This morning, the Family Research Council’s Watchmen on the Wall, a program for pastors, distributed a bulletin insert for churches to include in Sunday morning worship folders or to distribute in a “high traffic area.”
The bulletin begins with a few scriptural references to righteous judging, then goes on to denounce Supreme Court rulings of the past 50 years that upheld the separation of church and state, recognized a right to privacy that includes the right of a woman to have an abortion, and said that same-sex couples have the same right to marry under the U.S. Constitution as other couples.
From the bulletin:
Sadly, many judges in America are writing and issuing decisions that could be considered as immoral and oppressive. Some of the more outrageous Supreme Court rulings include what amounted to the removal of public prayer (1962), public Bible reading (1963), and posting of the Ten Commandments (1980) in schools, as well as the claim that the “right to privacy” justifies a woman’s right to abort her pre-born baby (1973) and creates constitutional protections for same-sex marriage (2015). These are examples of “Judicial Activism,” which is when judges impose their personal policy preferences rather than faithfully interpret and apply the Constitution and the law as written.
President Trump sees the Constitution as a time-honored document, unlike his predecessor, who saw it as outdated and in need of change, something more like silly putty than a marble sculpture. President Trump has pledged to select judicial nominees who are originalists, who interpret the Constitution consistently with the understanding of the Framers who drafted and adopted it, rather than as a jumping off point to invent rights and new laws, completely disconnected from the text. Further, the President’s selection of Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges receive what amounts to a lifetime appointment. Consequently, it is a choice with lasting consequences.
President Trump has nominated Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Based on his record and writings, Judge Gorsuch is a conservative nominee reminiscent of Scalia, who promises to interpret the Constitution from a perspective of original meaning and the text.
In the letter sending pastors a link to the bulletin, FRC Vice President for Church Ministries Kenyn Cureton wrote:
Conservative groups like FRC have declared our support for Neil Gorsuch’s nomination. On human life, he argues in his own book that it is “fundamentally and inherently valuable.” On religious liberty, he has proven his keen understanding and respect for our first freedom in his rulings in the Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor cases. All the evidence suggests that President Trump did indeed select a nominee in the mold of Justice Antonin Scalia.
On Wednesday evening, FRC sent members an email featuring an op-ed by FRC’s Arina Grossu in U.S. News & World Report. Grossu’s column, titled “Gorsuch’s Pro-Life Promise,” declares, “The Supreme Court nominee’s personal views and rulings indicate he won’t defer to abortion advocates.” While there’s no certainty about how Gorsuch would decide in particular cases, Grossu writes, a review of his rulings in five significant cases suggests that his “type of originalist approach will translate into rulings protecting all human life and not activist abortion rulings making up rights which are nowhere to be found in the Constitution.”
Also this morning, the American Family Association sent out its own alert asking members to contact their senators and urge a vote to confirm Gorsuch:
We are thankful that President Trump kept his campaign promise to nominate a conservative who would bring the same kind of values and opinions concerning the Constitution as Antonin Scalia.
