Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito believes there’s a growing hostility toward individuals with “traditional moral beliefs,” calling on U.S. Christians to stand up and educate their fellow Americans about the importance of religious liberty.
Alito, who made his remarks during a 45-minute address in New Jersey that was sponsored by a Catholic group, explained his belief that America’s commitment to religious liberty is currently being tested in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex nuptials across America, as The Associated Press reported.
The justice said he has worried that opposition to the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision might be used to treat opponents as “bigots,” and added that he believes this is exactly what is coming to pass in the current culture, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“We are seeing this is coming to pass. You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” Alito told the audience of an event sponsored by Advocati Christi, a Catholic lawyers association. “A wind is picking up that is hostile to those with traditional moral beliefs.”
The address also invoked the discrimination Catholics have faced over the centuries, noting Alito’s own elation at watching John F. Kennedy become the first Catholic president back in 1960.
In the end, the justice warned that Christians in the U.S. must educate their fellow Americans about the importance of religious liberty, especially as ongoing First Amendment battles rage.
“We are likely to see pitched battles in courts and Congress, state legislatures and town halls,” Alito said, according to the Tribune. “But the most important fight is for the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans. It is up to all of us to evangelize our fellow Americans about the issue of religious freedom.”
Alito was previously a U.S. attorney in New Jersey on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals before being nominated to the high court by George W. Bush in 2016, Newsmax noted.
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