United States Supreme Court Building
One of the main arguments used by some Christian conservatives today is that this presidential election is about the importance of Supreme Court appointments in the coming years. The thought is that the next president needs to be Republican, because he will appoint judges that stand for biblical principles. I’ve grown a bit weary of this argument because it doesn’t match history, specifically with regard to three decisions that have special meaning to believers. While I’m not an expert on the Supreme Court, I’ll let these facts speak for themselves and just make one specific point at the end. I wrote more about the Supreme Court here and here in my devotional called Terminus: America and the End of the Age.
Prayer in Schools
Justice Hugo Black, who had previously made a horrible decision misinterpreting the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment in 1947, delivered the majority opinion on this case in 1962. Prayer was kicked out of public schools, and the decision was a clear 6–1 outcome (one justice abstained and another was forced to retire for health reasons). How is this for a reality check: HALF of the justices voting in the majority were appointed by Republican presidents.
Abortion
The Supreme Court issued this awful decision in 1973. It was a 7–2 vote in favor of legalized abortion. The seven voting in favor were Blackmun, Burger, Powell (all appointed by Nixon), Brennan, Stewart (both by Eisenhower), Douglas (Roosevelt), and Marshall (Johnson). The two against were White (Kennedy) and Rehnquist (Nixon). For those of you who didn’t know, Eisenhower and Nixon were Republicans. So even if Douglas and Marshall had voted against legalized abortion, there were still five justices appointed by Republicans who would have been enough to carry a majority and legalize abortion. Let that thought sink in.
Gay Marriage
The gay marriage decision of 2015 took place before the (somewhat suspicious) death of Antonin Scalia. Mr. Scalia (appointed by Reagan) was joined by Thomas (George H. W. Bush), Roberts, and Alito (both George W. Bush) in the dissenting opinion. What tipped the scales in favor of gay marriage was the vote of Anthony Kennedy—a Reagan appointee—siding with the four Clinton/Obama appointees: Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.
Conclusion
In each of these cases, Supreme Court justices appointed by Republican presidents (and Democratic presidents, for that matter) were complicit in decisions that have led to horrible consequences for our country. Therefore, why should anyone expect anything different from any future appointees by Republican presidents?
So what do we do with this history lesson? My point is not to tell you who to vote for or to abstain from voting. Rather, I would like to focus on the obvious spiritual conclusion. No matter who you vote for and believe is the best candidate for any position, there is only one Supreme Judge and one Righteous Leader in whom we should put our hope, and that is God (Psalm 50; James 4:12; Revelation 20:11–15). Everyone else, including me, is significantly flawed, so let’s not put our hope in ourselves either. Repentance and revival—regardless of political affiliation—is what we desperately need and what we need to pray for going forward.