One thing the modern Supreme Court can agree on is disagreeing over religion

Alliances among the nine Supreme Court justices can shift back and forth, as in recent cases over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation of migrants. But religion is different.

Alliances among the nine Supreme Court justices can shift back and forth, as in recent cases over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation of migrants. But religion is different. The fundamental irreconcilable conflict on today’s Supreme Court was laid bare during an intense courtroom drama Tuesday over books on gender and sexuality in elementary schools. The 6-3 sharp ideological divide emerged as the justices considered whether parents have a right to withdraw their children from certain reading classes based on religious beliefs. Tempers flashed during the unusually long two-and-a-half-hour session. The personal harmony the justices try to show from the bench evaporated. Emotions were raw, and individual justices revealed the personal stakes. Justice Brett Kavanaugh – describing himself as a “life-long resident” of Montgomery County, Maryland, where the public school dispute originated – said, “Maryland was founded on religious liberty and religious tolerance, a haven for Catholics escaping persecution in England going back to 1649.” “And I guess I’m surprised,” he told Alan Schoenfeld, a lawyer for the school board, “given that this is, you know, this is the hill we’re going to die on, in terms of not respecting religious liberty, given that history.” (Kavanaugh and his children attended private schools.)