How can America be persuaded to value Christianity when a majority of Americans are not Christian? That’s a question that Justice Alito asked his audience during a recent speech. He’s not the first reactionary to pose it.
As far as I can tell, there are four possible answers:
- Give up trying to convince pagan America of anything, retreat into a safe space, and await a better day (the “Benedict Option”);
- Make a serious effort to change public opinion through reasoned argument (what I have called the “Patrick Option”);
- Use the legal system to carve out exceptions for Christians regardless of the state of public opinion (we’ll call this the “Alito Option); or
- Use the political system and the military to impose your values on your opponents (a good name for this would be the “Franco Option”).
As the name suggests, Alito is working hard on the third alternative by creating a hierarchy of First Amendment rights, with the Free Exercise clause above all of the others. I doubt he sees that as anything more than an interim solution, however.