With five Catholics on the Supreme Court, and with a Catholic running the DOJ attacking the unfaithful as a threat to democracy, it would appear we are on the road to replacing the US Code and Constitution with Sharia Law, or whatever the proper term for religious rule is in the Catholic Church, as these five reinterpret the Constitution more in keeping with the Catechism. Complete with the authoritarian rule of an unchecked executive - say, the Pope? I recall as a kid the concerns of the pundits of the day of a Catholic Kennedy winning the presidency and thinking their concerns were nonsense, but I can see more clearly now.
3
Barr and his supporters would like to return to medieval times when the church ruled. They reject the European Enlightenment movement which brought forth secular humanism and a shift away from the church as the center of all things to man and his and her ability to reason. They would likely have opposed Galileo and other Enlightenment thinkers, inventors and philosophers. The Enlightenment movement led to the philosophical underpinnings of our present democratic institutions, which Barr and his friends oppose.
Both Trump and Barr use each other in a symbiotic relationship. Trump has no moral compass or religious values. Greed and power are his religion. Barr and his supporters use Trump as the vehicle with which to accomplish their own power and theological ambitions.
If Barr were so concerned about restoring Judeo-Christian values, he, Trump, and his administration would start by telling the truth. And Barr would never have attached himself to such a reprehensible human being so bereft of moral values. And he complains about liberals?
4
Apparently I am a "secularist" and therefore have no conscience. I beg to differ. Barr threatens my religious freedom at the core.
13
At the same time as religionists are sure that they are not being allowed to act in accordance with their faith(s), they are denying that secularists have any conscience, individual or collective. This is a preemptive strike to undermine secular conscience and prevent secularists from having a voice in discussion. It is a masterpiece of hypocrisy.
3
Everyone knew Bill Barr was a Republican. But didn't know or acknowledge that he's a bible thumper and holds a ultra conservative political views. He's effectively a hybrid of Mike Pence and Steve Bannon. Barr's strong Evagelical views along with his nationalist and white supremacy beliefs make him very parochial and not an Attorney General who is neutral and fairly represents the interest of the public. Barr is more than simply Trump's private attorney but in fact uses his critically important position to promote his far right, religious oriented agenda. He like Trump presents a clear and present danger. Barr deserves to be impeached for failing to honor his oath of office.
3
Mr Barr's actions are at odds with the Catholic faith in which was raised. His defense of Trump, his misrepresentation of the Mueller report, spreading false conspiracy theories (that the FBI spied on Trump's campaign).
Trump's tweets are mostly false and frequently nasty personal attacks against others.
Mr Barr, take a hard look at the 8th commandment "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor". You have violated this commandment many times.
12
It's funny that Barr referenced the oppression of Christians in Rome; Edward Gibbon -- the father of modern historiography -- blamed Christianity for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. If only the Romans succeeded in crushing it...
I also must call out the nonsensical tropes repeated by theocrats in the Republican Party. Religious "conscience" is an oxymoron. Sure, a book as big and internally contradictory as the Bible can be used to justify anything, including good causes. Christianity was used to oppose slavery; it was also used to justify it. I submit to you, we humanists/atheists/secularists, as a group, are much more moral than Bill Barr -- certainly more so than the monarch he serves. We derive our morality from reason and compassionate -- two things nearly absent among today's Republican Party.
Why is it that the party that thumps the Constitution as much as the Bible rejects the two most fundamental aspects of the Constitution (secularism and checks and balances)?
I pray (figuratively speaking) that Barr's fears are indeed true; I pray that we have reached the tipping point in which we can join the very secular northern European states in fostering a more prosperous and less superstitious society.
Take your divinely sanctioned bigotry and monarchical legal theories to someplace more fitting (like Saudi Arabia), Mr. Barr.
2
How ironic? Barr referenced the oppression of Christians in Rome; Edward Gibbon -- the father of modern historiography -- blamed Christianity for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. If only the Romans succeeded in crushing it...
I also must call out the nonsensical tropes repeated by theocrats in the Republican Party. Religious "conscience" is an oxymoron. Sure, a book as big and internally contradictory as the Bible can be used to justify anything, including good causes. Christianity was used to oppose slavery; it was also used to justify it. I submit to you, we humanists/atheists/secularists, as a group, are much more moral than Bill Barr -- certainly more so than the monarch he serves. We derive our morality from reason and compassionate -- two things nearly absent among today's Republican Party.
Why is it that the party that thumps the Constitution as much as the Bible rejects the two most fundamental aspects of the Constitution (secularism and checks and balances)?
I pray (figuratively speaking) that Barr's fears are indeed true; I pray that we have reached the tipping point in which we can join the very secular northern European states in fostering a more prosperous and less superstitious society.
Take your divinely sanctioned bigotry and monarchical legal theories to someplace more fitting (like Saudi Arabia), Mr. Barr.
“Defenders say Mr. Barr feels emboldened to criticize Democrats because he believes they crossed a line during his confirmation hearings when they accused him of being blindly deferential to Mr. Trump. The same general sentiment is one shared by the president, who also believes he is the victim of unfair attacks from the left.”
How many times in the past few days have I read a story in the NYT where Trump believes something or someone is “unfair”? NATO members are unfair, the WTO is unfair, the impeachment inquiry is unfair, the news media (except FOX) is unfair.....
Is he in 3rd grade, for Pete’s sake? If Trump had the ability to think clearly, he might reflect on his own unfairness to everyone who resides outside his “base”. Endless examples of this, too many to list.
Sorry this is a little off the Barr topic...when I see “unfair” and “Trump” in the same sentence, I lose my mind for a few minutes.
2
"He has painted a picture of a country divided into camps of “secularists” — those who, he said recently, “seem to take a delight in compelling people to violate their conscience” — and people of faith."
A secularist is someone who delights in compelling others to violate their conscience?
Ludicrous.
This view predisposes another: that unless you are a person of faith, you have no conscience. It assumes that if your faith differs from the holder of this view, then you have little or no conscience. Thus the demonization of Muslims, and the grudging tolerance of Jews. It assumes that you can have no ethics or morality unless you have a faith; even more, that it must be Judeo-Christian to be a true American. And, to get all Old Testamenty about it, you should be ruled by kings, because God ordains who comes into kingship - obviously! - and thus common people can't be trusted to do what is best for themselves unless a king anoints their ways and decisions.
Irrespective of the fact that the primary delighter in compelling people to violate their conscience seems to be Donald Trump. And, a core tenet of Judeo-Christianity is that you can violate your conscience as much as you want, as many times as you want, as long as you sincerely repent unto Jesus before you die. Which can lead to, "I tried to commit the crime (bribery) but the target (Zelensky) bit too late for the deal to follow through, so no harm, no foul."
If Barr is an example of "morality" in government, no thanks.
2
These people are not Catholics nor Christians. They fly the Christ flag of convenience as a passport for hatred, misogyny, racism, thievery, slavery, and exploitation of the weak. Pure nonsense - these are the very same people who are quick to declare that they are "party of Lincoln."
13
"Religious Liberty" is just an excuse for giving hateful homophobic and racist persons the right to slander, oppress, assault and discriminate against anyone who makes them uncomfortable or afraid. It has absolutely nothing to do with "religion" but everything to do with petty personal hatred. It is time to stop giving these deluded and despicable individuals the cover of so-called "religious liberty" and start calling it by its correct appellation: hate-mongering.
2
I'm old enough to remember prayer in school. The Catholic teacher led the class in the Lord's Prayer. The Jewish kids didn't know what to say and the Protestant kids continued after the Catholics were done. At that time there were no Hindus, Buddhists or Muslims in the class. It was not uplifting, it was awkward.
2
Barr and his religious zeolots always define religious freedom as anything that adheres to THEIR own religious beliefs. They are against birth control, so if a pharmacist in the only drug store for miles around refuses to dispense birth control to women, that's Ok. It doesn't matter if the women's own religious freedom allows them to use birth control. If the zeolots don't like it, then no one should have it.
This so called religious freedom aka "my way or the highway" attitude applies to many other aspects of American life today. If a gay couple wish to foster or a child, but the judge is against them doing so, well then it is "his religious freedom" to say no. Too bad if it's a loving couple who could provide the child with a good home or even if the alternative is a string of foster homes for the child instead. The same applies to gay marriage, LGBT rights etc. As for abortion, one state is trying to force doctors to implant fetuses from ecotropic pregnancies into the uterus, no matter how dangerous this might be, or force women to give birth to children who have no chance of a painfree meaningful life, or to even to force women who were raped to have the baby.
