Both in terms of substance and symbol, the Supreme Court’s apparent decision to strike down Roe v. Wade is a hinge point in American history. Not only does it attempt to revive the discredited and obscene notion that women are not the masters of their own bodies, it’s also the victory bellow of a far-right conservative movement that seeks to wield power against the interests of the American majority, with a sure promise of more retrograde decisions to come across a broad swathe of rights.
The sheer religious zealotry of the anti-abortion movement, and in particular of the Supreme Court justices who support this ruling, has struck me with something of the force of revelation. The majority would have us believe they are merely ruling on the absence of a certain right in the Constitution, but in reality they are actually imposing a religious worldview on the rest of us, one in which fantasy overwhelms reality at every point: that the fetus is an unborn human, that an imaginary baby trumps a real woman, and that the esoteric doctrines of a conservative Christianity should be the law of the land.
Such religious zealotry has no relation to actual morality or modern, secular notions of freedom. It is a faith twisted by misogyny and a steadfast belief in the subservience of women, and by a mistaken notion that it has the god-given right to impose its backwards beliefs on the rest of us. It is the eruption of twisted old gods and kings into the domain of democracy, and we should all broadcast its basic illegitimacy as part of the fight to turn back what is, ultimately, a right-wing religious war against our common humanity and universal human rights.
The Supreme Court is playing a leading role in this movement, but the same Christianist zealotry informs the agenda of the Republican Party of which the Court majority is aligned. As Jennifer Rubin reminds us, “In his 11-point plan, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, declares: “The nuclear family is crucial to civilization, it is God’s design for humanity, and it must be protected and celebrated. To say otherwise is to deny science.” The GOP is committed to imposing a far-right Christian vision on all Americans, regardless of personal faith or belief. This isn’t just wrong, it’s an offense against basic ideas of the separation of church and state that are essential to this country’s founding and greatness. None of us should be afraid to call out about this anti-American religious crusade and its deranged charade of speaking for god himself.