Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says the ruling legalizing marriage equality nationwide marked “perhaps the decisive point” in America’s turn “against religious liberty.”
In his new book So Ordered, Alito focuses on Obergefell v. Hodges. The 5-4 decision was a landmark in civil rights, establishing a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry nationwide. But Alito, who dissented from the 2015 ruling, portrays it as a turning point against religious freedom.
Alito points to disputes involving LGBTQ+ rights as evidence that “support for religious liberty has cratered.” He cites cases involving businesses seeking religious exemptions from requirements governing services for same-sex couples or employee health coverage, including those that refuse to provide wedding services to gay couples or seek to limit health care for employees based on religious beliefs.
Plus, at a more conceptual level, he’s confused correlation with causation.
Surely, it’s more likely that legalized gay marriage and intolerance of the homophobia of Christianity are both driven by society becoming more tolerant of homosexuality.
It’s scary to think that there are powerful people who are unable to reason at even the most basic level.