The Supreme Court’s recent decision on prayer at government meetings
reminds me that Supreme Court “season” is upon us, and for the next two months
or so, we can expect to see the court decide on a variety of cases that can
have profound impacts on the lives of citizens and non-citizens alike. The
court’s decision in Town of Greece vs. Galloway
has produced a lot of commentary on both sides, with much discussion about the
dynamics between justices, and how Justice Kennedy must have been in a
pro-prayer mood that day, since his decisions appear to be made on a variety of
unknowable whims.
Nearly all of
this commentary contains the assumption that it is perfectly normal, and
probably laudable, that the Supreme Court has the power to decide the legality
of virtually everything under the sun, from the death penalty to where local
governments can build strip malls.
If there was ever any doubt that
public schooling has been an immense success when it comes to conditioning children
to blindly accept even the most implausible myths of governance, we only need
look to the high regard in which most Americans hold the Supreme Court. The
fact that nine modern philosopher kings are empowered to sit in judgment of
every American law and custom, right down to whether or not a city council
meeting, in a town virtually no American could find on a map, can include some
bland prayer time. It troubles no school child that he is taught that democracy
is the source of legitimacy for all governments one minute, and then the next
minute is told he should fully trust nine lawyers in robes in Washington, D.C.
to have the final word on law for 300 million Americans.……To Read More…
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