On Tuesday, Justice Samuel Alito gave another startling indication of how troubled he is by recent changes in American society and law. In an unusual “statement” about a case from Missouri, the justice was clear that, in his view, those changes have advanced an egalitarian and secular agenda at the expense of religious beliefs and practices.
The same day that Alito made his statement, Politico broke a story about what it called “an influential think tank close to Donald Trump” that is “developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power.” Politico suggested that “Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life.”
As the country has become less religious and more diverse, those advancing a Christian nationalist agenda think that “Christians are under assault” and hope to use political and legal means to turn the tide.
Enter Justice Alito. The statement he made this week offers a preview of what a Christian nationalist agenda might look like.
As the New York Times explains, Alito wrote to explain why the Supreme Court had rejected a request to hear a Missouri case about people who were not allowed to sit on a jury “after voicing religious objections to gay relationships.” Alito used the case to offer wide ranging comments about what he characterized as mistreatment of people who adhere to “traditional religious beliefs.”
The Missouri case involved jury selection in a suit brought by Jean Finney, a lesbian, who sued her employer, Missouri’s Department of Corrections, alleging employment discrimination. As the Times reports, Finney “claimed that after beginning a same-sex relationship with a co-worker’s former spouse, that co-worker made Ms. Finney’s job intolerable.”The colleague “spread rumors about her, sent demeaning messages and withheld information she needed to........