Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump’s two previous candidates, had the traditional backgrounds traditional for Supreme Court candidates of both parties, with Ivy League schools and government jobs on their résumés and religious beliefs . Judge Barrett embodies a different kind of conservatism.
Judge Barrett is from the South and the Midwest. She has spent most of her career teaching while raising seven children, including two adopted from Haiti and one with Down syndrome, and living by her faith. She made no secret of her belief in divisive social issues like abortion. As a deeply religious woman, she is rooted in a populist movement of charismatic Catholicism.
From her founding years in Louisiana to her current life in Indiana, Judge Barrett was shaped by a particularly island-like denomination, the People of Praise, which has approximately 1,650 adult members, including her parents, and draws on the ecstatic traditions of charismatic Christianity as one would speak in tongues.
The group has a strict view of human sexuality that once included traditional gender roles, such as recognizing the husband as head of the family. However, the Barretts describe their marriage as a partnership.
Some former members of the group say it might be too intrusive. Other members, such as Judge Barrett, seem to have appreciated their connection. But she doesn’t appear to have spoken publicly about the group, and she didn’t list her People of Praise membership when filling out a form for the Senate Judiciary Committee asking about organizations she’s a member of.
At about the time of her appeals court approval, several issues of Vine & Branches magazine mentioning her or her family were removed from the People of Praise website.
Family members have also refused to comment on their participation.
For the critics of Judge Barrett, it is the opposite of the progressive values embodied in Justice Ginsburg. She lived her life in a cocoon of like-minded thinking that in many ways contradicts the views of the majority of Americans.
Comments are closed.