This past Saturday when President Trump named Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court of the United States, the media maelstrom began. The liberal press whose bias is opposed to all things conservative recognizes that Barrett’s judicial ideology is the opposite of Ginsburg and the subterfuge started.
Unable to find fault with Barrett’s education, legal practice and morality they attacked her religious affiliation; one article claimed she was a member of a “secret” religious sect called “People of Praise,” a charismatic Catholic group. They are so secretive they have a public website explaining in detail what they believe and practice.
The prophet Isaiah warned, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,” Isaiah 5:20. The news media does this regularly, misrepresenting the truth. How can an organization be called “secretive” when it has a public website that clearly and openly states its beliefs and practices?
I have visited the People of Praise website; I found it by googling it. But by calling it a “secretive” organization it connotes the idea that nominee Barrett has something to hide. Beginning with her parents, Barrett’s family has been associated with People of Praise for over four decades; it wasn’t a furtive association.
The Associated Press did a thorough investigation of the sect and the worst indictment it could muster is People of Praise affirms the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body,” Ephesians 5:22-23.
The Christian view of the headship of the husband in the home is likened to that of Christ Himself who sacrificed Himself to save the church. Husband headship is not a dictatorial headship, but like Christ the husband is willing to lay down his life if need be to ensure the wellbeing and best interests of his wife and family. It is not an attack on female equality.
There is another issue here more legal than spiritual. Article VI of the Constitution of the United States declares “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
I am not aware of nominee Barrett ever making her religious views an issue, but she is not required to. Her personal beliefs are her business and no one else’s. The sole consideration before the United States Senate are her legal views and her stand on the Constitution of the United States, not her religious beliefs.
Thirteen years ago when Ginsburg was 80, President Obama invited her to a private luncheon. He hinted that if she would retire he could nominate a younger liberal judge that would be on the bench for decades; Ginsburg declined. Of course, she hoped to retire while a Democrat was president; she waited too long.
Leave a Reply