April 26, 2005
Isn't there some law against saying things like that?
The bishops of the United Church of Secularism are probably having a cow right now. Their cozy theocracy is being challenged by a rival religion, one they thought they had driven underground lo these many years...
In particular, Janice Rogers Brown's nomination for the federal appeals bench has now gone to the Senate. And what did she have to say yesterday?
...The Advocate quoted Brown as lamenting that America had moved away from the religious traditions on which it was founded.
"When we move away from that, we change our whole conception of the most significant idea that America has to offer, which is this idea of human freedom and this notion of liberty," she said.
She added that atheism "handed human destiny over to the great god, autonomy, and this is quite a different idea of freedom…. Freedom then becomes willfulness."...
Her remarks are worth reading. I don't think this is any sort of "Profiles in Courage" thing. It might even make it harder for the filibusteros to stop her since they've been insisting that the accusation that they are showing religious bigotry in opposing judges is just absurd Republican fantasying. We shall see.
(Thanks to Captain Ed)
Posted by John Weidner at April 26, 2005 12:52 PM | TrackBack"When we move away from that, we change our whole conception of the most significant idea that America has to offer, which is this idea of human freedom and this notion of liberty," she said.
She added that atheism "handed human destiny over to the great god, autonomy, and this is quite a different idea of freedom…. Freedom then becomes willfulness."...
Seems to me that the "don't tread on me" version of freedom as autonomy is as old as the republic, and one that serves us well. I'm not sure I want a judge that has such a dim view of autonomy and willfulness or thinks that the religious tradition that our country was founded on is somehow opposed to them.
I'm not the least bit in favor of oppressing Christians of any stripe, but I don't want them to wind up oppressing me either. Outlawing things because you think God told you to is not a road I want to go down, and while I wish our liberal judges would strike down all the socialist crap that's been coming down the pike, I rather like it when they strike down laws against birth control and so forth.
Posted by: Ken at April 27, 2005 08:13 AMWhy do I get the feeling that most liberal hatred of outspoken Christians is based on one-third their appalled reaction in the 80s to Tammy Faye Baker and two-thirds their hatred of the Lawrence Welk Show?
Posted by: Andrea Harris at April 27, 2005 05:50 PM