People are entitled to practice any religion they choose. This is what the founding fathers wanted. But they also wanted the separation of church and state. To have the attorney general advocate that these views should not only be tolerated but become the law of the law is horrifying. Barr should be disbarred.
5
“There’s certainly a movement in our country to dial back the role that religion plays in civil society and public life.
Which religion are we talking about? As a Buddhist, I'd have no problem with a few minutes of silent meditation at public events. I would, however, feel my freedom impinged upon by a spoken Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Jewish prayer before every gathering or at the start of every school day (the way things used to be).
No offense, but isn't one of the great things about the United States letting each of us believe what we want to believe? Freedom of religion, not the dominance of one religion or other? Many of us feel oppressed by being subjected to religious prayers, symbols, etc. that are not our own.
3
@sing75 I am a Methodist, and I agree with you totally. What is at stake here is the separation of church and state. Seems the Founding Fathers saw this as a divisive issue and wanted to avoid it. Even within my own faith, I do not agree totally. Religion is a very personal thing. To each his/her own. Thanks for your comments.
The first amendment to the US Constitution states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." (Wikipedia)
4
. “We cannot sit back and just hope the pendulum is going to swing back toward sanity,” Mr. Barr warned.
Indeed. We need to get people like Barr and Trump out of power as quickly as we can.
Go Nancy, who's idea of Catholicism is apparently very different from Barr's.
5
Frightening. In the name of religion-defined morals and norms, the people in power want to stop progress. Is this still the USA, with a separation of church and state as our very foundation? I fear not should these backward looking plutocrats remain in control?
2
Ed Meese has zero credibility in trying to defend Barr!
Birds of a feather........
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/18/us/serious-ethics-breaches-by-meese-are-found-in-justice-dept-study.html
So, according to Conway, it is justified to be vengeful against your political opponents and to ignore or bend the law? If Barr is such a devout Christian, I guess he was absent from church when the read the passage "vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord". Yes, he supports religious rights - that's well and good, but I guess he forget that he is the Attorney General and not the Archbishop of the US and has to protect the Constitution. While the Founding Fathers were generally religious individuals, they recognized the value of NOT having a state religion and understood that the best way to ensure that there would be religious freedom was to prohibit state support for religion - any religion. He has apparently forgotten that Trump is just a man, and a fallible one at that, and not a God. His job is to be the Constitutions' protector and in that way the peoples' lawyer. For a presumably smart guy, he seems to have forgotten a lot!
1
This piece uses the phrase “rising immigration and secularism” as if to convey that there is a positive causal relationship between the two. If secularism is defined as an embrace of various faiths but with a positive affirmation of religion and God, then the line is accurate. If, however, the authors are trying to suggest (as they most likely are) that secularism means less religiosity and more atheism, then they are dead wrong. In fact, the opposite is true. Recent immigration to the US has been increasingly non-white. Non-whites are intensely religious (whatever their religion may be) and continued non-white immigration will keep us very religious. Atheism and decline in popularity of religious worship is an entirely white phenomenon.
2
People like Bill Barr, who embrace the medieval interpretation of Christianity instead of adhering to the Christ's command to "love your neighbor", are leading us (in the memorable words of the Firesign Theater) "Forward, into the past!"
1
I have read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountain Head several times. More and more it seems like the people running the Republican Party and the people around them, if dropped into those novels, would blend into Rand’s cast of fools and villains almost seamlessly. Barr is no exception.
The sanctimonious moralists; the vulture capitalist financiers, the amoral politicians, the yellow journalists, the scientists who’ve sold out. The thuggery, the greed, the envy...
Given how much influence Rand has had on conservatives, it almost seems like life imitating art - bad art.
And Rand’s ‘heroes’? Spare us. Given her own proclivities, Rand would probably denounce the #MeToo movement. Those men were just getting their due after all. What else is wealth and power for, right Ayn?
How many people actually stop to realize that John Galt’s ‘victory’ comes at the cost of millions of lives with the collapse of civilization? How many see the similarities between Galt and his followers and a cult? How many the similarity between Galt’s or Roark’s absolute conviction that he is right, and megalomania/narcissism? Neither seems to have the least shred of empathy; they reject it.
Ayn Rand would probably love Donald Trump. Too bad she wouldn’t be hot enough for him.
2
So much for "love thy neighbor". If you don't agree with Barr and his ilk, you are the enemy and deserve little protection or religious freedom. Make no mistake, when religious conservatives argue that they want a free exercise of religion, what they want is free exercise of THEIR religion, and the subjugation of everyone else's.
2
Who is the better picture of a future which builds on the better angels of our nature? Pelosi, for instance, or, on the other hand, Barr and Trump? I don't want the world to devolve to what Barr and Pompeo represent. A world in which white conservative Christian men are on top of the heap. Women are people, too. LGBT folk, nonwhite folk, folk who practice different faiths or no faith at all are people, too. I feel genuinely threatened by their attacks, lies, demonization and conspiracy theories. There is simply no secular conspiracy to undo religious fanatics like Barr and Pompeo. Such conspiracy theories give us entry into their apocalyptic anything-goes mindset. Folks like Barr and Pompeo genuinely believe that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape. They genuinely believe that women who get abortions should be convicted of murder. Barr and his Catholic church and his party and the man whom he is willing to serve are old-school abuse, dehumanization, intolerance, unmerited prerogatives, unearned entitlements. Barr and Pompeo represent an extremist wing of an increasingly extremist party of which white supremacists and their beliefs have now become members. Barr is doing irreparable damage to our democracy and its vital but uncodified institutions like the nonpartisan independence of the DOJ and the FBI.
4
As a person who grew up loving Catholicism, in a devout home with our parish the center of our lives, it enrages me how William Barr and his Opus Dei buddies try to twist how the Church destroyed itself in this country and the pain and misery and ruined lives it caused - no, it wasn't "the liberals". How dare he preach to the rest of us while following Donald Trump, the most immoral "president" we have ever had.
13
I think Mr. Barr is on to something. Just this weekend there was a mass shooting in Florida by someone from the radical secularist state of Saudi Arabia.
5
Great article! From 30 plus comments already posted, Liberals are clearly freaking-out.
- Where were Liberals when JFK hired his brother as A.G.? (That set a precedent for Trump’s advisors.)
- Were Liberals silent when A.G. Lynch met with the husband (Bill Clinton) of someone (Hillary) being investigated, at the airport in Phoenix? Another precedent (on integrity).
- How silent were Liberals (and this newspaper) when FDR left the White House (MORE THAN 150 times!) for weeks in Warm Springs and Hyde Park? Any A.G. investigation?
Conservative values halve been under assault for decades... (and not just in the U.S.)
Marriage, for example, has been a religious institution for 4,000 years. King Henry XVIII created a “new” Christian religion just to get (another) divorce. (Today, marriage has devolved into a government institution to cover inheritance and taxes... and fewer young people want one.) And, today, we have a multi-divorced President. (Thank you Liberals!)
There is clearly a “battle” for values embraced by the majority here for 300 plus years. How much more “liberal” must this country become? Three-person marriages?
The U.S. population more than doubled after WWII ended (despite those conservative, traditional values). Looking at Iran, China, Saudi Arabia... we’re not conservative at all.
Posted 0700 Pacific Time 09DEC
1
Barr fancies himself as the greatest legal mind of our time and a giant of jurisprudence who is punching his ticket to the Supreme Court. Of course he could care less what anyone (other than K Street) thinks of him.
1
Dear Bill,
When will you righties ever learn? When ya install a theocracy (of course, you will insist it's in line with the constitution), the problem is then you persecute those believers (or non believers) you don't like. That's fine as long as you are in power, but when the tables turn (yep, and they will bitterly), then the theocracy will be turned on you. And it'll end in tears. Well, and you and your ilk are just plain wrong.
P.S.: I never understood why you righties think you stand in for god. Never understood why, apparently, your god either whispers into your ears what to do or, apparently, lacks the power for direct manifestation. Maybe "god" isn't what you think it is, and maybe, as a finite and flawed being, you do not and perhaps cannot ever know.
But you think you know enough to hammer us down.
3
Folks, these are the types of winners you get when you elect Republican presidents. Mr. Barr's speeches are so loopy, I’m not sure if he is really serious. Could he be building up credibility with Trump in case he needs to slap him down later?
In any case, I’m fed up with this conservative fever dream. It has nothing positive to contribute to our society, or our politics. It’s all about enemies.
