The Week in Quotes (July 29 – Aug. 4)

Here are some of the week’s most notable quotes.

Samuel Brunson, professor of law at Loyola University Chicago, on the religious right’s efforts to repeal the Johnson Amendment, a law that has barred tax-exempt charities from weighing in on political candidates since the 1950s.

“By allowing churches to funnel deductible dark money into politics, I believe that repealing the Johnson Amendment would hurt America’s democracy. Even if that doesn’t happen, I fear that repeal could damage churches, their missions and their communities.”

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Mike Knuffke, chair of the far-right San Antonio Family Association’s PAC, equating gay marriage with the sexual abuse of a child while urging tolerance for Cynthia Brehm, the newly elected chair of the Bexar County Republican Party, after reports surfaced that her husband had pleaded guilty in 1999 to “indecent liberties” with a child: Brehmís 14-year-old daughter from a previous marriage.

“It’s funny because they’re really not that different. We believe in the indissolubility of marriage. For the spouse to be married, between a man and a woman in the eyes of God, that indissolubility of marriage is paramount when it comes to the San Antonio Family Association.”

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Nan Aron, the president of the Alliance for Justice, on President Trump’s ever-expanding imprint on the judiciary.

“This president has not encountered great success in enacting much legislation beyond the tax cuts. One gift he can give to his base are judges. It’s his way of maintaining their loyalty and energizing them for the next election.”

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Kenneth Marcus, who was recently confirmed as assistant secretary of education for civil rights, explaining Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ narrowing of the agency’s approach to racial discrimination and civil rights enforcement.

“We enforce the laws that Congress passes as written and in full – no less and no more. We are law enforcement officials, not advocates or social-justice people.”

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Amy Cohen, associate rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in Austin and a member of Just Texas, on how Texas’ fetal burial law conflicts with non-Christians’ faiths.

“This new burial law offers no exceptions for women whose faith beliefs are different from the politicians who passed it. By honoring only one religious tradition, the law by default shames and stigmatizes all women who have an abortion.”