Chief Justice Involved in Embryo Decision Appears on Show with QAnon Ties

Tom Parker is the Alabama Chief Justice who wrote the concurring opinion in the controversial ruling determining that frozen embryos should have the same rights as children. According to the Huffington Post, he recently appeared on a Christian nationalist’s podcast, where he expressed explicitly theocratic beliefs.

Dodgy show

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The show, called “Someone You Should Know,” was hosted by Johnny Enlow. According to Media Matters, Enlow is a “self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ and QAnon conspiracy theorist.”

Some comments

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On the show, which was released on the same day that the Alabama Supreme Court released its controversial ruling, Parker claimed that “God created government.”

Sad opinion

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Parker said he found it “heartbreaking” that “we have let [government] go into the possession of others.”

Call to action

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That tragedy, according to Parker, is “why he is calling and equipping people to step back into these mountains right now.” As Media Matters explained, this was a direct invocation of what is called the Seven Mountain Mandate.

Seven mountain mandate

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According to Jennifer Cohn, the Seven Mountains Mandate is “the belief that Christians have a mandate from God to step outside of their churches and head into their communities to help claim the following ‘mountains’ for God: business, government, family, religion, media, education, and entertainment.”

Dark future

In 2023, NBC News called this a “once-fringe movement” that is fueling a rise in conservative power across the country.

Direct support

“As you’ve emphasized in the past,” Parker told Enlow, “we’ve abandoned those Seven Mountains and they’ve been occupied by the opposite side.”

Soldiers in the war

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Parker also complimented Enlow for “giving us the overview and the vision that allows us to really contemplate what God is calling each of us to for our role on those Seven Mountains.”

Specific role

Enlow told Parker that he was “in such a key place that we don’t want to have any conversations that hurt you in any kind of way, but we appreciate who you are, who you are in the kingdom.”

Acknowledgment

Parker told Enlow that the “holy spirit is there” while he arbitrates judicial sessions. He claimed God “is equipping me with something for the very specific situation that I’m facing.”

Serious ruling

In his opinion for the state Supreme Court’s ruling, Parker wrote that “human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself.… Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”

Serious consequences

As Mother Jones reported, the controversial ruling has already forced several IVF clinics to pause their operations, which in turn prevents many Americans in the state from attempting to have children.

Ongoing assault

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Hillary Clinton warned that “The extreme right won’t stop trying to exert government control over our most sacred personal decisions until we codify reproductive freedom as a human right.”

Need to fight

Indeed, conservative activists like Christopher Rufo have openly indicated that they will target the legality of birth control next.

Poor argument

“Worth noting that contraception and safe abortion have saved millions of lives, been among the largest contributors to steep drops in infant mortality, and have led to large increases women’s education, financial power and national GDP,” Jill Filipovic wrote in a thread about the conservative movement against birth control. “Which is why misogynists want to ban them.”