Conservatives have the right to be upset about how our society has changed since the Sixties, and to express their opinions. And they can- and should- demand more recognition and respect for their own views.
But no one has the right to deny the fact that American society has changed over the past 50 years. You don’t have to call that progress, but you must acknowledge that there are reasons for the changes and you can’t pretend that you can reverse them.
You also cannot deny that consumer-based capitalism (which you support) is giving Americans the education and entertainment that they want. And that you have built a vast, high-paying conservative media and educational world on the same foundation.
And you certainly don’t have the right to demonize liberals and progressives. You do not have the right to reject our democracy and our Constitution, because you don’t like the results.
3
After reading the article about what is going on in Brazil in the name of Jesus and then reading this about the direction Barr would like to dictate for our country, I feel a strong sense of apprehension about what lies ahead for those of us who are not part of the religious right. Are Barr’s followers so myopic they cannot see that what they profess leaves no room for religious freedom or freedom of any kind for that matter. These are scary times.
5
Barr goes to church?
I have lived in the wine country town of Sonoma for 14 years now. I do not know a single person that goes to church.
I grew up in the rural south where everyone went to church and went often.
No wonder the conservatives feel they are being attacked.
Thank their G-d, things change! The conservatives are right. America is becoming more secular. Their days of being in control are numbered. Barr is their best chance at rolling back the clock.
He will fail.
4
When AG Barr was nominated, I felt in my gut but he was not the possible centrist, moderate, or even "old line conservative" that he was marketed to be. It agonizes me that my estimation of him is far more correct then I had feared. Like Trump, Barr is another enemy of the people who has been elevated to high office, from which it will be exceptionally difficult to dislodge him before he does more and lasting damage.
7
Does anyone thing that if the majority of Americans knew what was going on they would vote to put such corrupt people in the highest offices of our government?
1
@Bruce
argh ... thing = think ... why do I make this typo so often!?
If Barr is such a good Catholic, I would love to see Francis tell him directly to do something. Heck, threaten him with ex-communication if he refuses! Would love to see his response and the Evangelicals thoughts on fealty to the Pope.
2
Barr thinks that it is ok for a person in business to decline to provide their services to someone who is gay. I wonder if he would take the same tack if someone declined to provide their services to someone who is Catholic? On the whole, the Catholic Church has led to more people’s death than the U.S. has killed in all of its wars, so I can see someone deciding to not provide services to people who support an organization like that.
5
The nation that fits Barr's reactionary, regressive, sad sick view of the world is not the United States, it is/was Franco's Spain, a dictatorship in league with the Inquisition.
The Trump years have exposed a snakepit of angry, angry white men formed by and in a culture seething in coiled resentment, loathing, and fear of any and all who are not privileged, white and bound together by homophobia, racism, and misogyny.
In so many, in so very many cases they, like Barr, are Roman Catholics seething in a 15th and 16th Century church stew of repressive intolerance.
5
“..He has painted a picture of a country divided into camps of “secularists” — those who, he said recently, “seem to take a delight in compelling people to violate their conscience” — and people of faith..”
Hmmmm, how does he square this with DJT’s obvious lack of faith?
Oh I know. He needn’t square it because like all serious religious zealots, he makes his excuses to further his goals..to destroy liberalism.
What makes him different from any Iranian Ayatollah?
4
The way the religious right has hitched its wagon to Donald J Trump makes them the greatest bunch of frauds and hypocrites in history.
6
The strongest, most dedicated opposition to Barr and all that he stands for should come from the mainstream Christian church.
He speaks of “Judeo-Christian values”; but what he means by this doublespeak is white, ethnonationalist, tyranny.
He is wrong. His voice is not the voice of the gospel attested in Scripture but the voice of hate, fear, and ignorance.
In the true light of God’s love made known on Christmas morning, when all human moral values were turned upside down, when the hungry were fed and the rich were send away empty, when the weak were welcomed and the mighty cast down, this view of Barr and the religious right should be exposed by the Christian church as false doctrine.
William Barr is not teaching Christian truth.
112
As we’ve seen through history, when people justify their actions in the name of a religion it’s usually bad news for the rest of us.
38
@Paul C. McGlasson since your ignorance of the gospel is apparent I will point out the following: 1). The poor were not fed on Christmas morning; 2). Mary and Joseph returned to their home country within a couple of years; 3). Those presenting gifts to Christ were not poor; and JESUS DIRECTS his followers that they chose him over their family, friends etc. Moreover, Jesus tells us what to do do after we have made known to someone who has wronged us and will not repent or seek forgiveness: Matthew 18:15-35.
May you actually learn and seek to follow Jesus as he is and not your made to order genie!
@Paul C. McGlasson Well said and thanks for saying it :)
1
The irony of these religious personages in Trump's cabinet representing a man whose only religion is money and himself. I would add, that before railing against secularism, Barr should clean up his own Catholic house, which, is a legal and moral mess.
76
I think no matter what the “conservatives” do they will eventually lose the culture war. I think as each year passes, it gets harder to deny the reality of science. There is nothing wrong with aspiring to the love your neighbor
narrative of most religions, however, too often it clearly seems that they practice the opposite. If conservatives could at least join us on climate change, we would be happy to have them, and it would be a good place to start.
51
@G, American principles, standards and ethics are the true "American carnage" laying dead or dying on the battlefield of the culture wars. We may - and must - rid ourselves of Trump and his henchmen, but unless we can rid ourselves of the propaganda industry of which Fox Noise is the most visible part, another would-be fascist will use its readymade megaphone to rise. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Stay alert and aware, America; our enemies, hiding in plain sight and cloaked in our flag, still walk among us.
5
@G The universe doesn't know, or care, if humans are "conservative" and think they can control how it changes and at what pace. If you're powerful enough, you can make people wait for social change, legal change, economic change, and even religious change, but climate change waits for no one. You can either react to its objective truth in a way that benefits you...or not.
Unfortunately, too many of the people in primacy in the US right now see "benefits you" only in terms of themselves, and only in the short term, well before they seek benefit for all, in the long term. If at all.
3
@G They are losing numbers-wise. Repubs in general are losing numbers-wise. That is why they're cheating the very democratic system that is defeating them. If you can't win by playing by the rules, just rig the congressional districts, suppress votes, reach out to foreign states for help, deprive in-coming Democratic governors of their power, and appoint a theocrat/monarchist to helm the federal law enforcement apparatus.
1
As a Christian pastor, one of the greatest ongoing challenges I face is reminding Christians that more important than thinking Jesus died for our sins is remembering that he died FROM them. Our human tendency to randomly determine an "other" to scapegoat and abuse is exactly what Jesus spoke out most fervently against, and exactly what killed him. How profoundly misguided we are when we try to prove our faithfulness by choosing scapegoats of our own rather than extending welcome and endeavoring to understand and nurture.
69
"At one point, he compared the denial of religious liberty protections for people of faith to Roman emperors who forced their Christian subjects to engage in pagan sacrifices."
This sentence illustrates the overwhelming hypocrisy on display by Barr and religious conservatives generally. Continued hyperbole about Christians being under siege and being denied religious liberty protections are really about no longer being allowed to subjugate those with other or no religious beliefs.
Get religion out of politics.
112
@J The hypocrisy: Christians should be allowed to force non-Christians to engage in beliefs contrary to their own religion. I mean, which Romans forced Christians to engage in pagan sacrifices that were any different in essence to Judaic sacrificial practices? Romans did not practice human sacrifice, if that's the innuendo here, unless you're talking about early ancient Rome - which would be disingenuous at best. The fact that most Americans would self-identify as some form of Christian (leaving out how serious they are in their religion) does not make America a Christian country. Not according to the Constitution.
But then, those like Barr believe religious freedom only means that Christians' religious freedom is paramount compared to the freedom for other's religions, or none. Societies that are diverse but do not balance individual liberties between individuals, and individuals' liberties against the common welfare of all citizens, end up as authoritarian states - usually dictatorships. Essentially, might makes right.
Not what the Founders had in mind, in essence, for this republic, or they would never have come up with the Electoral College and two senators for each state regardless of population or wealth.
"Get religion out of politics."
Impossible. We can only be wary enough to recognize when that goes bad, and mitigate the damage.
2
The Attorney General of the United States should not be publicly weighing in on these matters, because they all relate to potential biases that could be expressed in DOJ enforcement of laws.
