It is regularly claimed, by some conservative Christians, that the "judiciary is out of control." I confess I would hate to be a judge in the present environment. Your are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If your life is not in jeopardy (think Atlanta a few weeks ago) then your career might well be. Or maybe your church membership. When Judge Greer (Florida) ruled on the Schiavo case a few weeks ago James Dobson called him "an evil man." The judge in question is a Republican. He is also a Southern Baptist, or at least he was until his pastor told him to leave the church for his judicial decision. I wonder if the pastor actually read the extensive court records before he made his decision to run Greer out of his flock? I did. I believe the judge gave a very clear and consistent ruling, whether you like it or not, given the laws of Florida and the facts of this particular case.

The esteemed conservative jorunal, First Things, even noted in it’s May issue that the problem in Florida was not in the court but in the law. It is not the court that should legally fix the problems faced in the Schiavo case but the legislature.

Recently Tom DeLay appeared on a video aired at a conference called "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith." DeLay told viewers that out of control judges are waging war on our faith values and whatever we do next "must be more than rhetoric." I wonder what "whatever we do next" will actually be.

As I noted on this blog site yesterday what is new in this political struggle is the connection of this filibuster issue to "faith." I simply do not buy it. This is about politics, two different political views of the world. If we keep associating this kind of struggle with faith we will confuse what faith really is in the minds of millions and harm the church, further dividing Christian from Christian. I would like to see these judgicial nominees voted on in the Senate too but I do not intend to support harsh calls from the right to make this happen. Christians can and should do better in the public arena.

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Comments

  1. Fred April 26, 2005 at 8:33 am

    Thank you John for your thoughts on the continuing polarization and divisions of Christians, esp. as we interface all the controversies of the day…last weekend I watched ‘Hotel Rwanda’. Maybe all the parties involved ought to take a break from it all and declare a particular Sunday to view that movie?

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