Explainer: What you should know about religious tests for public office

Recent media coverage and statements by public figures about Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a federal judge being considered for the Supreme Court, have raised concerns of a religious test being applied to judicial candidates who are associated with Christian groups. 

For example, Newsweek also published an piece with the title, “How Charismatic Catholic Groups Like Amy Coney Barrett’s People of Praise Inspired ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’” (The reference was to Margart Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the 1985 dystopian novel about women who are enslaved by quasi-Christian theocrats.) Newsweek later issued a correction stating, “The book’s author, Margaret Atwood, has never specifically mentioned the group as being the inspiration for her work,” but has not retracted the misleading article.

Similarly, the wire service Reuter’s published an article that was originally titled, “Handmaid’s Tale? U.S. Supreme Court candidate’s religious community under scrutiny.” The article claims that Barrett was an unconfirmed member of People of Praise, a “charismatic, ecumenical and covenant community” that includes “Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals and other denominational and nondenominational Christians.”

This Week at the ERLC

• Russell Moore was featured in this Baptist Press article, decrying reported hysterectomies on immigrants. He also has a piece at Christianity Today on the Supreme Court’s role. And he was announced as the recipient of The Religious Freedom Institute’s 2020 Defender of Religious Freedom Award.

• Jason Thacker has an article at the The Gospel Coalition about “The Social Dilemma” and another at Facts & Trends about facial recognition.

What You Need to Read

• Policy Staff with Explainer: What you need to know about the Adoptee Citizenship Act

Adopting from other countries is a privilege. Not every nation chooses to participate in intercountry adoption, and the United States should respect the countries that choose to participate by quickly securing permanent citizenship for the thousands of adoptees who are currently without. Rather than make the adoption process more difficult, our government should make it easier to adopt these children in need of a family.

• Andrew T. Walker and Josh Wester with How religion functions in public argument

No topic is more fraught in American life than the relationship between religion and politics. Someone’s understanding of the American experiment often hinges upon their understanding of how the two relate: Is America a mostly secular nation that should eschew religious influence? Or, does religion play an important role in America’s legacy in terms of its values and national identity? 

• Elizabeth Selle with How to walk with teens who struggle with depression and anxiety: Practical steps to point them to hope

I work as a biblical counselor primarily with teens and kids. Fresh in the field, I do not want to hold up my limited experience as an indicator of our culture or make overgeneralized conclusions. My observations, however, line up with evidence-based research surrounding teenage anxiety and depression. The problem of anxiety and depression in teenagers seems to have increased, and the struggle to find helpful means of coping persists.

• Jeff Pickering with Explainer: Religious liberty and Capitol Hill Baptist Church’s lawsuit in Washington, D.C.

The church argues that the mayor’s order applies more stringent rules to religious gatherings than it does to other similar social gatherings like restaurants or other outdoor gatherings, including protests. Large groups of people with a communicative purpose are permitted to gather outside without a size limit but churches of CHBC’s size are not.

News From Capitol Hill

Today, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the first woman and the first Jewish American to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol. She passed away one week ago tonight after a trail-blazing legal career and five battles with cancer.

On the night of her passing, Russell Moore commented:

"I had some major disagreements with Justice Ginsburg, but right now the most important thing for us to keep in mind is that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a human being and her family are our fellow human beings and our fellow Americans. We need to extend sympathy and pray for her family. And pray for our country in this really divided time.”

This news also brought back the Supreme Court into the forefront of many Americans’ minds, bringing another contentious battle over the vacancy. Moore wrote about this moment for Christianity Today and what evangelicals should expect—and not expect—from the highest court in the land.

“Ultimately, we should hope for a future where the Supreme Court plays a less central (and less divisive) role in our public life. . . . We should hope for a country where high-stakes 5-4 or 6-3 decisions are rarer than they are now—not because important issues aren’t litigated but because the country sees human dignity and public justice in ways that correspond to what our consciences already tell us.”

Moore continues by speaking about the issues top of mind for many Christians, the future for laws on abortion and religious liberty:

"Some decisions of the past may be overturned, and we should hope that they are. Evangelicals and others are right to see Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey as bad decisions, rooted in incoherent and contradictory legal assertions that restrict the state from even the most basic measures to curb violence against unborn children. The Smith decision—written by Justice Scalia—should be replaced with a decision that fully respects the First Amendment principles of religious free exercise. We should also hope for a Court that rejects on constitutional grounds any cruelty toward immigrant children who are brought into this country by their parents.

That said, even in the best of scenarios, the Supreme Court will not usher in a utopia for one ‘side’ or a dystopia for the other. Even if Roe is gone this year—and I hope that it is—that will not mean a pro-life America in which unborn children are, in the words of George W. Bush, ‘welcomed in life and protected in law.’

Yes, it would mean a necessary impediment is gone and a tragic stain is removed from the country’s legal status quo. But in some ways, the day after Roe will be the beginning of the pro-life movement, not the end of it.”

You can read Moore’s article here. For more on the late justice’s life, see this new article up today from Jeff Pickering on the admirable friendship of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia. 

“Justices Ginsburg and Scalia were icons for ideologically opposed corners of the electorate but their lives proved that friendship is an antidote for the contempt that too often accompanies political polarization. These two titans of the law mastered the balance of forceful political debate and a peaceful friendship. It’s a lesson we would all do well to consider in 2020.”

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