Don't get me wrong: I'm glad he's finally taking off the sheep's clothing he's been fooling us with for a long time. But publicly airing his prejudices gives license to elements of law enforcement throughout the country that believe similarly and might now feel licensed to act on those beliefs, despite laws and administrative policies that might prohibit such actions. And, frankly, those elements do NOT need any more illicit license.
Basically, Barr believes that some of the Constitution, in spirit if not in clear statute, is wrong - or at least, not necessarily required to be applicable for everyone. He believes one of the most anti-authoritarian documents of governing to ever be written is actually the preeminent document establishing a doctrine of authoritarian power ever devised: the definition of how a king legally rules a (pseudo-)democracy.
His "moral renaissance" is bogus, because he's fine with things that are are definitively non-Christian. Including breaking of one of the Ten Commandments ("Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" = lying about Mueller's take on Barr's "summary" of his report). What he really wants to do is ensure that the faux-Christian elite regain the power they held before civil rights and social justice rightfully took some away.
6
How soon we forget the Bush administration. All of the elements of today's Republican party were there - the hiring of unqualified but loyal 'Bushies,' the promotion of the unitary executive theory, the torture memos, Halliburton, the lying, the manipulation of the media and the people, the pandering to the religious right, installing agency heads who sought to undermine its mission, giving Orwellian names to projects (Clear Skies initiative) and always the rampant corruption. While Trump may have done away with some of the genuflections to the rule of law, this presidency is not a quantum leap for the Republican party by any means. More like a hop and a skip to where we are now, at the threshold of fascism.
5
Talk about witch-hunt. Attorney General Barr’s alliance with right wing Catholics is a danger to the nation and to American Catholics like me. He seeks to restrict freedom and social justice. The Pope himself has sidelined American Catholic prelates like Cardinal Burke for their insolence and intolerance. These rebel conservative bishops have tried, unsuccessfully, to do in the Vatican, what Barr is trying to do in Washington. Neither Pope Benedict nor Pope Francis would tolerate Barr’s horrific social justice record for his mistreatment of immigrants, minorities, women and poor Americans. Attorney General Barr’s brand of Catholicism is immoral, backwards, racist and misogynistic. Barr like the Republican Party, is reaching back to the bad ol’ days of the past. The US Constitution and the New Testament are forward looking, promoting equality, social justice and liberation.
7
@GCAustin 1) Pope Francis does not represent all Catholics. 2) Because bishops or people are conservative, it does not make them rebels. They are "rebels" only to those who disagree with them and do not like the position they take on issues.
3) There are many Catholics who do not subscribe to Pope Francis's brand of papacy as it is loaded with ecclesiastical and dogmatic innuendo, liberation theology , hatred of America and Capitalism , and his double standard for church rules. Pope Francis has thrown the church into confusion and indifference toward the victims of the sexual abuse scandal.
AG Barr is free to express his views on the state of our society and what he believes are the reasons for it. He is being attacked by the liberal press among which is the NYT which is driving the anti-Trump campaign and attacks anyone whom they see in opposition to their liberal agenda.
1
Just another sermon from the pulpit of the Church of the Left whipping up the faithful into a righteous rage against heretics and infidels. This serves as a happy distraction from the hard work of humble self -examination and spiritual growth and especially from the sins and betrayals of the Church’s own clergy.
2
General Barr is and should be celebrated by all Americans. His views are consistent with our Founding Fathers. It is the Left who perpetually try to change America. Those of us who actually love America do not seek to change it any more than we would seek to change our kids.
2
@Matthew
How exactly area they changing America? Please explain. Maybe you'd like to return to the time when slavery was legal, women and African-Americans were prohibited from voting, workers could be forced to work for as many hours and under any conditions an employer decided, forced prayer you may not believe in school, contraception was illegal, to name just a few examples of liberal progress that even you probably enjoy.
Apparently, neither Barr nor his supporters fully understand the Founding Fathers. nor the Constitution.
4
@Matthew - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
3
@Matthew The Founding Fathers fought off a king, Barr clearly yearns for a king.
2
Conservatism is dead in America. Barr, Trump, Pompeo, Hannity and their like-minded in the Republican party killed it. What they are is radical Reactionaries.
19
@JVG
Agreed. The people you listed aren’t conservatives, they are to the right of conservatism.
2
What do you mean, "Post Trump"? I laugh when I read all these articles which pack 40+ years of Republican push to the Right into the past 3 years. Trump is not an "aberration" but, rather, he's "the culmination."
I can promise you this, with the 140+ Right Wing operatives Mitch has shoved into our Federal judiciary while everyone fixated on Trump, the next few decades will see a century worth of rights found through interpretation of the "equal protection" clause and, especially, the assumed "right to privacy" found in the Constitution overturned. It will also see a return to Confederacy in practice if not in name, and severe diminution of the Federal government. Probably the interpretation of Article II which Barr follows will also lead to the "strong unitary executive", and, if not already in effect, will become the norm, elevating the Executive above the law.
This is exactly what the Republicans have been after for decades, and it hasn't been well disguised from anybody who's read history and paid attention. Since Reagan, with each Republican administration more power has accrued to the executive, and each Democratic administration has accepted that power. What we're seeing right now is the final push to render Congress incapable of oversight.
Packing the courts, emasculating the legislative body; this is exactly what Chavez did, so here I'll agree with the Republicans: welcome to Venezuela.
20
@David F - Outstanding!
Moral renaissance? So we should let a bigoted corrupt lying law evading sex offender set our moral compass? Mr. Barr seems to have a very narrow definition of people of faith. Nor does he seem to care about truth, only about power. Such hypocrisy.
12
Barr is a Bulldog Defender of the Faith, a dangerous type that has long existed. Let the Inquisition begin!
4
Barr wants to restore Judeo-Christian values. He, Trump, and the entire administration can start by telling the truth.
9
God’s jaw is agape at the thought that Barr and Trump could bring about a judeo-Christian renaissance.
4
The “destruction” of religion is not being organized by the left. It is being brought about and accelerated by the hypochristians personified by Barr, Kellyanne Conway, Laura Ingraham, and the like. It is they who will reap the discord they have sown. They are the 21st Century version of the Pharisees that Jesus condemned.
6
The (R)ighteous, (R)adical, (R)egressive (R)eligionists are fundamentally opposed to that which is fundamentally American:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
What else should one expect from Zealots?
2
Prominent Social Conservatives like Leonard Leo and William Barr need to take a hard look at the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Leo and Barr bemoan the secularization of American culture while they ignore the pestilence of child abusing priests. The Federalist Society pays obsequious deference to President Trump while it ignores his hate mongering, megalomania, and incompetence. Social Conservatives are more in line with Putin’s Russia than they are with the framers of the Constitution.
Andy Wittekind
Johns Island, SC
10
@Andy E Barr and his ilk only see what they want to see.
1
Words from a founder:
The Christian god is a three-headed monster, cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three-headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites.
Thomas Jefferson
14
@Robr
That’s why the Xian Talibangelists dismiss Jefferson.
I hate to say it but Catholicism has a fundamental disagreement with an Enlightenment based Republic founded on Protestant/Legal ideas and culture. You don’t get it, Barr.
7
And the Catholic Church has such an excellent job of managing its authority. Barr is just another Dominionist of a Catholic stripe. His arrogance is profound.
5
This man himself needs to be impeached immediately
3
Barr is a superstitious brute who dismisses intellectual enquiry with sarcasm and cleverness. There is nothing rewarding in his thinking unless you are a believer in the airy beings and their mysterious off-world purity.
A purity that he himself transgresses with his hate filled speeches.
Barr is a narrow minded, prejudiced individual who is Trump's lackey.
8
I love that Republicans defend their attacks on people who don't believe as they believe as defending the freedom of religion. They take away others peoples rights, because they don't align with their religious views. They are extreme hypocrites.
46
@Keith Freedom, to too many Republicans and hyper-religionists, means "my freedom to take away your freedom."
3
Interestingly a nation who's foundation and life is built on the expansion of Rights - although imperfect and slow at times - is now threatened by the very citizens charged to uphold, maintain, and strengthen that Constitution. A "Christain" few in high places such as Barr, the baby Christain Trump, Pompous Pompeo, others, and Evangelicalism wage a war on a America that has chosen to evolve, grow, and further develop. Some of our own would assault our Rights so that they may assert and enshrine their narrow and un-American views upon our People. This corrosive force would erode any institution and ideals that protect and expand rights for ALL. That our JUSTICE Department is at the forefront of this, lead by Barr, is a shocking threat.
