# Does Amy Coney Barrett Belong to a Religious Cult(!)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 17, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154 "2020-10-17T03:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/1 "2020-10-17T03:35:42Z")
I have to tell you, I just first heard it on _Real Time_ with Bill Maher (on HBO) just now. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett belongs to a extremist religious cult. [This](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/amy-coney-barrett-people-of-praise/2020/10/06/5f497d8c-0781-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html) is the only cite I could find. Bill Maher went into a little more background. It’s called the ‘People of Praise’ and it was founded in 1971. Unmentioned in this article, but mentioned by Mr. Maher is the fact husbands are supposed to discipline their wives, if they step out of line. Why hasn’t anyone else mentioned this? And is this what Senator Feinstein meant when she said her religious dogma still lives in her? I’m still very confused. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/2 "2020-10-17T05:25:35Z")
Many people have mentioned it. It is common knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/3 "2020-10-17T05:43:52Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Many people have mentioned it. It is common knowledge And a simple google search for some words like “Amy Coney Barrett People of Praise” returns umpty-ump cites. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/4 "2020-10-17T06:02:30Z")
Yes, and it is not a cult. It is a private association of the Christian faithful, aka a parachurch apostolate. I admit to to some it might resemble a cult, but it is not. Nor is it extremist. wiki: _Anthropologist and scholar of comparative religion Thomas Csordas has written about People of Praise and stated, “I would definitely not use the term cult in its popular sense.”[[12]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_Praise#cite_note-grahamslate-12) Csordas said “People of Praise is best described not as a cult but as a religiously-based ‘intentional community.’”[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_Praise#cite_note-reuters-2)_ And here in the USA, we do not discriminate against someone based upon their religion. That is legally and ethically wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/5 "2020-10-17T07:06:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I admit to to some it might resemble a cult, but it is not. Nor is it extremist. What do you define as “extremist”? > Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court, to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has drawn attention to a secretive Catholic “covenant community” called People of Praise that counts Barrett as a member and faces claims of adhering to a “highly authoritarian” structure. > > \< snip \> > > Interviews with experts who have studied charismatic Christian groups such as People of Praise, and with former members of the group, plus a review of the group’s own literature, reveal an organization that appears to dominate some members’ everyday lives, in which so-called “heads” – or spiritual advisers – make big life decisions, and in which members are expected to financially support one another. > > \< snip \> > > Other Catholic writers have said it is fair to scrutinize People of Praise because the group falls far outside mainstream Catholicism. > > The group emerged out of the Catholic charismatic movement of the late 1960s, which blended Catholicism and Protestant Pentecostalism – Catholics and Protestants are both members – and adopted practices like speaking in tongues. [SOURCE](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/26/amy-coney-barrett-supreme-court-donald-trump-people-of-praise) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/6 "2020-10-17T11:04:51Z")
@Euphonious_Polemic _Real Time_ was certainly the first place I heard of it. And they never brought it up in place they really should’ve–her confirmation hearings 🙂 . And on the contrary, religion is a perfectly legitimate thing to bring up–if it is going to influence her opinions on the high court 🙂 . This is probably what Senator Feinstein meant. I mean, I have religious beliefs too. But I don’t impose them on other people. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/7 "2020-10-17T13:29:59Z")
My gf was raised in a religious cult, but decades ago she broke free from catholicism. You wouldn’t believe the crazy stuff they believed. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/8 "2020-10-17T14:07:00Z")
Here is a Washington Post article: > **[Amy Coney Barrett’s People of Praise faith group has had a complicated...](https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEBJ_LRMGAdEhbGhwLnZWeLwqGAgEKg8IACoHCAowjtSUCjC30XQwzqe5AQ?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen)** > > Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett listens during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 14. (Ken Cedeno/Pool/AP)The Associated Press Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett charge that questions about... ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/9 "2020-10-17T14:11:04Z")
She absolutely should be discriminated against for her religious views. Delusional extremists don’t belong in secular positions of great responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/10 "2020-10-17T14:35:28Z")
I’m sure Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Malcolm X, and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. would agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/11 "2020-10-17T14:53:29Z")
If a person in question intends to give their religious beliefs the force of law in opposition to my religious beliefs it is perfectly reasonable to oppose them based on those beliefs. Rights are not infinite, there is a boundary beyond which your exercise of your rights infringes on my exercise of my rights. To invoke a metaphor: “Your right to swing your arms freely ends where my nose begins.” ---
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/12 "2020-10-17T14:56:33Z")
Answer : No. Bill Maher has a history of saying and believing kooky things. He’s also a vaccine-truther. ---
**Author:** ![agzem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@agzem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agzem)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/13 "2020-10-17T15:03:06Z")
Also Newsweek is partly responsible for a lot of this misinformation: > **[Newsweek Runs Correction on Amy Coney Barrett Story that Contradicts the...](https://notthebee.com/article/newsweek-runs-correction-on-amy-coney-barrett-story-that-contradicts-the-entire-story/)** > > Monday, Newsweek ran an article all about how Amy Coney Barrett is a member of a Charismatic Catholic Group "People of Praise" which inspired the leftist dystopian novel 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Atwood. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/14 "2020-10-17T15:57:00Z")
A SC law clerk, lawyer, law professor and Judge. Seems pretty submissive to me. Just like Offred. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/15 "2020-10-17T16:35:50Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > _Real Time_ was certainly the first place I heard of it. And they never brought it up in place they really should’ve–her confirmation hearings I’ve been seeing references to it ever since her nomination started to look likely. And they didn’t bring it up in the confirmation hearings, probably, because the last time they did so all the Republicans started screaming ‘Religious discrimination!’ – whether it’s a cult is going to depend on one’s definition of ‘cult’. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/16 "2020-10-17T16:38:34Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > And they didn’t bring it up in the confirmation hearings, probably, because the last time they did so all the Republicans started screaming ‘Religious discrimination!’ I believe that that is _exactly_ why the Democrats did not bring it up. Trump, and many Republican politicians, have been running with the message that ["Biden / Democrats want to destroy religion](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-god/trailing-in-election-polls-trump-says-rival-biden-opposes-god-and-guns-idUSKCN25237A)," and there’s no good reason to add fuel to that fire. Also, to the OP: if you hadn’t heard about Barrett’s membership in that group before seeing Maher’s show, you may want to consider broadening the number of news outlets you read. As others have said, it’s been mentioned many times elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/17 "2020-10-17T16:46:13Z")
The Jehovahs Witnesses are not classified as a cult, but they probably should be. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/18 "2020-10-17T17:09:39Z")
They certainly score high on the [BITE](https://freedomofmind.com/bite-model/)\* model. \*Control of - Behavior - Information - Thought - Emotions ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/19 "2020-10-17T17:24:12Z")
Simple question for her: “In a potential conflict between the United States Constitution and your own personal interpretation of your religious beliefs, which one will you follow?” Pin her down. Which one? Make a choice. Choose one or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154/20 "2020-10-17T17:29:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And here in the USA, we do not discriminate against someone based upon their religion. That is legally and ethically wrong. Is that really so? Even if the religion happens to be Islam? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-amy-coney-barrett-belong-to-a-religious-cult/923154.md?page=2)