MSNBC panel suggests we're not far from witch trials thanks to Supreme Court
The Nation correspondent Elie Mystal claimed that the Supreme Court has promoted a "Christian fundamentalist" worldview that could reintroduce the Salem Witch Trials to society.
A panel on MSNBC’s "The ReidOut" denounced the Supreme Court as being too religiously motivated on Monday, with one guest claiming "Christian fundamentalist belief" is being imposed on others.
Host Joy Reid brought up a Rolling Stone piece from Wednesday that claimed a Christian group influenced the Supreme Court justices in their decision to overturn Roe v. Wade by praying with them.
Author Robert Jones called this revelation "really troubling" and suggested that prayer could lead to an organization assuming that God is on their "side."
"What’s really troubling to me is the use of prayer clearly for political influence here. You think about prayer, there’s the old adage that I grew up with: the family that prays together stays together. And that’s because prayer creates a kind of intimate connection of inviting the divine into a human relationship and it basically says we’re on God’s side together, and it’s only a half-step from that to say God is on our side. That’s why I so find deeply troubling about this," Jones said.
The Supreme Court is seen Wednesday, June 29, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Liberty Counsel, the group referenced in the original Rolling Stone article, denounced the article as false, noting that no member of the prayer ministry has been allowed inside the Supreme Court since 2020 due to COVID restrictions.
The Nation correspondent Elie Mystal went one step further and suggested that the Supreme Court justices are already religious "zealots" obsessed with the Christian faith.
"They don’t really need to bring in outside groups to pray because the zealots are already on the Supreme Court. The call is coming from inside the house. If you go back to the Dobbs decision, people need to understand that the premise that life begins at conception is an overtly religious belief. It is a Christian fundamentalist belief. It’s not shared by many people of the Jewish faith. It is not shared by many people of the Islamic faith or the Hindu faith or the Buddhist faith or any of these other faiths that make up our country," Mystal said.
He also claimed that religious zealots could lead to the return of the Salem Witch Trials.
A woman is shown praying here inside a church. (iStock)
"We have tried doing the new world the way Lauren Boebert suggests. You know where that got us? To the witch trials. You know what happened? People died. But with this court, we are not far away from that again. We’re not far away from one of these Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene type of people saying, ‘I saw Goody Mistal speaking with the devil and helping women across the border,’" Mystal said.
Mystal further claimed that Supreme Court will continue to limit rights beyond those for White Christians.
"What we’re going see next term is this court continue to feed on vulnerable people, on minorities, on non-Christians. Look, there is nothing in the Supreme Court decisions that allow a football coach to lead students in prayer, leads players in prayer that tells me that they are going to allow a Muslim school teacher to pray five times a day towards Mecca. That’s the point about history and tradition. It’s only kind of White Christian and tradition that they are again trying to impose on the rest of us against our will," Mystal said.
Former Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy answers questions after his legal case, Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District, was argued before the Supreme Court April 25, 2022 in Washington, DC. Kennedy was terminated from his job by Bremerton public school officials in 2015 after refusing to stop his on-field prayers after football games. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The decision Mystal referenced involved former high school football coach Joe Kennedy who lost his job after praying in public at the 50-yard-line after games. He did not require or encourage other students or players to join him. In addition, multiple Jewish and Islamic groups filed amicus briefs in support of Kennedy’s case. The case was ruled 6-3 in Kennedy’s favor back in June.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.