1
Barr wants a Judeo-Christian revival of values? His supporters want to outlaw abortion – and do not seem to care about the Constitution, nor sliding into authoritarianism, nor unexamined influence by Putin on Trump, nor interference with our elections.
Those supporters might want to remember Romania under Nicholae Ceausescu. He ordered that women should be subject to regular gynecological exams at work to detect pregnancy before a possible abortion.
Ceausescu outlawed contraception and abortion, the birth rate went up rapidly -- and women had illegal abortions and had children they didn't want and couldn't afford and abandoned them. The state warehoused them in orphanages. https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-12-28/half-million-kids-survived-romanias-slaughterhouses-souls-now-they-want-justice.
10,000 women died from illegal abortions.
100,000 to 500,000 children were placed in orphanages.
It didn't end well for Ceausescu, either. After being tried and convicted of economic sabotage and genocide, he and his wife were immediately executed by firing squad.
I hope Congress members can remember their oaths to the Constitution. I support the First Amendment, including freedom of religion. Do they?
3
How absurd that a man who envisions a “moral renaissance” based on “Judeo-Christian” values is the chief enforcer for the nation’s number one womanizer, wife-abuser, and sociopath.
And what is the Secretary of State (Pompeo), of all cabinet members, doing cozying up to an anti-abortion group?? This is the guy responsible for foreign policy! I suppose my tax dollars are going to support such conflicted behavior.
2
I don't know what a "devoted" Catholic is, but Barr exemplifies the American who has become more tribal and nationalist than Catholic.
3
I’m a Democrat, and non-religious. That said, its my personal, note I said personal, experience that many people on the left are extremely moral. Many are religious and actually LIVE their religion and I have tremendous respect for them. The reason many Democrats push for the programs that they do is actually for moral reasons.
Just because someone belongs to a Church and wants to see the whole country agree on their beliefs doesn’t make them moral, it just means they are Authoritarian in nature.
The pushback that the Evangelicals and many Catholics are experiencing is because so many young people see the overt hypocrisy of those institutions, it's not because people on the left “want to get rid of religion,” what garbage.
10
@Wolf201 -- great response: thank you.
It's hard to understand how transgender men and women are immoral. What moral code are they violating?
Also, a NYTimes clipping I'd saved from several years ago highlights biblical exhortations from the old testament that criticize the Israelites' greed and lack of justice and compassion for the poor. Jeremiah 5:28 is one of several passages mentioned.
Somehow Christians forget about the true meaning of morality and concentration only on sexuality.
1
As a person who was raised a Catholic in the 1950's and 1960's, I'm amused at Bill Barr's mockery of Progressives. Barr opines derisively, "Where's the progress?" I'll tell you where there is little progress. That's in the Catholic Church. How come women are still not allowed to become priests in the Church? How come a good portion of money is still going to fight legal battles over sexual abuse of young people by priests and bishops?
Here's a suggestion for Barr and his "conservative" allies: Clean up your own houses first before you pontificate on the morality of the rest of Americans. Please understand that "morality" doesn't equate to sexual practices. There are issues of people's general cruelty to each other that has little to do with sex. Have modern day puritanical sorts forgotten the simple but powerful Golden Rule? If you want respect, then practice giving respect.
9
“Mr. Barr has eagerly embraced the most divisive and disputed aspects of the Trump agenda, much to the delight of the party’s hard-line conservatives.”
Calling today’s GOP a “Party”, much less “conservatives”, is a fairy tale wide of reality. It is nothing more than a pusillanimous assortment of craven vassals doing what is expected of them by a cabal of crafty billionaires. The political arm of an unequaled brainwashing machine that controls almost half of voters, about 30 State Legislatures, half the Supreme Court, and of course, the Trump Administration and the Senate.
8
Whose religion? These same people rejoicing at Barr now will lament these actions when other religions become more prominent in the U.S. Furthermore, their combative actions are turning off younger people to religion. It boils down to this for me. Republicans exclude. Democrats include.
3
Due to Barr's influence, the Justice Department, as we once knew it, is dead.
4
If today’s American culture is more hostile to conservative values than ever before, it’s because those “values” include intolerance, white supremacy, and mindless obeisance to an amoral president. Conservatives have only themselves to blame.
5
It's hypocrisy not Conservative thought. It's Pharisees in control not Christians. They are secular in their reliance on power and corruption. They are helping the most immoral President in history, and history will judge them poorly. American Nero.
American conservativism is dead. It’s been replaced by fealty to trump; an unstable narcissist.
40 years in the desert seems appropriate.
2
Worst Attorney General ever. Who would have thought anyone would have made Jeff Sessions look good?
1
Barr is a personification of what the book Animal Farm is all about. You offend conservatives by politely referring to him as a Conservative. He is unabashed bigot with a penchant for authoritarianism based on a rigid religious ideology. He is not fit to be Attorney General and should not serve in any government post. Above all else the Attorney General should be the chief defender of our Constitutional Bill of Rights. Instead he is a direct threat to the rights of individuals and the politically powerless whom he is beholden to defend. We do not need these self-annoited type of people serving in our government.
2
It is the arrogance of a man such as Barr that drives many away from religion and especially the Catholic Church. Bully pulpit hasn't worked for the RC church for generations which is why they have been made to confront their history of abuse. 'Traditional values' is code for 'be quiet and sit down' ironically manifested in mindless screaming rallies.
2
All the right cares about is gun rights, and abortion control. So the right to commit violence and the management of everyone ELSE's sex life.
1
“Attorney General Barr represents an important conservative point of view that is really the heart of the Trump presidency,” said Frank Cannon, the president of the American Principles Project, a social conservative organization.”
The current occupant of the presidency is neither conservative nor liberal. There is no point of view central to this presidency except that of Individual 1’s self-advancement, further enrichment, and a cover up of the corrupt dealings of his enterprise. He is willing to let horrors like Barr lead the country into a plutocratic, fascist theocracy in return for the cover they provide for the criminal operation based out of the White House. Through the Republican organ Fox News, Facebook, and Russia, they hold enough of the base mentally captive to hold power through the Electoral College.
2
Why do they always have to rope in my brethren into their nefarious plans to discriminate against various segments of society? No...this country was not founded upon Judeo-Christian principals ... the Talmud was not consulted and Ben Franklin was Hamilton’s “rabbi” in the metaphorical sense only. It is clear that the intent of the Constitution was to permit various faiths to freely worship but none to impose it’s dogma on us all. As to Barr’s dogma, the dog wants to add bite to his bark. As a Jew, civilization’s usual bite victim, I am wary of barking dogs. My self-interested “Judeo” ethics dictate that I must never be on the side which oppresses my neighbors for their apparent differences.
It is possible that this obsession with “Judeo” is a cover; “look, trust us, if we had bad intentions would we include the Jews?” Or maybe they want to present themselves as ethical times 2.
America is a majority Christian nation; it is also a land of freedom and the best place in Earth for Jews to live. It is not the kindness of my neighbors of any faith that bestow me with this sense of security and freedom, but our Constitution and laws. I take comfort in our Democracy and so should we all; it protects us from the inequality that William Barr
seeks to impose.
2
I am so glad that allowing public policy to be driven by a belief in magical beings is almost certainly going to die out with the baby boomers.
1
I was raised as a Catholic, and at times in my life have attended a Catholic church; but each time have left due to attitudes such as Barr’s. I cannot stomach them. Yesterday my husband and I visited a Protestant church in our neighborhood that flies the rainbow flag and is very diverse. It is possible to have a life that is grounded in community that is not prejudiced and repressive.
The Catholic Church has apparently embraced the reactionary politics of the Barrs, Laura Ingrams, and federalist society. The argument is not between secularism and religion, but rather between decency, charity and tolerance, and authoritarian repression. I admire those who, like Nancy Pelosi, have opted to remain within the church while rejecting the attempt of the conservative right to use religion as a political weapon. My choice is to leave.
187
@RCT Like Pelosi, I have stayed in the Church and prefer to speak against its hypocrites than leave. It's not easy being Catholic these days, but it's worth it.
10
Not all Catholic parishes are the same. I wish you could visit mine. You might be pleasantly surprised.
William Barr does not speak for me or for most Catholics that I know, progressive Democrats who are far more interested in social justice issues than in culture wars.
16
@RCT The Church is too quiet. They are allowing politicians to determine and use the foundations of Christianity to further their own political interests. Mr.s Davis acknowledges Ms. Pelosi's personal moral and ethical code grounded in her religion without the false, authoritarian "interpretations" of the scriptures.
