Posted on 01/10/2014 5:28:10 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o
Justice Sonia Sotomayor's recent ruling, issuing a stay on the fines for the Little Sisters of the Poor, struck some people in violent ways. One blogger, Jamie Stiehm writing for U.S. News, seems to think that Sotomayor outed herself as that most crass and small minded of people: a Catholic! This was certainly not a predictable outcome in the minds of those progressives who celebrated the elevation of the first "wise Latina" to the highest court in the land. She was supposed to stay on the reservation, of course, voting reliably to uphold the foundations of liberal orthodoxy, whenever they were threatened.
In the progressive worldview, contraception and abortion are to women what breathing and eating are to men: absolute necessities of life. Waivers are being handed out right and left for Obamacare victims, but no waivers for nuns. And if Justice Sotomayor stands up for the religious liberty of these noble women, well "she's just a good Catholic girl," in the snarky tone of Stiehm's blog post. In her opinion, that court is now the "Catholic Supreme Court," and it hates women.
In a rant of old fashioned anti-Catholic bigotry, of which there is a long history in the United States, we learn several scary things. "Catholics often try to impose their beliefs on you, me, public discourse and institutions. Especially if 'you' are female." And that when Thomas Jefferson championed the separation of church and state, he was "thinking particularly of pernicious Rome." Rome remains pernicious, apparently. The Little Sisters, who, by the way, take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in order to slave their lives away taking care of the indigent elderly, are terribly wily, and "seemingly innocent." And the big bad Catholic archbishops have painted a bullseye on the foreheads American females: "Their principal target for years on end has been squelching women and girls."
The kind of contempt the author spreads on the heads of Catholics, if written about any other group, would have her immediately barred from polite society, and justifiably. In her mind, there is a noble sisterhood, comprising at least her and Nancy Pelosi. Women who disagree with them are not sisters, though they may be nuns. As a wise Latina myself, I feel very sorry for Justice Sotomayor. She thought she was being celebrated for herself and her achievements in the face of societal barriers that should have kept a Hispanic woman down. It turns out she was just a token after all. Now that she has sided with religious liberty over liberal pieties, she has been unceremoniously dumped from the sisterhood.
I think that Justice Sotomayor understands something that Ms. Stiehm may never get. Governments that wish to preserve a truly pluralistic society must act with great delicacy and even tenderness when it comes to the conscientious scruples of its citizens. It is not necessary to share those scruples or even understand them. Progressives believe with all their soul that women's sexual liberty, untrammeled by copays or unwanted children, trumps any other "good," including religious freedom. They are free to propose that idea in the public square, and they do so with all the power of Hollywood, MTV and higher education behind them. They have the administration on their side, most newspapers and most TV stations. But they don't have most of the citizens of this country, they don't have the Catholic Church and they may have lost Justice Sotomayor.
Thanks for defending the trrth, Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie!
RE: “anti-Catholic bigotry, of which there is a long history in the United States”
Indeed. Just peruse the religion forum here on FR and you can see it in full display.
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Perhaps Dr. Christie has failed to notice that we ceased being a “polite society” some years back.
LOL. Which one is that?
I’m actually getting tired of reading non-Catholics views of my church here on FR.
Let’s pick o the Baptists or Methodists for a while..............
I think that’s a fair comment. On the other hand, many of us have been quite subdued in our attacks on the church concerning instances of abuse and the peripheral related issues.
I imagine that Justice Thomas can lend a sympathetic ear.
Though I also imagine it’s much worse for her considering she was supposed to toe the progressive line and didn’t.
I pray she stands strong.
What society are they talking about?
It’s not just Catholics, it’s all Christians. The progressives are anti-Christian, period. It’s just that Catholics are the biggest target, the big enchilada. Folks, we’d better stop this business of calling each other names, cults, apostates, etc. especially in a time when Christians of all stripes are being persecuted, again, both here and abroad. It is one thing to have differences in doctrine,but unless we stand together we are going to face further strife. We can have our debates but not do as liberals do and demonize those who we disagree with.
Liberal Protestant churches and liberal Catholics are never attacked. At the same time, the style of attacks on conservative Christians differs. Observe that the Stiehm' article is written strictly in anti-Catholic terms, with hints of dual loyalty of Catholics. Replace "Catholic" in his article with "Christian", "Muslim, "Jewish", "Indian" (in either sense of the word), "Eskimo" -- and you get a completely inadmissible, politically incorrect article. The point here is not that other faiths are not attacked, but that the accepted rules of journalistic behavior are thrown away when the Catholics are the target.
So along with Politically Correct; we are going to have Religiously Correct?
I don't think that'll become popular.
Right along side of the Anti-PROTESTant bigotry.
Fair and balanced is GOOD!
While...
I’m actually getting tired of reading Catholic views of my mine!
The Catholic church has never changed their teaching about the importance of Our Blessed Mother and her importance in the Holy Family. That’s why the Catholic church is enemy number one of all faiths to Satan. He tempted Eve but could never tempt her divine replacement. He will snipe at her heels until God the Father locks him up forever.
I'm tired of your church pushing communist social policies that affects my life and freedom.
They sure took their historical time about asserting such a wondrous victory... methinks Jesus does just fine making a zero out of Satan without anyone else’s help.
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