Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defends religious extremists and claims that atheists can’t be trusted because they don’t believe in God.

Thomas, speaking at Pepperdine University in California, a school “committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values,” used his platform to defend religious extremists like Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a judge who believes her religious faith comes before the law, and claims that the Bible precedes the U.S. Constitution.

Defending Judge Barrett and other religious extremists from having to answer questions about the policy implications of their extreme beliefs, Thomas said:

I thought we got away from religious tests. I don’t think I know a single judge that had allowed religion to interfere with their jobs.

Thomas, invoking his friendship with the late Justice Antonin Scalia to make the questionable claim that he doesn’t know “a single judge that had allowed religion to interfere with their jobs,” continued:

[Scalia] felt the way I did: that it would be a violation of his oath to somehow allow his faith to displace the law. Because we took an oath to enforce the law and interpret it impartially. And he took it very seriously.

Thomas then went on to suggest that atheists can’t be trusted because they don’t believe in God, and so when an atheist takes an oath, it is meaningless:

Just as an aside. I think it’s really interesting that people in a profession where we all take an oath, that they would look at people who have strong faith as somehow not good people when, if you’re an atheist, what does an oath mean?

In his remarks Thomas goes on to suggest that a Christian taking an oath is more trustworthy than an atheist, because a Christian supposedly believes that they must answer to God, while an atheist does not.

The remarks bashing atheists while defending religious extremists were met by cheers from those in attendance.

This is not the first time Thomas has made controversial remarks. Previously Justice Thomas argued that states may establish an official state religion, and saw no constitutional problem with an individual state declaring Christianity to be the official state religion.

And in his dissent opposing same-sex marriage, Thomas made the dubious claim that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee human dignity.

Bottom line: While defending religious extremists, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas claims atheists can’t be trusted because they don’t believe in God.

Watch the remarks below –