12
"Mr. Barr swats away those critics. “Generally, no one really cares what they think."
The fact that many "Christians" can hold such utter disdain for those of us who don't believe as they do is what makes me reflect their disdain right back at them.
10
@Paul-A
I find it impossible to think of a functioning democracy in which the party in power doesn't care what critics think -- or for that matter what the entire Democratic party, voters and elected officials think.
Are Trump, Barr, Pompeo, et. al. under the grip of a shared delusion?
Or are the Republicans in the House and Senate such zombies that they don't notice what is being lost? Is already lost?
1
Looking forward to the day when Mr Barr discovers his power arises from the voters.
2
@daniel lathwell
I hope he does get a chance to make that discovery.
Which voters are you counting on -- and where are they?
1
“...he (Barr) said recently, “seem to take a delight in compelling people to violate their conscience” — and people of faith.”
Hahahahaha that makes be laugh. Trump has no faith at all. He believes HE is to be worshipped. And these old, afraid, out of touch politicians see their power fading and subvert the Constitution and line up behind him to keep it. Republicans violate their conscience daily serving Trump. They don’t act according to their “ faith”. WWJD? Not what the religious right wing is doing.
4
Barr is no devoted Catholic and the majority of Evangelicals are not Christians. Neither follow the teachings of Jesus. It is time to stop allowing these hypocrites, who have wrapped themselves in the Bible in order to spew their prejudiced hatred.
They are, literally, giving religion a bad name. They operate just like the Joseph McCarthy contingent, that wrapped itself in the American flag and used it to persecute those who did not agree with them.
It is time for the truly religious to call them out. Jesus does not deserve to be treated this way.
9
Yet Barr and the evangelical base have tethered themselves to the embodiment of "secular moral corruption". The hypocrisy is tangibly thick and the attacks on Constitutional freedoms in the guise of protecting "religious liberty" are extreme. How many times has he sexually assaulted women, how often has he signed the permission slips for the racist behavior that has reawakened with the rise of his administration, how many lies has he publicly voiced and digitally passed along to his millions of followers, how many American workers did he stiff when he was a private citizen, etc, etc, etc.
All the while this administration makes fleeing violence, hunger and disease a culpable offense worthy of dehumanization by separating families and locking them in cages. The flag hugging patriotism of trump's base is awash in Constitutional freedoms but takes deep offense to their fellow countrymen and women winning the right to marry whomever they choose. Again the hypocrisy is sickening. Trump, Barr and the maga base are an aberration of American patriotism and morals. For them the ends justify the means, a fact that will not be lost in the annals of American history.
5
Trump's tame basset in the justice department has disgraced himself, destroyed a once proudly independent agency that protected the rule of law and should not only be disbarred but impeached. As for his hypocritical "religion," he seems to have forgotten the separation of church and state.
8
I do hope Kellyanne is right and that everyone associated with this deplorable administration does reap what they did sow.
5
“His critics went too far...” says Kellyanne. Perhaps his critics rightly see a dangerous, clannish man who wants to push the US into a white- hued authoritarian state.
5
The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee bear a great deal of responsibility when it comes to the most immoral and destructive Attorney General in US history. It was a well known fact that Barr auditioned for the job of Attorney General for the most immoral and corrupt president our nation has known. During the confirmation hearings, naive Senate Democrats were duped into thinking that Barr would not only be fair but honorable. This, despite all the evidence of Barr's potential staring the Senate Democrats in the face. Barr as Attorney General has been a game-changer in an Executive Branch that is brazenly abusing our Constitution. Instead of blaming the Republicans for this disaster, Democrats, especially those on the Senate Judiciary Committee, need to be looking squarely in their own mirrors.
13
@Wheel, never mind "give them an inch and they'll take a mile"; they'll take the whole highway. I sadly second your opinion.
1
@Wheel
Since not a single Democrat on the Judiciary Committee voted to send Mr. Barr's nomination to the full Senate and only three Democratic Senators voted to confirm him (the final vote was 54-45), I find your comment curious and disingenuous.
10
@Wheel I understand that it's always necessary to blame the Democrats, but I'll need a bit more information to make this one stick. Exactly how were Democrats on the SJC duped? Since none of them voted to send his nomination to the full Senate, it seems more likely that they were on to Mr. Barr, but as the minority were unable to stop his nomination going forward.
5
William Barr's comments and actions as Attorney General reveal him to be a zealot, and there is a fine line between zealotry and fanaticism. A certain amount of righteous indignation can be helpful in sustaining a political campaign. Martin Luther King was a man of faith who believed that a moral revolution in politics was necessary in order to redeem a nation tainted by the sin of racism. But King's zeal never crossed over into fanaticism. He never construed his political adversaries as mortal enemies. Barr, on the other hand, speaks the language of war. He seems less interested in winning hearts and minds than in overcoming an implacable foe. Ironically, the trials and tribulations suffered by the embattled Christians of Barr's feverish imagination pale in comparison with the very real oppression that King and the civil rights movement sought to overcome.
12
Novel legal theories like "a sitting President cannot be indicted, and since he cannot be indicted, he cannot be investigated, and he cannot be impeached unless his own party initiates the impeachment". I suspect that Barr would agree that Trump has the right to postpone elections if, in his judgement, the crisis at the southern border is a more pressing issue.
I am not sure these rights apply to other Presidents than this one.
14
Barr’s righteous religiosity is just camouflage for an historically common danger from organized religious belief. Barr’s type of religiosity is more often than not used to justify control over others. It has little to do with morality, ethics, or law. It’s all power, pure and simple. Pray for the AG, and God help America.
17
The GOP has gone from advocating less government to wanting government in everyone’s lives. No freedom of religion, no freedom to dictate one’s own medical choices. This is a very scary situation for freedom. Can we be far behind China or Russia?
21
I believe that this is actually what the Republican party was long before Trump, but today the hate is out in the open for all to see. I find the Christian references laughable, as conservative Christians are Trump's core supporters and enablers.
Right now the Trump administration is expanding their torture of families at the border and taking food away from the hungry, just in time to celebrate Christmas. It certainly is not the Christianity that I was taught but face it, it is what the church in the US is today.
At least they now feel free to say "Merry Christmas" once again, although I was not aware that it was prohibited in the past.
16
Yes!!! I am so glad that someone has the courage to reclaim the values upon which this country was founded.
1
@Robert And, to which country are you referring?
2
@Robert Actually, the values that Barr represents, mainly unlimited executive power, are what we revolted against.
5
Which values would those be? Not Judeo-Christian ones.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Statute of Religious Freedom for Virginia, the precursor to the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Here is the description from his autobiography of those people to be protected under the Virginia Statute: Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word “Jesus Christ,” so that it should read, “a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;” the insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan [Muslim], the Hindoo [Hindu], and Infidel of every denomination.”
From the beginning, our First Amendment has protected the Jew, the Gentile, the Christian, the Muslim, and "the infidel of every description."
Coercion is a departure from the plan.
2
I believe in a non-denominational god. I can say with great certainty that people like myself have zero interest in trying to force others to believe what we believe. It’s entirely contrary to god-given free will. Freedom is a gift from creation. Barr does not understand how freedom works. Or why it’s so important for him not to co-mingle his beliefs with secular government. This man is an enormous failure as the top law enforcement officer of We The People. He doesn’t believe in the oath he took to the constitution, which is binding.
9
Mr. Barr does not accept the importance of the separation of church and state, and in fact has publicly stated his preference for a state ruled by religious dogma rather than constitutional law----which demonstrates unequivocally that he is completely unqualified to serve as our nation's chief law enforcement officer.
24
To contend that we need a "moral renaissance" and to combat the assault on "traditional values" is more evidence of the hypocrisy of the Administration.
How long will this last? I am no chicken little, but this is getting ridiculous. For some reason I keep looking at the sky.
10
"He mocked progressives, asking sardonically, “But where is the progress?” "
Sitting on Mitch McConnell's desk in the form of 300 bills passed in the House but gathering dust in the Senate?
Eight years of obstruction by the same Mitch McConnell during the Obama years?
It's not like the Progressives haven't been trying, but in our form of government it turns out that one well placed person can grind our country to a virtual standstill.
Barr probably thinks that McConnell is doing the Lord's work.
23
The 2 speeches by Barr mentioned in the article are simply outstanding. He sounds like on the founding fathers, and reasons like they did too. Anyone who honestly looks into it will see that he is NOT a Trump-supporter: his is a simply a person who understands authority and understands why the founding fathers made the Presidency strong.
