The idea of justice, and the perils of extravagant piety

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The recent assertion by US Supreme Court Justice Samuel ?Alito that America needs to return to ‘godliness’ has created ?ripples in liberal circles because it is perceived as the ?reflection of a theocratic worldview, as much as an? attempt to restore the diminishing credibility of a once august institution.

By ‘godliness’ Alito apparently implied a return to America as a nation with Christian values.

In the same private conversation US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts disagreed that America was a Christian nation adding ?that laying out the moral path for the country ?was the burden of elected officials.

The once sacrosanct separation of ‘church and state’ had its genesis in a 1802 letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to a Baptists Association in which he said that ‘religion was a matter solely between man and his god.” Roger Williams , a Puritan minister also advocated the separation for slightly different reasons. ‘The high wall (separating the two)’ Williams said was ‘to keep the wilderness of government out of the affairs of religion.’

The call for a return to godliness comes at a time when retired judges are publicly questioning the judiciary’s and specifically the US Supreme Court’s standing as the ?ultimate arbiter of ?justice. Retired US Supreme Court judge Stephen Breyer has said that while balancing between ‘textualism’ (interpreting the statues focusing on the words) and ‘originalism’ (interpreting the constitution as it was understood at the time it was adopted) the judges were withdrawing ?from their judicial role.

Another critical view is from Judge David S Tatel of the US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Tatel was once a leading candidate for the US Supreme Court. “We have a court (the US Supreme Court) that is unmoored from the principles of judicial restraint,” he said, adding “that is a threat to our democratic values.”

When the right wing are on the ascendancy almost everywhere in the world, and have almost taken over the executive and legislative branches of government, the judiciary would appear ?to be the last bastion of democratic probity.

There are logistical issues when returning America to ‘godliness’. Which Christian ?denomination would have the preeminent claim to morality- Catholics (who at approximately 70 million account for 21 percent of the population) or Protestants (who at 140 million account for 42 percent of the population) ?

In 1963 when President John Kennedy visited Pope Paul VI at the Vatican he did not kneel and kiss the papal ring as he was required to ?as a Catholic. Since he did not follow tradition, Kennedy told an aide, it would ?have won him a lot of votes in South Carolina where voters were opposed to him as a Catholic. He also expected to re-run for election in 1964 and needed the vote of non- Catholics who were suspicious of his religion.

Invoking divine sanction, though, ?either explicitly or implicitly has been historically useful in public life.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “ A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.”

In ancient Greece, justice and the divine were linked. Themis,( divine law) the goddess of wisdom and justice was also the interpreter of god’s will. She was often pictured holding the scales of justice in her hand.

In America, with an increasingly politically consequential evangelical movement, it ?would be interesting to see how this project to resurrect ‘godliness’ ?in public life evolves. There is an increasing chasm between the morality of individuals and the political morality of groups. ?And ?the concept of vice and virtue, and morality itself is relative and changes between generations.

The legendary poet -lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi wrote this for the 1964 movie Chitralekha:

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