The Supreme Court Likes Conservative Christianity



Anyone who watches the Supreme Court, including the Stare decisions made outside of court sessions, can see the term "religious liberty" means there are good versions of Christianity and not-so-good. The good versions, as conservatives see it, need favorable treatment. The long-standing ability of religions to get away with things that establish certain religious views as law has accelerated in this court.

This court majority was appointed around the time of Covid. Attending church services had the obvious risk of spreading disease. Religions kept pounding on the church attendance. One can read on the web the series of decisions that favor religion. This included overturning Roe which as we know backfired.

The New Yorker recently published a long profile of Chief Justice John Roberts. Its conclusion is that Roberts sees his mission as returning the Court to what it was in the 1950's. That is a court whose decisions reflect traditional views of religion and family. He sometimes stands apart from the Trump appointees but has been quite successful over his many years in his mission.

Pat Buchanan, a former columnist who went into politics, articulated the right's view of legal opinions and laws, "Why shouldn't our laws, court decisions and policies be like they were before Vietnam and all the things that have happened since then? Things made sense back then." Of course, they "made sense" to men, white people and the wealthy.

In spite of frustration with the court, Trump, wars and tariffs, I find optimism in the book written many years ago by the late Leader of the House, Democrat Tip O'Neil, All Politics are Local. While this is not literally true all the time, it is true often enough to steer the ship in a new direction. Right now, two Senate races are close in places where they should not be, Texas and Alaska. In both cases the local personalities seem to be driving things in favor of Democrats. If half the close races go to Democrats things eventually will change the Supreme Court. 

 

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