Democrat Bigotry

Senator Feinstein

                                           

Recently, Democrat Senator Diane Feinstein of California grilled Amy Coney Barrett during confirmation hearings for her nomination by President Trump to the United States Court of Appeals. Barrett is a Professor of Law at Notre Dame University as well as the mother of seven children. She is obviously an intelligent, successful woman but Feinstein found a fatal flaw.

Poring over an article that Barrett had co-authored 20 years ago, Feinstein objected to the fact that Barrett was a Catholic, in particular a Catholic with a deep respect for Catholic dogma. She questioned whether Barrett’s respect for Catholic dogma would interfere with her fairness in upholding the laws of this country.

Amy Coney Barrett

Can anyone begin to imagine the furor if someone had dared to ask Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a current Supreme Court Justice, whether she thought her Jewish heritage and beliefs would prevent her from upholding the Constitution? Even today, just imagine if someone were to question a Moslem candidate for office about his or her devotion to Islamic teaching or law.

It is obvious that for Feinstein “dogma” is just a code word for the Catholic teaching on abortion. She certainly wasn’t talking about Church teachings about the Immaculate Conception or the Assumption of Mary. She admitted that she and other defenders of women had fought long and hard on behalf of women’s reproductive rights. Ironically, she chose to say this to an intelligent, career woman who had also chosen to have seven children.

She didn’t come out and say it but Feinstein and her Democrat colleagues on the Committee came close to arguing for a religious test for Federal judges. Senator Dick Durbin even went so far as to ask Barrett what kind of Catholic she was. He asked her to define an “orthodox” Catholic and asked if she was one.  In other words, if she is a Catholic who follows the teachings of her Church about the sanctity of life, she would not be qualified to hold office.

There is an article in the Constitution that prohibits a religious test for those who would hold office in this country. It is in Article 6, Section 3, and comes almost at the end of the document. Here is the text.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

The framers of the Constitution were very familiar with the term “religious test.” Ever since the Protestant Reformation Roman Catholics had been brutally persecuted in Great Britain. Nevertheless, Catholicism persisted in the British Isles but even when outright persecution tapered off, Catholics were still forbidden to practice their faith in public, a practice that extended to most of the colonies in America. Of course, they were forbidden to hold office.

At the end of the 17^th century Parliament even passed a number of “Test Acts” that required all public officials to be members of the Church of England. The Test Acts not only excluded Catholics but also Protestants who did not adhere to the Anglican church. Jews were also excluded.

Although most of the framers of the Constitution were members of the Church of England, there was enough religious diversity in the new country to lead them to eliminate a religious test to hold office. As if that was not enough, the famous First Amendment made it clear that the new government would not have the power to establish a State religion.

In objecting to an otherwise qualified candidate just because she is Catholic, or because she has Catholic beliefs, Feinstein and others are coming close to setting up a religious test and violating the Constitution they have sworn to uphold. Anti-Catholic religious bigotry lurks behind their code words and innuendoes.

The greatest and most respected judge of the recent past was the late Antonin Scalia, a Catholic. In this brief video he gave Senator Feinstein, an extremely dogmatic and orthodox liberal, a lesson on the Constitution. 

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