He is not at all siding with Trump, but he is siding with the people who elected him as president. What a breath of fresh air to have someone of his intellect and experience stand up for the people on principle.
No doubt this looks very strange to the modern left who understand everything in political and activist terms. I can see why they would misunderstand him. But if you listen carefully to those 2 speeches and are honest, you'll have to admit he's a man of principle who is simply following through on those principles.
Most Americans would far prefer someone like Barr to BE President instead of someone like Trump. But when you need to drain a sewage swamp, shirt and tie and suit jacket will not do. For such an ugly job, you need a certain kind of person for whom a that kind of mud is no problem. In brief, the combination of Trump and Barr is a great gift to our country.
Barr for President 2024!
2
@T M If the founders wanted the President to be strong, how come congress has the power to impeach him, turn down his appointments, and approve his salary?
4
@T M It would seem our founding fathers had a very real concern about a despot or king usurping the reigns of power and ruling in a dictatorial fashion. Hence our system of government has an intricate set of checks and balance to assure the rule of law and representative government. Barr believes a president should be above the law, unconstrained by the other branches of government. I can't imagine what history books would lead you to conclude otherwise unless you get most of your information from the commentators on certain TV channels and talk radio.
2
@T M
"He sounds like on the founding fathers, and reasons like they did too."
Documentation, please. Which founding father are you citing? And which document?
I believe you are entirely wrong -- but am willing to give you a shot at making your case.
2
Being given the opportunity to test legal theories.
“...but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” (Article VI, section (3)).
What is his legal, theory, on that?
10
@Jo Williams
Requiring that one be non religious is also a religious test. Democratic Senators challenging Catholic appointees about their faith is a religious test.
Perhaps you’re confusing inquiry with requirement. I’m not aware of any Democrat requiring an appointee be atheist, agnostic, or...fallen-away. The push-pull of the freedom v. establishment clauses, and the religious test clause seem to indicate an awareness of the entanglement possibilities.
And let’s be honest; when an appointee touts, highlights, religiosity, or the current pseudonyms of ‘traditional values’, calls a one day old, one month old fetus a baby- it is a signaling device. Which may then prompt, inquiry. Not requirement. On either side.
Both Attorney General William Barr, a devout Roman Catholic who does not believe in the separation of Church and State, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo-an avowed, devout Evangelical, are both firm believers/practitioners of Dominionist Ideology, a system of beliefs which views the world as belonging only to God and his chosen ones, whose views do not include Secularist acceptance and practice of diversity, dialogue, and healthy debate.
Dominionists despise Secularist thinking, advoctae 'will-to-power' ideology and vanquishing God's enemies. Barr and Pompeoi's 'fundamentalist thinking' decries Secularist ideology as contrary to our framers 'Constitutional intent' that religioin was indispensable in relation to sustaining our free system of government.
Barr believes, as does President Trump, our rights come directly from our Creator, with Mike Pompeo supporting the view that World Conflicts, and specifically those in the Middle East, will continue until the Rapture, the apocalyptic event when all Christians will suddenly disappear from earth when God ushers in the end to all things.
Need I say more?
9
@merc
Where do you think rights come from? Where does the Declaration of Independence state that rights come from?
@KBronson
They are the results of an evolving, secular human condition. Period.
1
@merc
"... our framers 'Constitutional intent' that religion was indispensable in relation to sustaining our free system of government."
Where do they get this? Divine revelation only to them?
Not my Constitution. Not my religion.
2
When conservatives complain about loss of religious liberty, they are actually complaining about their loss of religious dominance where they could force women to stay in the home with unlimited numbers of pregnancies keeping them from competing with men for jobs, keep LGBTQ in the closet with laws making their sexual conduct illegal and punishable with jail, and criminalize interracial marriages—to name a few. Religious conservatives have all the freedom in the world to worship when and where and with whom they want. They no longer have the liberty to deny rights to other people and to force them to live by their beliefs. It is the religious conservatives who are driving people away, especially young people, because they shout about the lack of morality at the same time they support constant lying and actual law breaking by their president and elected representatives, election cheating to prevent legitimate voters from voting, and denial of civil rights for people who are not like them. Their hypocrisy is on open display for all to see. We need to get back to the Constitutional separation of church and state.
13
This makes me cringe. What in the world happened to "Love One Another"...
16
Our world holds many examples of the workings of religion within a government's institutions. Saudi Arabia, Iran, the Taliban in Afghanistan are purport to only wish well for their people, yet restrict every person who lives there with stringent, religiously justified rues of behavior. We don't do that in America. We don't want that in America. We American's have the right to believe as we wish, and act accordingly within the law. Get Christianity out of my government.
44
If I wanted to live in a patriarchal community where freedom was restricted by religious dogma, where gay folks were viewed as less than fully human and where women were denied basic rights and relegated to second class citizenship . . .
I'd join the Catholic Church.
But I think I live in the United States. A fine republic, if we can keep it.
50
@Barking Doggerel Don't forget where children who are coming from unstable homes are groomed to be victims of sexual abuse, but it's all good because it's done by men.
2
"He is a devoted Catholic..."
Personally, I prefer Nancy Pelosi's Catholicism.
Barr's concentrates on the institutional power of the Church to control lives in social and political ways, a partner in power with the government...any government. Francis Spellman would be his hero, calling for "total victory" in Vietnam, for instance. He probably hated Cardinal Cushing.
Her belief is in spreading the values of Jesus in a kind and ecumenical way. Much more aligned with John XXIII, Paul VI and Francis. My kind of Catholic.
24
After the French war of Religions, the 30 years war, even the Crusades, the founding of America as a religion free zone, was one of the great experiments that along with democracy allowed us to change the world. We have freedom to chose whatever religion and keep religion out of civic decisions. There have been Christian/Catholic/Evangelical rebellions against that concept and fights over religious intolerance to Jews and Muslims but we have maintained that central feature of our polity.
Secular ethics is social ethics that reject narrow ethics of specific religious traditions. We all don't have to fast or make confessions or avoid foods. We live our lives in public without a state religious ethic.
Barr is a dangerous person, trying to destroy our polity and civility, propped up by the "base" (20%?) of white religious Christians aligned with other power hungry, tax averse Republicans who would kill the golden goose for a year of good profit (and now their party has been swallowed whole by the "base"). He would start a religious and/or "other" Civil War, that will divide and ruins us if we let it. We have to stop this.
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@William Trainor
“the founding of America as a religion free zone”
Huh?
@KBronson
Not Religious-free, zone
religious, free-zone. sorry could use better terms. But I did explain in next sentence.
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Barr is just the the sort of fanatical right wing lawyer that the Catholic Church would have hired 30 years ago to cover up and defend itself against charges of sexual abuse of minors. Surely the supreme irony here is that while defending religion and ignoring basic elements of the constitution with his claims that the president is above the law he is covering up for and defending one of the most corrupt and amoral presidents in US history.
Overall the country doesn't need to worry too much about a fanatic like Barr because he's not where the country is. The religious right and conservatives generally probably need to be more worried about the danger of self inflicted wounds arising from his actions.
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@John I think you're right but it's reassuring to read it in b&w ... thanks :)
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I no more want to live under ultraconservative Christian theocracy than I do under Sharia law. The founders worried about the church of theirs or any moment governing America. Barr is most alarming because he has chosen to kneel at the feet of the current occupant who is "religious" to suit his desire to rule America. Draw the line at the division between church and state sharply.
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Why do reporters and columnists use a stock phrase referring to conservative Catholics as here, "He is a devoted Catholic>"
Devout and devoted are used without any critical explanation of why reporters and columnists tag Catholics as Barr as such.
A self-righteous Catholic would be closer to the mark.He asserts his personal interpretation above mainstream Catholic interpretation, like capital punishment which he is trying to get his office to execute.
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@Emmett Coyne Excellent point. One might say "He describes himself as a devoted Catholic" instead, and let others draw their own conclusions.
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Another elderly white statesman struggling to remain relevant (to the detriment of the rest of society). Time to step down and let the next generation manage their future.
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"Mr. Barr swats away those critics. “Generally, no one really cares what they think,”
This kind of arrogant stmt tells you a lot about the person. One who thinks they are always right & everything else is wrong.
We have seen power players like this, that abuse their positions & lead us down a dark & ugly path.
Mr. Barr's words & actions seem to point that he is one such person.
Wonder what he gets for selling out America?
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Back in 1776, people with Barr’s views on executive power were called “Royalists”.
