"What will happen to Catholics and others . . . ?"

Mirror of Justice ^ | Jan 2, 2012 | Robert George

[bkopto]

One of my superstar former students, writing about his experience at one of our nation's premier law schools, sent me a note after reading my MOJ post on marriage, religious liberty, and the "grand bargain." Here is the text, with names removed to protect the innocent:

I had a first-hand experience with this reality in law school. One of my constitutional law professors taught the section of our course relating to same-sex marriage under the "inevitability" banner. I met with him in office hours later to talk to him about something else, but I brought up a question that I have been wrestling with: if the SSM advocates are right and opposition to SSM becomes analogous to racism in our society, what will happen to Catholics and others whose views on SSM cannot and will not change? Are they to be excluded from public office, political and judicial appointments, or places of trust and responsibility within private institutions (e.g., law firm partnerships)? I posed the question to him because I was curious to hear his response, since he is generally a kind and reasonable person who seemed open to other viewpoints.

His response was very disappointing, and it shook my confidence in him. He responded to me by saying something along the lines of: "Well, they [Catholics and others] will either have to change their views or be treated in the same way that white supremacists and the segregationist Senators were treated. They were excluded from the judiciary entirely for decades because of the South's views on race."

He evinced no sympathy for the traditional marriage position or those who hold it. They were to be relegated to the ash heap of history. He said all of this to me knowing full well (because I had foolishly just told him) that I was a Catholic who opposed SSM.

Is anyone prepared to say that the view expressed by the professor is merely a fringe opinion in the contemporary academy? Is anyone prepared to say that it is the view of only a small minority, or a minority at all, in what University of Virginia sociologist Jonathan Haidt calls the liberal tribal-moral community of contemporary academia? Would anyone deny that there is a significant element in the elite sector of the culture---an element with real power over the lives and careers of people like my former student---that wishes to penalize or discriminate against those who refuse in conscience to yield to the liberal orthodoxy on issues of sex and marriage? Consider the professor's own words. He made no effort to hide his goals and intentions. On the contrary, he made it abundantly clear that Catholics and others who persist in their dissent are to be treated the way we treat white supremacists. They are to be stigmatized, subjected to discrimination, and denied the right to hold certain offices.

And this professor, as my student observed, is a "generally a kind and reasonable person who seems open to other viewpoints." What are we to expect, then, from those who are even less "open to other viewpoints"?

[caww]

The “falling away” is real.

Yes, just as it was written would come.

[caww]

There’s always a counterfeit....always. Islam is simply copying what they saw when Israel’s population grew in Egypt... it was a threat to Pharoh’s ‘National Security’...
He was afraid they would rebell and war might come so he subjected and surpressed them...and ultimately issued death to thier sons.

Islam copies this today and has been doing so in its infiltration into countries....while every other nationality is aborting their children Islam/Muslims continue to mutiply their population....and where possible have more than one wife to enlarge their numbers all the more. It’s known in the United States they do have plural wives, it’s just not made known.

And so...the left will never recognize the Islamic threat...they use it like they do all other threats to our nation, to prop themselves up.....it will never matter to them for they already are prepared to vacate this nation when the time comes..or join their parade.

[caww]

Good post...I agree. The mission was given to us by Christ and what we are to be doing...as many who will come. Then the curtain will come down and the next act will begin...thank God we will not be here to live it!

All these worldwide crisis’s are being pushed and manipulated to bring about the destruction of the nations and more importantly leaderships who stand in the way of this One World Order....and the consolidation of monies worldwide with it....which cannot be fully realized without bringing with it the religions of the world into some sort of Unity. That Unity will come as truth is suppressed more and more.

The stage being set where all nations will be ultimately crying out for someone to stop the destruction they themselves cannot......and then the man of the hour will step up. We already see these leaders saying they don't have the answers.....and we'll see more and more of them stating so..or being eliminated.

The so called Arab Spring has nothing to do with the populace revolting against their leadership....but everything to do with them being manipulated to do so. They have to have the Muslim nations included for the oil wealth and the dependency the world has to it. That's why Obama will never ever let our nation develop it....and why the EPA is so powerful to stop it here.

What a web is spun when man thinks he can build another tower of Babel or a world of Utopea....But we know the ending...we win!

[darrellmaurina]

I am not a fan of Newt Gingrich, but one thing I really like about him is that he has made conservative politics at least somewhat intellectually respectable again.

We have a real problem in conservative circles caused by not teaching our students how to survive and argue and fight back at elite leftist universities and graduate schools, and as a result our sons and daughters either go there and get their faith and politics wrecked or they get discouraged by parents from going there at all. As a result, too many solid conservative young people with excellent high school grades go to community colleges and small state universities to save money, and then settle for third-rate law schools that may prepare them well to run a small criminal or civil law practice but certainly won't prepare them for a top-level law firm.

The result is we conservatives don't produce people who are qualified constitutional lawyers, and that means we can't generate enough candidates for senior state judgeships or for federal judgeships. Then we're surprised when court decisions go bad.

Much the same could be said for many other professions, not just the law.

Not everyone is called to go to elite universities and graduate schools. I understand that, and I am the first to say we need good mechanics and farmers and storekeepers and other small business owners in fields which often don't require a degree at all. Small business owners are generally the best candidates for political office. My wife and I have numerous degrees between us, but we'd much rather vote for a candidate for office who is a successful small business owner than somebody with lots of degrees and little life experience.

But if we don't recognize that anti-intellectualism is incompatible with the long-term survival of the conservative movement, we are in for serious trouble.

3 posted on Sunday, January 08, 2012 3:03:29 PM by iacovatx: “I occasionally read these stories written by people unfamiliar with college culture. This is not exclusive to elite law schools or elite universities more generally. These sorts of views and this culture is pervasive at colleges throughout the US and in such nations as Australia. It has been pervasive for a couple of decades, at least. It may seem implausible to people outside academia but, I assure you, it is deeply rooted and pervasive. For years, it has excluded alternative views.”