On Friday, Bill Barr addressed the De Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame’s Law School. As a speech from a devout Catholic to a group concerned with ‘ethics and culture’, you won’t be surprised to find that it wasn’t a critically reasoned argument as much as it was an old-time Bible-thumping screed — although offered in a measured monotone.
Barr stuck to familiar territory — laying all that is wrong with America at the feet of secularists and those who would rip away ‘religious freedom’ from the devout and closed-minded. In his words:
"We see the growing ascendancy of secularism and the doctrine of moral relativism. Basically every measure of this social pathology continues to gain ground."
And what does this lead to?
"Along with the wreckage of the family, we are seeing record levels of depression and mental illness, dispirited young people, soaring suicide rates, increasing numbers of angry and alienated young males, an increase in senseless violence and a deadly drug epidemic.
And then he added this coda:
"Over 70,000 people die a year from drug overdoses. But I won't dwell on the bitter results of the new secular age."
Let’s note it took 37 minutes for him to not dwell on those bitter results.
Is there merit in what he says? Has he fairly outlined the causes of the American Empire's decline and fall? Is he on to something? Of course he isn’t.
For as long as people have been keeping records, religious authorities have blamed divergence from the accepted norm on a failure to keep the faith in some imagined celestial authority. The religious types in society know what the divine has authorized, and, damn it, the masses will pay attention.
So let’s have a closer look at this modern-day Christian Imam’s rant — and for the sake of argument, we’ll accept that America is in decline. Barr's first fallacy is that he establishes no causal relationship. He offers a correlation and nothing more. His argument offers as much ‘proof’ that an increase in drug use leads to rejection of religion as it does that increased secularism leads to greater drug use.
So let’s see if we can do the job he is unwilling to do — and find evidence for his proposition. It’s simple enough; we’ll look at drug abuse and church attendance rates.
The Deep South (religious) has a low rate of drug use and New England (secular) a high rate — so that supports Barr’s case. But New York and California (secular) have a low rate while Appalachia/Missouri/Arkansas (religious) have a high rate, so that contradicts it. For more detail, click here: Drug use by state.
Now let’s look at suicide. Again the data is mixed. The Mountain/High Plains/Western Bible Belt states have high suicide rates. But so does New England. While the Eastern Bible Belt, as well as New York and California, have low rates. For more detail, click here: Suicide rate by state.
There is nothing to support Barr’s contention. And we can quickly dismiss Barr’s theory of the pernicious effects of secularism as just so much hogwash.
But what of his more generic complaint that religious folk are getting their asses kicked by atheists ripping away their religious freedoms?
It’s absurd. The Attorney General of the United States is complaining at a leading Catholic University that his religious freedom has been stripped away. While at the same time, his boss is packing the judicial system with religious zealots dedicated to enshrining the rights of one religion to the detriment of the rights of everyone else.
The Supreme Court has six Catholics on it for chrissakes — and not one atheist in sight. Congress is engorged with Christians. The President has never been anything else. (Not counting the current cynic in the job.)
So where does Barr find his torch-bearing mob of rights-denying humanists? In New Jersey. Here’s what he has to say:
"For example, New Jersey recently passed a law requiring schools to adopt a LGBT curriculum that many feel is inconsistent with traditional Christian teaching."
In Barr’s philosophy, the state can control a woman’s reproductive rights, ban contraception, mandate that a loveless couple must stay together, educate its children to maintain bigotry and teach that happy relationships outside of marriage are a sin - but it can’t mention that there are people who love other people who happen to be the same sex.
Hypocrisy.
But he’s not done. He maintains that without religion, we are lost.
"Modern secularists dismiss this idea of morality as otherworldly superstition imposed by a killjoy clergy; but, in fact, Judeo-Christian moral standards are the ultimate utilitarian for human conduct."
And
"In other words, religion helps frame a moral culture within society that instills and reinforces moral discipline."
I can only say one thing here — and it is blunt. Barr belongs to a religious cult that turned its back while its officials raped little boys.
It takes chutzpah, temerity, a blinding sense of sanctimony to think that a group of sex crime enablers has the moral authority to judge what is the ‘ultimate utilitarian for human conduct’.
And it's not just the Catholics. You have pastors sweating up other people’s marital sheets. And the hypocritical homophobes playing fold the towel with pool boys. While the sanctity of marriage crowd enjoys a spot commercial sex.
And when these paragons of the philosophy ‘do what I say, not what I do’ school of expedient morality are busted, they make a beeline for the confessional or — if they are a prominent Protestant — a TV camera where they can expiate their sins through a veil of tears.
Let me offer a final thought. If the religious want to promote the idea that they have the secret to a good life — that they have the book which provides the perfect guide — can they get together and agree on what it is? There are too many opinions. It is only fair that if you insist yours is the right one, first get all the other religious folk to agree before you foist your rules on people who are just trying to lead their lives without bothering anyone else.