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@DeAnnG
And back in 1936, people with Barr's views on executive power were called "Fascists."
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Barr sides with authoritarianism, religious patriarchy and a King Georgist view of the Presidency.
He's as American as England was in the 1770's.
He should be impeached for abandoning American justice.
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Isn’t it ironic that a man who decries secularism and moral decay is the hatchetman for a man who embodies both?
Americans can see the blatant hypocrisy in Barr’s attacks on the majority of Americans who decry the moral rot, corruption, mendacity, and criminality of the Trump regime.
Rather than defending morality and decency, Barr is seen by most of us as a crooked lawyer who would say and do anything to undermine morality and decency.
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Fundamentalist Christians seek to make America a theocracy. They certainly do not support freedom of religion. Try to build a mosque in a White, Christian State or neighborhood. Hundreds flock to meetings to oppose this most obvious attempt to exercise freedom of religion. They believe that the concept of one nation under God means a Christian God, no other God. Their greatest fear is not that America might become more tolerant of conduct they consider to be immoral, but that America might reject Christianity, hence the attacks on "secular" attitudes. And what they fear most is taking place. Fewer people attend church. Fewer profess a connection with organized religion. Fewer Americans say they accept fundamental Christian beliefs. For many, change is difficult. For Christian Fundamentalists it is anathema.
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@Disillusioned The mistake on both sides is picking a position focused on an outcome rather than principle. The establishment clause has been morphed over decades by confused judicial opinions. At it's essence the establishment clause forbids the government to meddle in the religious affairs of the people. It does not ensure that one will not encounter expressions of religiosity (any particular religion) in the public square. That complaint should be relegated to the world of "safe spaces". People who complain about a football coach kneeling with his or her players or those who with to complain about a mosque in their neighborhood should both be turned away from city hall. People may complain - they always will, but the government should stay out of it.
From the article:
“Barr has believed for a long time that the country would benefit from more authoritarianism. It would inject a stronger moral note into government,” said Stuart M. Gerson, who worked in the Bush Justice Department under Mr. Barr and is a member of Checks & Balances, a legal group that is among the attorney general’s leading conservative detractors. “I disagree with his analysis of power. We would be less free in the end.”
Mr. Barr swats away those critics. “Generally, no one really cares what they think,” he said of Checks & Balances.....
Finally the GOP has become so confident that they are willing to be open about their support for authoritarianism. For years I have had the hope that the GOP could swing back to its roots in freedom, democracy, and good government. I'm just one person, and an old one at that, but I admit that I have lost that hope. To repeat a metaphor often used here, I doubt that this pendulum will ever swing back, at least under anything still called the GOP.
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@Grindelwald
The GOP is dead.
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@William Trainor
...and the MAGA party is raised in its place.
If Barr was a real conservative he would have never taken a job working for Trump. I beg to differ with this piece - I think Barr is just doing real conservatism more damage. Barr's "conservatism" is about intolerance and repression of the majority of Americans.
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The AG “dives into the culture wars.”
Is that his job? Culture warrior?
Who is minding American justice?
Who is making sure the lady holding the scales is wearing her blindfold?
Who is insuring our civil and legal rights?
Who is keeping us safe from the bad guys?
Sorry, but I’m not feeling very comfortable with Mr. Barr. In many ways he is as dangerous as the president. And his priorities seem to be more in tune with being the president’s attorney, not ours.
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@Joanna Stasia
More dangerous than President Trump. His views damage the structure of our government and may set precedents, particularly on separation of church and state.
Barr is also more deeply flawed, merging his ego with justifying scriptural legal priority. We have a grand inquisitor in the making. Remember "no one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition" was a comedic warning. Barr enjoys being sadistic, being dangerous to others. Evil incarnate by my moral code.
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Please define "aggressive policing", and if it is requiring people to abide by the law then how is that a far-right policy? BTW, stop and frisk is constitutionally legal so please don't use that as an example since it is, well, legal.
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@philly
Slavery was once legal...should that system not have been questioned, too? For anyone not at the receiving end of "aggressive policing" and stop-and-frisk, should those questionable strategies and tactics not be subject to critical review, especially considering who gets to exercise power behind such lawful arrangements for some?
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Terry vs. Ohio
1968
The Supreme Court’s Decision on whether “Stop and Frisk” is legal.
The answer is: sometimes yes, sometimes no.
There are specific conditions that must be met, and very often were not met in NYC where the tactic was eventually ended. Note: the crime rate continued its downward trend when Stop and Frisk ended. So the more important thing to say about it is - it proved to have no effect on the crime rate so actually it’s a poor tactic.
Saying “Stop and Frisk” is legal is misleading and actually wrong without the qualifiers attached. A simple Google search will provide the details. This issue, like everything else, is nuanced. I suggest a quick read of the summary of the Terry decision.
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@Philly...
I’ll bite. Stop and frisk is illegal if it used to target only non-white minorities, as it was not only shown but proven in New York City.
As for aggressive policing, I know of no law-abiding citizen who does not appreciate the police and what they do. Law-abiding citizens do not call for violence against police and do not call for any form of violent violations of law (e.g., rioting, destruction of private property, etc). But what law abiding citizens are very clear about when it comes to the police is that they are not above the law or beyond reproach. They are human beings who make mistakes and, on occasion, break the very same laws they swore an oath to uphold. They should always be held accountable, not only by the public they serve, but by their own fellow officers whose reputations are tarnished when a bad cop is exposed. The job necessarily requires not only that they enforce the law but act as exemplars of the laws. If a police officer cannot live up to that standard, they should quit the job.
You’ll never hear that from AG Barr, though. He’s not so much interested in “law” as his is in “order”; his order where white Christian males occupy ALL the seats of power.
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I can’t help but imagine what the reaction to Mr. Barr’s comments would be if he were a follower of the world’s second largest religious faith. If he were privately subsidizing underprivileged New York students who wanted to attend a madrasa. Would the “resistance movement” of freedom-loving Americans be more favorably received then?
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When Trump is done the Republican Party will be bankrupt and in ruins, much like Trumps casinos and other Business failures. It will take a very long time to recover.
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Considering the kind of party it became since it was hijacked by people like the immoral Newt Gingrich, and his ilk, I would welcome its demise.
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@J Clark
Absolutely correct. Personally, if someone is STILL a Republicon, I consider you to be a person void of all morals and conscience, and I quickly turn away. Don't want any of that evil around me.
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@J Clark Why bother?
If defending the First Amendment, and defending the right of people with religious beliefs to be treated equally with atheists in their daily lives is deemed “partisan,” as this article as much as says, then Barr’s analysis hit the bulls eye.
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@Frank - The majority of people in the US self-identify as Christian. The majority do NOT self-identify as Republican, or as evangelicals or Opus Dei-type Catholics. For everyone who does NOT adhere to those groups, Barr is intent on removing religious freedom. It's time we stopped allowing people like Barr, the evangelicals and the Opus Dei catholics to hijack all of christianity and claim to speak for all christians.
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@Frank
"and defending the right of people with religious beliefs to be treated equally with atheists"
I don't see him sticking up for Muslims, or is Christianity the only correct belief?
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@Frank
They are being treated equally. They both can keep their religious views, and still go to the commons and conduct business. But neither is allowed to make laws that affect the other's beliefs. Our system was designed to be "secular" in the commons. You can still buy a hot dog and a beer at the stadium even if you are neither a Patriots fan or a Ravens fan, and hate football and it wouldn't abrogate the Patriots fan's freedom to sell that hot dog to you.
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The radical right never seems to do any self-examination. Their ideas are often just bigotry and intolerance wrapped in "conservative" rhetoric.Barr and the far right are just wrong. We need less religious intolerance not more. And Christianity shouldnt be pushed down peoples throats by the DOJ.The trend in society is toward progressive values and away from religious intolerance.Lets vote these people out of government in 2020.
Dave Davis, Fairfax, VA
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@Bill not used to push back?? The voting rights act, the civil rights act, de-segregation, marriage equality, equal pay for equal work, women's rights... Take a breath and study our country's history. Those steps toward the fulfillment of the guarantees of our Constitution for all Americans were hard won.
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@Bill
There is only one way to overcome “leftist and rightist” propaganda. It is pointed to in the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools across our country. It is overcome by adherence to the quintessential definition of the American Ideal with which the Pledge concludes: “liberty and justice for All.”
“Liberty and justice for All” means without regard to race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, spousal affiliation or sex.
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@Bill well, if that aint the pot calling the kettle black....
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