Ok, in a deductive syllogism if the premises are true, then the conclusion MUST be true. Infallibly true.
P1 All men are Mortal
P2 Socrates is a man
C: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
True. there is no way for that not to be true.
So, with that in mind:
P1. Catholic Doctrine opposes abortion.
P2. Alito is a (and Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Coney-Barrett are all) practicing Catholic(s)
C: Therefore, Alito (and the others must according to their religious doctrine, oppose abortion)
Are the premises true? Yes. Therefore, the conclusion must follow.
Authoritarians hate logic and critical thinking. Those things always threaten to undermine ideologies. So, logic, reason, and critical thinking are dismissed as weapons used by Liberals and should be rejected. Believe the authority instead.
Beliefs must be justified by an appeal to an authority of some kind (usually the source of the belief in question) and this justification by an appropriate authority makes the belief either rational or if not rational, at least valid for the person who holds it. (But you need more than a valid argument. You need a sound argument.
An example of a valid but unsound argument is:
p1. All fish have scales.
P2. All snakes have scales.
C: Therefore, all snakes are fish.
However, this belief has a requirement that can never be adequately met due to the problem of validation or the dilemma of infinite regress vs. dogmatism. What that means is that everything that the ideologue claims as the basis for his ideology, he must also be prepared to accept that things require bases. So, he’s now left with trying to find a basis for his basis since things require bases. And if he can find something to justify that basis, he’ll need something else to justify this new basis. What is it based on? And on and on it goes. That’s what infinite regress looks like. You can never arrive at the ultimate basis for the ideology.
If any of Justices were ethical, they all would have recused or rejected it outright as opining on a religious/moral issue which amounts to violating the first Amendment establishment clause. In Alito’s own words from his opinion, “Abortion presents a profound moral issue on which Americans hold sharply conflicting views”. Mr. Justice Alito, your job is to opine on constitutional issues, NOT moral issues. Your moral compass is the Catholic Church and its doctrine. You’ve injected your personal moral compass and Catholic Doctrine into your opinion on Roe along with 6 other members of the court, and you did it in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.
You can deny that you injected your religion into your opinion but that would hard to prove. You’d have to prove a negative; that you didn’t do something. I don’t think you can do that. Secondly you admitted in your first sentence that this was a profound moral issue, and that begs the question of what is the moral compass that informs your opinion? It’s not found in our constitution. So, it comes from outside it. And your opinion follows Catholic Doctrine which is what informs your moral world view. And you ask why SCOTUS approval is so low? The Court has been politicized and is completely out of control by relying on religious doctrine to opine on moral issues.
We don’t need or want “Morality Police” in this country. That’s what they have in Iran where today, they executed a man for “waging war against God” because he supported women who rejected the Hijab. Apparently, that’s a profound moral issue on which Iranians hold conflicting views.
Since Catholic Doctrine is decided on by the Pope and he lives in Rome, that means that they answer to the Vatican. They answer to a foreign state before the Constitution of the US.
They are all practicing Catholics and they all voted to overturn Roe. There are no coincidences in politics. They all voted according to Catholic Doctrine. This is the most politicized Supreme Court in our lifetime. Maybe in history. All our moral values are being dictated from Rome.
Authoritarians hate logic. That’s because ideologies can’t hold up under logical examination and criticism. Logic undermines the authority of the ideologue. So, logic and critical thinking are dismissed as a liberal trick and not to be trusted. So, irrationalism is embraced. Reason is dismissed and atrocities and insurrections are justified. The ends always justify the means. Winning and taking power is what’s important. How you get there is justified by the end result. Machiavellian to the core.
I’m encouraged by the outcome of the midterms. The people spoke and rejected election deniers and supported democracy. Here’s hoping it continues.