Barrett’s SCOTUS Nomination Poised To Ignite Religious Sparks Over Her Handmaide-esque Cult ‘People Of Praise’

Amy Coney Barrett’s name was floated the last time a supreme court opening occurred, but instead we got Brett Kavanaugh, replete with “boofing,” “Devil’s Triangle,” and the heart wrenching sexual assault testimony of Christine Blasey Ford. Incredible as it seems, we may have been better off with Kavanaugh, because the Barrett confirmation looks to be swinging into religious war territory off the bat, due to her cultish religious affiliation — which Democrats are being warned to stay clear of, as though it were a land mine. But read further and you will see that Barrett’s cult membership in People Of Praise is so intrinsic to who and what she is, that it would be dereliction of duty for Democrats not to inquire — and yes, they will need to wear asbestos suits for all the heat that will be generated. The Atlantic:

Barrett does belong to People of Praise, which is not my kind of thing—and it’s probably not your kind of thing either, as there are estimated to be only about 1,700 or so members. The group was founded in 1971, six years after Vatican II had reduced many of the strictures by which Catholics were meant to live their lives, unintentionally creating a void in the religious experience of many faithful. For some, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal filled that void, replacing the rigidity of pre–Vatican II Catholicism with the kind of ecstatic worship style of Pentecostals, including gifts of prophecy and of glossolalia. Although most People of Praise members apparently identify themselves as Catholics, the group has several practices that fall outside present-day Catholic doctrine, and—as far as I can tell—considers itself ecumenical.

What’s got everyone’s hair on fire is that, according to The New York Times, “the group teaches that husbands are the heads of their wives and should take authority over the family.” But the dastardly nature of this expectation is undermined by Barrett’s being shortlisted for a nomination to the Supreme Court. If her faith has put limits on her talent and ambition, there are few signs of it; you don’t get a seat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (where she is currently a judge) so that you can keep your hand in and earn a little pin money.

Where the battle lines are being drawn here, is that on the one hand, faith and Christianity in particular, are looking to be voted upon in the confirmation process. But it’s in the definition of those terms that things will get dicey. Cooler heads are trying to avoid this confrontation, and that makes sense. The last thing we need right now is a religious war on the floor of the senate. But it well may be unavoidable.

I'll give Amy Barrett's opponents some good advice, in blissful assurance that they won't take it. Don't attack her faith. Don't go near it. Stay a million miles away. Talk about health care, immigration, the weather, anything but religion. It's not her Achilles heel; it's yours.

— Robert P. George (@McCormickProf) September 26, 2020

This does not mean that you can't criticize Amy Coney Barrett, or warn about how her presence on the Supreme Court might change the country.

But please, for the love of decency and sanity, leave her faith out of it.

— Yascha Mounk (@Yascha_Mounk) September 26, 2020

This is some good advice. However, this cult that Barrett’s in, belies the normal definition of what most of us would consider “faith.” It’s also labeled “Christian” and that’s where a definition of terms is needed. This doesn’t sound like the run of the mill Sunday congregation and potluck. This is downright spooky, Handmaid’s Tale spooky. Mother Jones:

She’s a member of People of Praise, a charismatic covenant community in South Bend, Indiana, that has been criticized by former members for being a religious cult. Though most of its members are Catholic, its practices, including speaking in tongues and faith healing, draw more from fundamentalist and evangelical Christianity than the Vatican. One of its most notable features is the submissive role played by women, some of whom were called “handmaids”—at least until the Handmaid’s Tale aired in 2017, At that point, the group started referring to them as “women leaders.”

Barrett has written and spoken publicly about being a devout Catholic lawyer, even saying that during her confirmation hearing that she would not enter an order of execution if she were a federal trial judge because it would conflict with Catholic Church teaching. In 2006, she gave a commencement speech at Notre Dame law school in which she told the grads, “Always keep in mind that your legal career is but a means to an end, and…that end is building the kingdom of God.” But Barrett has not publicly addressed her involvement with People of Praise. […]

But according to accounts of former members, People of Praise involves much more than studying the Bible. Indeed, some are deeply troubled by the possibility of one of the group winning a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court. Two years ago, when Barrett’s name was floated as a potential candidate to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, a post appeared in a Facebook group of ex-members of charismatic Christian communities. “I don’t want a current member of this cult to be sitting on the Supreme Court,” the onetime People of Praise member wrote. “And it was not very many years ago that I admired them very much and was almost seduced into thinking they had something spiritually real and rich going for them.” More recently, another ex-member wrote, “I think we better start now fighting her nomination. I can’t quite imagine People of Praise on the Supreme Court.”

Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse is characterizing this group as a “Bible study.” It sounds more like the training ground for the Illuminati — or a branch to carry out the functions of an Illuminati-esque structure.

