(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito has a Christian nationalism problem. Or maybe, more accurately, the country has a real problem with Justice Alito’s Christian fundamentalism.
Alito’s vacation home on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, flew an “Appeal to Heaven” flag. The flag dates back to the Revolutionary War, but has seen a resurgence in popularity as a symbol of Christian nationalism and support for Donald Trump. It was favored by a religious strain of January 6th rioters. Far-right evangelical figure Dutch Sheets is behind the comeback of the symbol and has written of the flag, “[a]ppeal to heaven daily for a spiritual revolution that will knock out the Goliaths of our day.”
Alito was also caught on tape saying there are “fundamental things that really can’t be compromised” with the left. And that he thinks the country needs to return to a place of godliness.
Even if you believe Alito’s excuse that his wife was behind the religious flag or that the hidden recording nullifies the content, the nation is still left with the worrying perception that Alito has a very specific world view he’s pushing from the bench.
Because all of that Christianity from a man who, by occupation, is supposed to ensure there’s a separation of church and state can be mighty uncomfortable for non-Christians. The Hill spoke with Jewish senators who expressed deep concerns about the religious extremism being enshrined by the Court. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) pointed out the problems with the Court’s jurisprudence for religious minorities.
He said the conservative majority’s erosion of individual rights, including the right to abortion and potentially the right to contraception or same-sex marriage, is especially worrisome “to those of us that have different religious views.”
“I do worry that when you get these fundamentalist views that we’re a Christian state when we’re not a Christian state, the minority religions are going to be in trouble,” he said.
Cardin said “the trend of this court” is “you see four or five justices that have seemed to be pretty determined for an agenda to take us in a wrong direction.”
“When I’m in a meeting, a public meeting, I don’t particularly want to hear government officials supporting one religion over another. And I’m in a minority religion, being Jewish, so I want to make sure there’s not an expansion for that,” he said.
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) expressed extreme concern over the trends and said “to advance one faith over another or to discriminate against any faith is abhorrent and repugnant and should never be part of any law in this country.”
“I think there is a far-right group that is exploiting religion for a political agenda that is anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-science and wants to roll back our essential constitutional rights, and they’re exploiting every institution, whether the Supreme Court or Congress, to advance that agenda,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who is Jewish, said when asked about the rise of Christian nationalism on the right and the display of the “Appeal to Heaven” flag at Alito’s property.
“I’m not a sure that a lot of the faith leaders in this country realize how potentially damaging to democracy it is,” he said.
Blumenthal said he’s worried Alito’s biggest decisions have blurred the line between church and state.
“It’s downright scary,” he said. “The founders of our Constitution came to this country or descended from people who made that journey here because they wanted to be free of the government telling them what their faith and religious belief should be.”
But it isn’t just senators that are legitimately concerned about the direction of the Court — and the country. Rabbi Jonah Pesner, the director of the nonpartisan Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, said, “What I’m hearing from my congregants is real concern. When the state gets involved in matters of religion, it mucks them up. They should stay out of the walls of our synagogues and our mosques.
“It’s, generally speaking, the kind of white Christian tradition that imposes itself on the public square, then all minorities suffer,” he continued. “What I’m hearing from my congregants is a real concern with this rising trend of white Christian nationalism.”
And it really problematic that the institution that’s meant to stop the tyranny of the majority is the one egging them on.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.