I largely agree with Rick Garnett and the article he links at Mirrors Of Justice. The article is getting some play today. See
"The Moral and Legal Obligations of Catholic Judges"
I give Catholic Judges some slack that I don't get give Catholic Legislators to a certain degree. Of course certain details and situations can make it much more complicated.
Archbishop Chaput in a journalists Q & A a few years ago seems have similar thoughts. See from 2009 The Political Obligations of Catholics: A Conversation With the Most Rev. Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver
CROMARTIE: Let me follow up her question by asking one of my own, adding to it. What would you think about nine Catholics on the court? Is there a statute of limitations on the number of Catholics that can be on the court? Wendy, I know that you would probably appreciate that addition to your question.
CHAPUT: The Supreme Court doesn’t make law, as we know. It interprets the law. I think it’s much easier from a moral perspective to be a justice – a judge – than it is to be a legislator. Legislators are the ones who make laws and change laws. But to interpret the law in its fidelity to the Constitution is a much less morally compromising kind of position to have, I think.
I’d rather be a justice than a politician, in terms of dealing with my conscience, because if we write bad laws in this country that are constitutional, then the judges – the justices – have to interpret the laws as allowed by the Constitution, even if they don’t like them, even if they would think they’re not good for the country, it seems to me, even if they think they’re not moral. That’s what justices do. So I had the impression that Wendy thinks that the Supreme Court writes the law. Certainly that’s not my impression. I know it can’t write the law. In terms of not wanting all the justices to be Catholics, I agree with you, Michael. That would not be a good idea in the United States.
I do not ever vote for a Catholic! They are not loyal Americans, they are loyal to Rome. People knew better before JFK, and now lots of them have been elected and the Supreme Court is stacked with them. I am sure that many of them are nice enough people, they are just not loyal Americans, and if they want to serve in an office they should go to the Vatican and serve in an office there.
ReplyDeleteJS are you being serious. How has the Vatican been served in any biased way way with the Catholics on the Bench
ReplyDeleteI found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Traceback to it on my weblog. Thanks
ReplyDeleteYou bet I am serious. To break down the barrier of Americans having better since than to elect Catholics, JFK talked about the "absolute separation of church and state", and he promised that no Catholic official would ever seek or accept directions from the Vatican. But now in these days we have Catholic priests threatening to excommunicate elected Catholic officials if they do not legislate or rule as they are directed from the Vatican. Allowing Catholics to hold office in a free country is just something that should have never happened. We know where their loyalties lie, and that they do not and have never believed in separation of church and state. They may be good folks, they just don't believe in the American way. Their loyalty is to the Pope.
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