Our Justice Department recently held training workshops for its lawyers with a focus on a push to prioritize “religious freedom.”
Most zealots think they have the answers to life and dismiss the value of the separation of church and state.
In a speech at Notre Dame Law School in October 2019, our AG explained his thinking:
“Modern secularists dismiss this idea of morality as other-worldly superstition imposed by a kill-joy clergy. In fact, Judeo-Christian moral standards are the ultimate utilitarian rules for human conduct.”
“On the one hand, we have seen the steady erosion of our traditional Judeo-Christian moral system and a comprehensive effort to drive it from the public square.”
“On the other hand, we see the growing ascendancy of secularism and the doctrine of moral relativism. By any honest assessment, the consequences of this moral upheaval have been grim. Virtually every measure of social pathology continues to gain ground.”
The DOJ has filed a statement of interest in Federal court in Kentucky in support of a photographer who doesn’t want to work same-sex weddings. This is an example of an attempt to correct “moral relativism” as the majority of the country has come to accept LGBT rights.
Apparently, according to our AG, “secularists” have taken over and their “moral relativism” is ruining society. For many, old habits and customs support this view. Literal interpretation of religious texts don’t help. More enlightened scholarship provides a kinder vision.
The DOJ training and the rhetoric above obliquely support discrimination in the name of religious freedom, hiding behind the First Amendment.