No, Father Drinan may be a devout Catholic, but that is certainly no guarantee that he is a Christian. He may or may not be (some RCC adherents are), but his 'devotion' to the RCC doesn't do it. A Christian is one with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; commitments to ceremonial observances and/or human organizations have nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to do with it.
Same is true with Harriet Miers. Her affiliation with a Bible-oriented church makes it more likely that she is a Christian, but still no guarantee. But, assuming arguendo that she is, it makes all the difference. Ideas have consequences and we haven't had an evangelical Christian on the Court in at least half a century.
It is ironic that liberals are (so far) ignoring her (apparent) Christian commitment. Trust me, when it becomes apparent that she is a Christian, they will swing round on her with all the rage that heathens can mount.
I believe this is why this President feels confident in selecting her -- she is a sister in Christ and the Pres knows it.
Then again, someone's religious convictions don't necessarily serve as the best indication of their political beliefs.
As I mentioned earlier, Robert Bork was a brilliant legal mind when he led a more or less secular lifestyle, and his legal reasoning did not become less-or more-incisive when he decided to come into the fold of the Church.
He may now be a Roman Catholic, but above and beyond that he has an astoundingly penetrating judicial intellect.
Personally, I don't know whether Justices Luttig, Jones, Rogers-Brown, Batchelder, et. al., are skeptical Unitarians or bible-thumping Pentecostals, and to be perfectly honest, I could care less.
What I do know is that they are brilliant jurists, any one of whom would have made a superb Supreme Court justice.
For me, that should be the sole determinant of who gets to sit on the bench.
" No, Father Drinan may be a devout Catholic, but that is certainly no guarantee that he is a Christian. He may or may not be (some RCC adherents are), but his 'devotion' to the RCC doesn't do it. A Christian is one with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; commitments to ceremonial observances and/or human organizations have nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to do with it."
Spare us the hidden Romanist attack here -- Those who express their faith as faithful Catholics are Christian -- in fact the same ancient Church that coined the term Christian coined the word Catholic -- ie Antioch!
Yes there are those who put their faith in rubrics and wrapping of the faith -- However, this is found in Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Syrian, Armenian, Protestant and Anglican traditions.
The fact that she tows a Bible in hand is no guarantee as well, but it a step in a postive direction.
IHMO Pres Bush realized he didn't have the political cache to nominate a judge w/ a record to the right of Scalia(a Catholic). He chose a judge who was a conservative in his opinion w/o a record.
You are right. It is so hard to separate your spiritual beliefs from your day to day walk. I am wondering if some of the Dems were hasty in their assumptions about her. It will be interesting to see how all of this will play out the next few days. If we find out more and more that she is a Christian conservative, Reid and the others will have egg on their faces. It will be hard to for them to come out against her when they have already endorsed her. I would really relish that.