When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong: Starring Attorney General William Barr
You guys. On Friday, October 11, 2019 for those of you reading in the future, Attorney General William Barr either lost his mind, ate his Wheaties or was given some truth serum. He really let loose during a speech that was mostly focused on religion in law. During the speech, which was held at the University of Notre Dame law school, Barr said that the "ascendancy" of secularism is at fault for mental illness, violence and drug abuse.
Barr argued that secular militants, which he said includes "so-called progressives" are mobilized in an "organized destruction of religion."
He touched on a recent New Jersey law that requires LGBTQ curriculum in public schools in honor of supporting civil rights. Barr criticized that the law is being "used as a battering ram to break down traditional moral values." He also said that "Ground zero for these attacks on religion are the schools, to me this is the most serious challenge to religious liberty." Keep in mind that there is a decades old Supreme Court case law that removed religion from public schools because the First Amendment bans the government from establishing or giving primacy to a religion.
The Attorney General said that due to the decreasing influence of Judeo-Christian traditions "along with the wreckage of the family, we are seeing record levels of depression and mental illness, dispirited young people, soaring suicide rates, increasing numbers of angry and alienated young males, an increase in senseless violence and a deadly drug epidemic." He continued by saying that Judeo-Christian moral standards are the "ultimate utilitarian rules for human conduct...They are like God's instruction manual for the best operation for human society."
He summed everything up by saying, "I won't dwell on the bitter results of the new secular age. Suffice to say that the campaign to destroy the traditional moral order has...brought with it immense suffering and misery.
Barr's speech shocked legal experts with its depiction of a war between non-religious and religious people. They saw his defense of religious freedom as an assault on the First Amendment's protection against the government's establishment of any religion. I mean, he is the top lawman in the land. Shouldn't he be an advocate of of keeping Church and State separate?
During the speech, Barr also vowed that the Justice Department would fight for the "most cherished of all our American liberties: the freedom to live accordingly to our faith."
Now, I'm all for folks living according to their faith. I am not down for people telling other people to live according to THEIR faith. That is just wrong. You cannot force others to believe what you believe. Catholicism is not the only name in the religion game, but Barr is making it sound like it is. Never would I ever have imagined that the Attorney General of the United States of America would be waxing poetic on the downfalls of not following Judeo-Christian values. It's just not their place. But, we are living in the age of Trump, so anything goes right? Sigh. I mean, it sounds to me like he would rather preserve tradition than actually face our nations problems, and find practical solutions to them. Basically to me, it sounds like he is blaming people who have mental illness, a drug addiction or who have committed suicide as not having enough religion. Which is ridiculous. Just absurd. Also, I feel like he blamed a lack of religion on creating "angry and alienated young males." I don't know about you, but I have seen plenty of "angry and alienated young males" all riled up about religion. So, I don't think that any of this "lack of religion" nonsense shakes out. And, I get that some people are super religious and I respect that. It becomes a problem when you start shoving your religion down the throats of people with different beliefs while shaming those with mental health or drug addiction problems into believing that since they don't subscribe to your religious views, they are at fault for all of their problems. That's wrong and frankly, doesn't sound very Christ-like.
None of this should come as a surprise though considering Barr is a longtime advocate of more religion in American government, schools and law. In fact, he has a history of involvement with super conservative religious groups like the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. You know, the people who litigated the Hobby Lobby case that made it okay for employers not to cover contraceptives coverage for their employees. Which in my opinion, was an action that took away the rights of a ton of women. So, they forced their views on contraception onto a group of women who believed something else. And those women had their rights taken away. It's bullshit.
In 1995, Barr wrote an essay blaming "a steady and mounting assault on traditional values" since the 1960s for "soaring juvenile crime, widespread drug addiction and skyrocketing venereal diseases."
Okay. Calm down. That outlook seems a touch extreme. Here is how me and the rest of the sane world view religion-you do you and I'll do me. Mind your business and I'll mind mine. It is seriously none of my business what other people believe in and vice-versa. Trying to force one religion on an entire nation is dangerous and scary. It feels icky and uncomfortable. I don't know if this speech was a kickoff to something awful or if he was truly telling people what he felt. Maybe he was urged to make a speech like that by someone? Whatever the case may be, it feels wrong and out of place. Mental health and religion are not related to each other. They just don't. And to imply that they are is dangerous.
