Religious Belief and the Judiciary

One of the chief fanatical wingnuts, Tony Perkins, says It Is About Religious Belief when it comes to secular opposition to certain judges. You know what Tony? You are absolutely right, it is.

Judge Charles Pickering was questioned about a statement he made as the head of the Mississippi Southern Baptist Convention, in which he said that the Bible is an "absolute authority" for human conduct -- a standard that just about any religious person would hold.

Yes Mr Perkins that is enough to disqualify someone from the courts in this secular nation. Why? Because Pickering is not talking about my God or my interpretation of the Bible, he is talking about his. He has also made it plain that his interpretation of the Bible will impact his interpretation of the Constitution and the secular law of the land. That is the very thing people came to this country to avoid. Mr Pickering's interpretation of the Bible may be held by a majority in Mississippi, I don't know, but I do know that it is not held by a majority in Oregon, Washington or California. I do not want a fanatical Christian interpreting the laws of the land anymore than I want a member of the Taliban doing it. It is about Religious Belief, a specific Religious Belief held by a minority of Americans that makes fanatical Christians like Judge Pickering just as unacceptable as fanatical Islamic clerics to hold positions that require interpretation of the law. While they object to comparisons with the Taliban when you look at what they believe you will see they have a great deal of common ground.

This is not a crusade to keep people of faith out of the judiciary but to keep people of dogmatic unbending faith off the bench. A faith that does not represent the beliefs of the majority of Americans.

Cross Posted at Running Scared