Our society is in on a slippery slope of moral depravity, and is picking up speed exponentially as it plummets downward.  Once founded upon Christian morals, we have traded decency for decadence.  Immorality, sin, and perversion are celebrated under the banner of tolerance and diversity, while Christians are being relegated to the back alleys of society and made to feel dirty for actually believing in the Judeo-Christian rules of right and wrong.  The enemy of morality and righteousness is finding a new ally in their campaign – the federal judiciary.

The headlines are becoming monotonously routine – a nominee for a federal bench is being filibustered in the senate because of his or her beliefs about abortion; a display of the ten commandments or nativity scene has drawn the ire of secularists, as well as a lawsuit; public schools are forbidding the organization of student religious groups; a public employee is dismissed for wearing a cross pendant.  The self-described champion of individual rights and liberties – the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – is not on the side of constitutional liberties in these cases.  They have aligned themselves with groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State, American Atheist Association, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation in an evil alliance against the free expression of Christian faith. 

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No, the ACLU has its hands full.  They’re busy with cases like Lane, et al. v. Owens, et al., a case in Colorado challenging the recitation in schools of the Pledge of Allegiance because it contains the words, “under God.”  They’re busy suing a Missouri school teacher for covering the anthropological hoaxes that support evolution and for showing a Reader’s Digest film on the life of a historical figure – Jesus (Welk, et al v. Independence School District, et al).  They are occupied with a suit against a Colorado school district for its traditional graduation prayers in Shields v. Kiowa County School District No. RE-2.  They are encouraging a federal appeals court to overturn an Idaho law that requires parents be notified before abortions are performed on their minor children.  Where were they when a Spanaway, Washington school forbade a student from organizing a Bible Club as a recognized student group?  Where were they when a librarian in Kentucky was dismissed for refusing to hide her cross pendant?  Noticeably absent.  They don’t seem to care about true religious liberty when the affected party is a Christian. 

The biggest ally of the anti-Christian activists has been the federal court system.  When courts decide that municipalities must sever ties with the Boy Scouts of America, because the BSA oath requires a belief in God (or a higher power) and therefore makes the BSA a religious organization – Christianity loses.  When a federal appeals court decides the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because it contains the words “under God,” Judeo-Christian beliefs are further marginalized.  When courts decide that schools cannot teach the science of intelligent design because teaching this would imply the existence of a divine creator, Judeo-Christian beliefs are equated with dirty fables.  When courts act in these ways, they display an ignorance of constitutional freedoms and threaten to purge free expression of Christian faith from every public venue. 

It doesn’t take a doctorate in jurisprudence to read the constitution and the writings of Thomas Jefferson and understand that the so-called “separation of church and state” is a metaphor that has been misinterpreted and misapplied by anti-religious lawyers, judges, and lobbyists.  In Wallace v. Jaffree, Chief Justice William Rehnquist said, "It is impossible to build sound constitutional doctrine upon a mistaken understanding of constitutional history, but unfortunately the Establishment Clause has been expressly freighted with Jefferson's misleading metaphor [separation of church and state] for nearly 40 years."  Chief Justice Rehnquist seems to be in a minority of judges who correctly understands and interprets the constitution and its amendments.  Right now, there is a delicate balance in the U.S. Supreme Court, and the federal circuit courts are increasingly activist in their campaign against Christendom.  As vacancies occur in the federal courts, well-qualified candidates are being kept from the courtesy of a full-floor confirmation vote in the senate by those senators who view their pro-life views as contrary to the good of society. 

The American citizenry cannot directly vote for federal judges.  The constitution provides for a nomination by the president, followed by a confirmation vote by the senate.  Where citizens do have some power, is in the election of those senators.  Matters of religious freedom and morality transcend political partisanship.  Whether Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Independent, it is our obligation as Christians to vote for senatorial candidates that will represent the morals and freedoms that are important to Christians.  Do you want a federal judge who will eliminate the tax-exempt status of your church, prohibit your child from wearing a Christian t-shirt in school, prevent you from wearing a cross pendant at work, or deem it acceptable to terminate the lives of God’s “inconvenient” children without informing their grandparents?  Or do you want federal judges that will uphold the constitution and help to restore some semblance of Judeo-Christian morality to our society?  We must choose, and then remember to vote for senators who feel the same way.  The crisis is upon us.  The resolution depends on us. 

Please check out our "Religion and the Law" section to view court cases and legislation that affect religious rights and freedoms in the United States.