholic dogma.

Member of “People of Praise”

As the Wall Street Journal points out this morning, she is also a member of a “parachurch” called People of Praise , which one Democrat has labeled as a cult (it’s not). The group cultivates small communities of faith around the world modeled on the Sermon on the Mount and animated by the Holy Spirit.

In other words, these are people of faith who sincerely try to live out their Christian faith in the public square by helping those who need help. They embrace the American ideal of God-given rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Watch the video below which describes their outreach.

Nine out of ten members are Catholic. But some Catholics have been critical of the group for being too ecumenical and not enough Catholic. Secularists have been critical since women don’t hold positions of authority in the group.

Democrats’ concerns towards Ms. Barrett come down to a single reason: Roe V Wade. The Left suspects she’s a raging pro-lifer. After all she has five biological children. Even worse, she adopted two more children from Haiti, exposing the lie promulgated by the Left that pro-lifers don’t care about babies after they’re born. Ms. Barrett shames these abortion zealots by modeling adoption as a better solution than abortion.

This is a woman who clearly cares about life. And she’s Catholic. And she lives out her faith.

Democrats are aghast

Senator Diane Feinstein uttered the clumsiest, most bigoted comment we’ve heard from a Senator in a long time:

“I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for years in this country.”

Ms. Barrett is too Catholic for the good Senator. Ms. Feinstein has no problem with dogma, since her party is dogmatic when it comes preserving human abortion. Catholicism’s pro-life belief system threatens liberal sensibilities since liberal judges tend to decide cases based on feelings and personal political views, not the substance of the law. They’re afraid she’ll do the same, despite her comments to the contrary:

“Judges cannot — nor should they try to — align our legal system with the Church’s moral teaching whenever the two diverge. They should, however, conform their own behavior to the Church’s standard. Perhaps their good example will have some effect.”

Barrett’s reaction to Roe V Wade

For her part, Ms. Barrett does not believe that Roe V Wade will be overturned, but that the issue ultimately comes down to who decides the issue, the feds or the states:

“It brings up an issue of judicial review: Does the court have the capacity to decide that women have the right to obtain an abortion, or should it be a matter for state legislatures?”

The pro-abortion group, NARAL, issued a dire warning regarding Judge Barrett:

“Barrett’s record speaks for itself: She is aligned with extreme, anti-choice organizations, and her writings make clear that she believes Roe v. Wade was incorrectly decided. With a lifetime appointment, Barrett can impose her extreme anti-choice ideology onto women and families for much longer than Donald Trump will occupy the White House.”

What is this extreme, “anti-choice” organization? The Roman Catholic Church. May the pro-life Catholic dogma be with you!

[Speaking of dogma, be sure to attend the Iowans for LIFE banquet called “A Clash of Creeds” on October 24th. Three “dogmatic” women, Margaret Sanger, Ayn Rand, and St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta will discuss their respective creeds. GK Chesterton will try to keep the peace!]

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  1. […] Ms. Barrett’s Catholicism led adversarial Senators to grill her aggressively in her last confirmation hearing. […]