Christian Education, Guns, Abortion, the Supreme Court, and Christians

Three huge US Supreme Court decisions came down this week and all of them have a significant impact on Christians and Christian ministries.

Carson vs. Makin and the future of Christian Education

On June 21 the court ruled that state programs in Maine that fund private education cannot exclude religious schools. Adam Liptak with the New York Times argues that this is the latest in a series of court rulings that increasingly insert religion into public life.

The ruling was the latest in a run of victories for religious groups that has allowed a much larger role for religion in public life.

We would argue that the restriction of religious schools from this funding is a form of restricting the free exercise of religion. It gives anti-religious secularists—which is a religion in itself—exclusive ground to indoctrinate young people.

The result of this is immediate in my own state. By week’s end, the Arizona House and Senate voted to expand a form of voucher (up to $6500 per student) to include all students grades K-12 eligible to attend public school. The governor has promised to sign the law and opponents are hoping to take it to a public referendum in the fall. This is a game-changer for Christian Education across the nation, but especially in more conservative jurisdictions.

New York Rifle and Pistol Assn v. Bruen and the commitment of the Court to the Constitution.

This ruling upheld 2^nd Amendment rights and will bring many gun laws into question around the country. Gun laws are not usually in the purview of preachers and religious leaders when addressing matters of politics. But there is a key element that we must consider.

This was an extremely unpopular opinion in the light of recent mass shootings in Texas, California, and New York. The emotional backlash has been tremendous, and to a certain extent, understandable. What we do learn from this is this court’s willingness to uphold Constitutional even when those rights are highly unpopular among many national leaders.

We live in a constitutional republic, not a democracy, and the rights of individuals are protected against the whims of the majority by our ruling documents. This is an encouragement to believers that the court will continue to protect the 1^st Amendment rights of Christians.

Dobbs and abortion.

Then on the 24^th, the Dobbs decision came down. It was not the half-hearted compromise that we have come to expect even from conservatives on the court, but a sweeping decision that rejected Roe v Wade as not justifiable under the Constitution of the United States. It basically states that there is no constitutional right to an abortion and pushes the decision-making back to the states. It does not make abortion illegal but makes it possible for states to legislate restrictions on abortion. It opens the door for immediately limiting late-term abortions, re-instating parental consent orders, and more.

The battle against the killing of the unborn is not done. In a sense, this ruling simply allows that battle to now progress on the issues of abortion itself, and not on the constitutionality question. I pray that it will force many now to consider what abortion is and what it does.

In our country, it seems many without any other moral compass on which to rely look to the court to dictate to a certain extent what is moral and what is not. The reaction of the general public to the same-sex marriage ruling gives us an indication that this might be true.

Christians must at least acknowledge to the role of former President Trump in making all this happen. He appointed three justices to the court that were key. The opinion of Justice Roberts (who voted with the majority on this) seems to indicate that he might have ruled the other way if there was a more liberal majority on the court. If Hillary Clinton had become President in 2016 our future would have been much different. Whatever your view on President Trump as a person, it is undeniable that God, in His providence, used him for our blessing. God deserves the glory for the way these events unfolded.

Our battle is not done. The answer is Jesus, not the Supreme Court. We must be more vigilant and active now than ever, but there is nothing wrong with taking a moment to thank God.

After so much bad news and misery, this was a really, really, good week.