Sotomayor: Too Many Catholics, Jews, on the Supreme Court

[passiveporcupine]

50. I agree you can't go completely by labels

Just because someone has not been devout in their personal life, does not mean they won't lean on those basic beliefs they were raised with when making laws. They may not personally follow what they do in court, but if the catholic church says it should be this way, they may tend to lean that way for over-reaching laws that affect a country with a lot of catholics in it, who may be devout.

You see our current supreme court voting in favor of things that support Catholic views like the Hobby Lobby case. Because we have too many conservative catholics on the court.
Conservatism or liberalism also affects how they apply their religious beliefs. They may not be a devout catholic at home, but they may be very conservative in their public views and believe other people should behave like conservative devout Catholics (you know, like republicans who talk family values in politics, then have an affair in their real life). It's OK for them, but not others. Liberals will tend to be less rigid in applying rules like that. They are more open minded, so you can't just look at one label when trying to judge someone. You look at their religion, combined with their political views, and other things, and make calculations based on all of it together.

Perception for the whole nation is important too. If we had all catholic, white, male judges, it wouldn't matter how diverse they actually were; much of the country would be very unhappy with that image. For example, you might be a catholic judge, who is not devout, but the people you represent include Muslims. Even a non-devout catholic cannot really bring a Muslim perspective into the court, if he/she hasn't lived it. That is the most important part of diversity. Bringing different perspectives into the mix.





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