Most of its members are Catholic, but People of Praise is ecumenical, and any Christian can join. But joining the group requires a major commitment and a willingness to submit to a lay spiritual adviser known as a “head,” who has an outsized role in one’s life and relationships. After several years of exploration, prospective members must agree to a formal covenant and pledge to attend to each other’s spiritual, material, and financial needs—as well as attend many meetings, even as they still go to Mass or otherwise remain active in their regular churches. Members are supposed to consult their head on nearly every aspect of their lives—from raising children to buying a car. A woman’s personal head is her husband, and women aren’t allowed into serve in top leadership roles in the community.

Maybe there is some way to stall this confirmation, although I doubt it. But that is what Americans want. The latest Washington Post/ABC poll shows that 57% of people believe that the supreme court seat should be filled after the election by the next president. Amy Coney Barrett may be a competent jurist but the company she keeps is something that cannot be ignored. This reads like a sci fi novel about a dystopian theocracy.

People of Praise often live close together and unmarried people sometimes live with a married couple. There are specific courtship rituals—dating isn’t allowed until a member has been thoroughly counseled by a head. It’s positively socialist in many ways, as members are required to tithe at least 5 percent of their earnings, share property, and submit their family budgets to their head.

Former members have described it as oppressive to women, and one woman has suggested that it creates a hospitable environment for controlling and abusive men. Coral Anika Theill, who wrote a memoir called BONSHEA: Making Light of the Dark, discusses her time with People of Praise and her sense that it had a role in facilitating the domestic violence she says she suffered. Her story highlights another feature of the community: Once in, it’s tough to exit. “When I left the community in 1984,” she writes, “I was threatened and told that they would put me in a mental institution if I did not submit to the ‘authorities God had placed over me.’” […]

“After some time in the POP,” he [Adrian Reimers, Notre Dame professor] writes. “I started to realize that the revolution of Jesus Christ that was prophesied by the group was actually a revolution of oppression and control. The POP is comprised almost entirely of white upper-middle class Americans. Of the hundreds of members I met during my time with the POP, I met only one that was Black. I later found out that he was merely a guest at one of the community meetings and not affiliated with the POP. Furthermore, no active homosexuals are allowed, and if they ‘come out’ they are encouraged to undergo conversion therapy or are forced to leave.”

The dots are easy to connect here. Jeff Sessions used to talk about religious over secular rule in government. Mike Pompeo started Bible studies at the CIA. Mike Pence said he wanted to see “Roe v. Wade consigned to the ash heap of history,” when he first took office. If you haven’t read my piece from before the 2017 inauguration, “Mike Pence Is A Theocrat. His Christian Supremacist Followers Seek To Take Over America. Seriously.” please read it now. It details for you the plan for theocratic takeover, starting with the blueprint that Pat Robertson laid out on television back in the 80’s.

These people are real and their views of the genders and sexuality are backwards and repressive, plus where gays are concerned they’re downright oppressive. These are conversion therapy people. And on these facts, it does not seem possible to keep a discussion of faith out of the confirmation process. Barrett is not just a member of this cult, she’s one of its High Priestesses.

…Her ties to Praise of People run deep. Her parents are members; her father Mike Coney has been a member of its top leadership, serving on the board of governors, and her mother was reportedly a handmaid. She has six siblings, many of whom are also in the group, have done missionary work for it, and are married to other members. Barrett’s husband, Jesse Barrett, is a fellow Notre Dame law school grad, former assistant US attorney, and a lawyer in private practice—and a member of People of Praise.

These are not routine facts in a confirmation process. While it’s clear that bringing religion into the confirmation process is going to be throwing gasoline on the fire, it is unavoidable.

It’s not anti-Catholic for Senate Democrats to ask Barrett to explain her relationship with or role in People of Praise. Wondering if she was a handmaid—and what that might mean in a Supreme Court justice—is a far cry from asking John F. Kennedy whether he had more loyalty to the Pope than the United States. As she told Notre Dame’s Class of 2006, “First, before you take any job, particularly one that requires a move, pray about it. St. Ignatius of Loyala observed that when presented with options, most people choose what they want to do first, and it’s only after the choice is already made that they go to God and say, ‘How can I serve You in the Situation I’m in?’  It’s the rare person who consults God before making a choice.”

I don’t know who the so-called Christian God is that she consults with, but I fear its a different one than the rest of us are talking to. I’m not hearing a lot of love and inclusivity here, nor the golden rule, that are the foundational tenets of true Christianity. Barrett is openly touting fundamentalism. Christianity routed a lot of the outdated notions of gender role that appeared in the Old Testament. Nevertheless, the evangelical wing of the GOP dug them up long ago and those paternalistic ways dove tail so well with the rest of the racist Republican agenda.

Barrett’s confirmation on the Supreme Court is a fearsome rite de passage for this country, and one that we would probably be better off not going through. At worst, it may well start the ball rolling towards a massive overhaul of that institution. Or, perhaps an overhaul is long overdue and the Merrick Garland nomination was the evidence of that? It’s going to be an interesting week, in all events. 38 more days until the election.