The Pop Culture Supreme Court

 

The Pop Culture Supreme Court - Todd Strandberg - http://raptureready.com/rap16.html

 

The Supreme Court of the United States was established by Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Its primary job is to act as the final interpreter of federal constitutional laws. The court was designed to rule in one of three ways: It's constitutional; It's unconstitutional or That's not within our jurisdiction.

 

Over the years, the Supreme Court has drifted away from the guidelines set by our Founding Fathers. What we now have is a court that rules based on what's popular. If something is embraced by the majority of the culture, the justices will find some way to bend the meaning of the Constitution to make it a reality.

 

I think the greatest example of this activism occurred when the Supreme Court voted to make abortion a constitutional right. In the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, abortion was made legal in special cases based partly on a "right of privacy" for women. Later, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the Court said that a woman has a right to abortion until "fetal viability" based on the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

 

Last week, by a 5 to 3 vote, the justices struck down a Texas law that required doctors who perform abortions to meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery and to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals in case of a medical emergency. These reasonable health standards were voted down because they would create an "undue burden" on the abortion process.

 

One method used to justify all these absurd rulings is the idea that the Constitution was meant to be a "living document;" which argues that it must be interpreted in light of the moral, political, and cultural climate of the age of interpretation.

 

A growing number of people are emerging who think the U.S. Constitution is simply dead and doesn't need to be part of any legal decision. Dick Posner, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, recently made the following remark:

 

And on another note about academia and practical law, I see absolutely no value to a judge of spending decades, years, months, weeks, day, hours, minutes, or seconds studying the Constitution, the history of its enactment, its amendments, and its implementation...Which means that the original Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the post-Civil War amendments (including the 14th), do not speak to today. David Strauss is right: The Supreme Court treats the Constitution like it is authorizing the court to create a common law of constitutional law, based on current concerns, not what those 18th-century guys were worrying about.

 

When Posner took office, he had to take an oath to defend the Constitution. For him to now declare it to be a waste of time should automatically cost him his job. Posner will likely escape impeachment because the people who have authority over him do not have enough regard for the Constitution to call him out.

 

The death of Justice Antonin Scalia raised the possibility of the loss of the 5 to 4 conservative majority that has hindered the leftist agenda. The defection of Justice Anthony Kennedy on the abortion ruling makes me wonder if our hope of a 4 to 4 tie until President Trump can nominate a new judge is wishful thinking. Clarence Thomas is the only justice that remained faithful to the conservative wing.

 

I do know that a President Hilary Clinton will mean judicial Armageddon. Once there is a solid liberal majority on the Supreme Court, every ruling to follow will fit the liberal agenda. There will be no need for oral arguments, because the same mindset that tells the liberal media what to promote will be in charge of the court.

 

One way to remain positive is to stay focused on the Lord Jesus' coming, to take us away from all this madness. Another reason to be optimistic is the realization that we can see the truth. When I saw all those people shouting for joy on the Supreme Court steps after the Gay marriage and abortion ruling, I knew faithful believers have insight that they lack.

 

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).