Letters to the Editor: Amy Coney Barrett is a particular kind of Catholic. Others are much more liberal
To the editor: As an 86-year-old practicing Catholic, I am dismayed to see that yet another Catholic, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, will likely be on the United States Supreme Court. Obviously, with six of nine justices being Catholic, the court will not reflect the make-up of America.
We are all "cafeteria" Catholics, but what we put on our tray varies widely. Some obsess about abortion and see it as the only issue. Others, upon reading the Gospels, understand how Jesus cared for the poor and the outcasts.
Life encompass not only the fetus, but all humans. We have to think about how to care for everyone — how to provide healthcare, how to provide fair elections for all people, and how we care for this beautiful planet that the Lord created for us.
Unfortunately, I do not have high hopes for the decisions that will come from Barrett. Her membership in the religious group People of Praise is certainly not mainstream Catholicism, and her previous decisions do not provide much comfort.
Patricia L. Moore, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Just for argument's sake, substitute "Rep. Ilhan Omar" for "Judge Amy Coney Barrett," and "Muslim" for "Catholic" in every attack on President Trump's Supreme Court nominee and her faith. Liberals would scream in outrage over the attacks on the Minnesota Democrat's faith, but Christians are fair game to them.
They criticize Catholics, assuming that Barrett will not be able to put her faith aside while deliberating her decisions, yet they are lining up to vote for Joe Biden, also a Catholic. This hypocrisy is embarrassing.
Thank God for Trump and his broad shoulders. As his campaign says, with him it's promises made, promises kept.
Catherine Wirtz, Thousand Oaks
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To the editor: Of course there is a religious litmus test for nomination to the courts.
Republican nominees must hold the religious belief — not a secular point of view or a legal position — that human life begins at the moment of conception and that the fetus deserves the constitutional protections guaranteed to the rest of us.
This belief is reliably held by conservative Catholics, and it is why six of the nine justices may impose it on the rest of us.
Susan Cornner, Porter Ranch
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To the editor: In an ideal United States of America, we would not even know, much less discuss, the religion or lack thereof of any of our public officials.
Lynn Eames, Los Angeles
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
