The Election: Focusing on the Supreme Court

I received an email a few days ago, from Focus on the Family that I thought important enough to post. We all know about the Supreme Court appointment that was filled by President Obama. It is quite likely that more will follow in the next few years. The Supreme Court has been almost evenly split, only slightly weighing in as more conservative constitutionalists. That could all change with a single court appointment. 

If you do not recognize the seriousness of this, reflect on just one court decision that was made while Bill Clinton was in office. It was during the time when the Boy Scouts were coming under increasing fire for their laws which prohibit homosexuals from being leaders in their program. The Boy Scouts of America is a private organization, not a public institution. That is important here. There was a case that went all the way to the Supreme court that could have had dire implications on all private organizations throughout the country, forcing them to admit homosexuals into leadership positions, regardless of their fundamental and religious beliefs on the matter. Thankfully, the court sided with the Boy Scouts in a 5 to 4 decision. The constitution hung by a thread.

Now on to the report from Focus on the Family:

Four members of the U.S. Supreme Court are at least 74 years old, making it very likely that the next president will make two or even three appointments to the Court in the coming four to eight years. Right now, the general balance of the court is more conservative than liberal on many of the biblical issues we care about. That composition could certainly shift leftward with the appointment of justices whose judicial philosophy leans toward creating law rather than interpreting the U.S. Constitution.

So the question is, since Romney and Obama have more similarities than we would like to think about, does your vote really matter? I think it does. Even though the Supreme Court really upset me in its recent decision to reject an appeal by two university, student led, religious groups who wanted to limit their voting membership to those who shared the same beliefs and values. Nevertheless, I think that if we allow extreme liberals such as Obama, to have another four years to rework the court, it would be to our own peril. Yes, our religious freedom is at stake. And if you have any doubt, I recommend reading The Criminalization of Christianity by Janet Folger.