Shouldn't our Attorney General be neutral when it comes to religion? Shouldn't our government be neutral when it comes to religion?
Barr argued that secular militants, which he said includes "so-called progressives" are mobilized in an "organized destruction of religion."
He touched on a recent New Jersey law that requires LGBTQ curriculum in public schools in honor of supporting civil rights. Barr criticized that the law is being "used as a battering ram to break down traditional moral values." He also said that "Ground zero for these attacks on religion are the schools, to me this is the most serious challenge to religious liberty." Keep in mind that there is a decades old Supreme Court case law that removed religion from public schools because the First Amendment bans the government from establishing or giving primacy to a religion.
The Attorney General said that due to the decreasing influence of Judeo-Christian traditions "along with the wreckage of the family, we are seeing record levels of depression and mental illness, dispirited young people, soaring suicide rates, increasing numbers of angry and alienated young males, an increase in senseless violence and a deadly drug epidemic." He continued by saying that Judeo-Christian moral standards are the "ultimate utilitarian rules for human conduct...They are like God's instruction manual for the best operation for human society."
He summed everything up by saying, "I won't dwell on the bitter results of the new secular age. Suffice to say that the campaign to destroy the traditional moral order has...brought with it immense suffering and misery.
Barr's speech shocked legal experts with its depiction of a war between non-religious and religious people. They saw his defense of religious freedom as an assault on the First Amendment's protection against the government's establishment of any religion. I mean, he is the top lawman in the land. Shouldn't he be an advocate of of keeping Church and State separate?
During the speech, Barr also vowed that the Justice Department would fight for the "most cherished of all our American liberties: the freedom to live accordingly to our faith."
Now, I'm all for folks living according to their faith. I am not down for people telling other people to live according to THEIR faith. That is just wrong. You cannot force others to believe what you believe. Catholicism is not the only name in the religion game, but Barr is making it sound like it is. Never would I ever have imagined that the Attorney General of the United States of America would be waxing poetic on the downfalls of not following Judeo-Christian values. It's just not their place. But, we are living in the age of Trump, so anything goes right? Sigh. I mean, it sounds to me like he would rather preserve tradition than actually face our nations problems, and find practical solutions to them. Basically to me, it sounds like he is blaming people who have mental illness, a drug addiction or who have committed suicide as not having enough religion. Which is ridiculous. Just absurd. Also, I feel like he blamed a lack of religion on creating "angry and alienated young males." I don't know about you, but I have seen plenty of "angry and alienated young males" all riled up about religion. So, I don't think that any of this "lack of religion" nonsense shakes out. And, I get that some people are super religious and I respect that. It becomes a problem when you start shoving your religion down the throats of people with different beliefs while shaming those with mental health or drug addiction problems into believing that since they don't subscribe to your religious views, they are at fault for all of their problems. That's wrong and frankly, doesn't sound very Christ-like.
None of this should come as a surprise though considering Barr is a longtime advocate of more religion in American government, schools and law. In fact, he has a history of involvement with super conservative religious groups like the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. You know, the people who litigated the Hobby Lobby case that made it okay for employers not to cover contraceptives coverage for their employees. Which in my opinion, was an action that took away the rights of a ton of women. So, they forced their views on contraception onto a group of women who believed something else. And those women had their rights taken away. It's bullshit.
In 1995, Barr wrote an essay blaming "a steady and mounting assault on traditional values" since the 1960s for "soaring juvenile crime, widespread drug addiction and skyrocketing venereal diseases."
Okay. Calm down. That outlook seems a touch extreme. Here is how me and the rest of the sane world view religion-you do you and I'll do me. Mind your business and I'll mind mine. It is seriously none of my business what other people believe in and vice-versa. Trying to force one religion on an entire nation is dangerous and scary. It feels icky and uncomfortable. I don't know if this speech was a kickoff to something awful or if he was truly telling people what he felt. Maybe he was urged to make a speech like that by someone? Whatever the case may be, it feels wrong and out of place. Mental health and religion are not related to each other. They just don't. And to imply that they are is dangerous.
Shouldn't our Attorney General be neutral when it comes to religion? Shouldn't our government be neutral when it comes to religion?
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