Christian Leaders Bitterly Divided Over Kavanaugh Sex Assault Allegations, FBI Probe

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter Monday, October 01, 2018

2. America magazine

A petition has been circulated requesting U.S. President Barack Obama to have The Rev. James Martin of New York, New York deliver the benediction at his Jan. 21 inauguration ceremony. | (Photo: Facebook/Fr. James Martin, SJ)

America magazine, published by the U.S. Jesuits, said in an editorial following Thursday's hearings that it is time for the Kavanaugh nomination to be withdrawn.

"Evaluating the credibility of these competing accounts is a question about which people of good will can and do disagree. The editors of this review have no special insight into who is telling the truth. If Dr. Blasey's allegation is true, the assault and Judge Kavanaugh's denial of it mean that he should not be seated on the U.S. Supreme Court," the magazine's editors wrote.

"But even if the credibility of the allegation has not been established beyond a reasonable doubt and even if further investigation is warranted to determine its validity or clear Judge Kavanaugh's name, we recognize that this nomination is no longer in the best interests of the country," they argued.

"While we previously endorsed the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh on the basis of his legal credentials and his reputation as a committed textualist, it is now clear that the nomination should be withdrawn."

The America editors clarified that "far more stringent standards of proof" would be needed if Kavanaugh's legal or moral responsibility in the alleged assault was being questioned.

They said that the nomination, however, has become not just a fight over policy issues, but also a "referendum on how to address allegations of sexual assault."