A judicial confirmation hearing this week stoked fears among conservatives that it is becoming acceptable on the American left to voice intensely anti-Christian sentiments.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing for Amy Coney Barrett \u2014 a law professor at the University of Notre Dame and President Trump\u2019s nominee to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals \u2014 during which two senators, Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), suggested that Barrett\u2019s Catholic faith might disqualify her from serving as a judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you,\u201d Feinstein said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for for years in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Durbin, meanwhile, criticized Barrett\u2019s prior use of the term \u201corthodox Catholic,\u201d saying it unfairly maligns Catholics who do not hold certain positions about abortion or the death penalty. \u201cDo you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?\u201d he asked her outright.<\/p>\n