The Trouble with Obergefell in [Relay] Journal

I really appreciate Dean Enlow providing excellent insight on the deeper issues in Obergefell in his posts here.

My very short piece on three troubling aspects of the case is published in [Relay], the Journal of Worldview Academy, for whom I teach during the summer.

I begin where Chief Justice Roberts and Scalia begin, with the alarming fact that the opinion-- the thing that is supposed to justify the legal reasoning of the court to the world-- has nothing to do with law and has no "legal reasoning" in it:

First, the most troubling aspect of Obergefell is what it says about law itself and what that means for the future of the rule of law in America. This decision was not based on law—in fact, it had nothing to do with the law. The case was decided, instead, on pure will: the political and social preferences of five justices on the Supreme Court.

Read the whole thing. It's barely 1000 words.

Podcasts are now searchable on iTunes

Also, if you wonder how a Christian criminal defense lawyer justifies his trade theologically, check out my latest podcast, which is a Remix of an old Cross & Gavel interview with my former student, J.T. Borah. It's a good conversation. He claims, for example, that a criminal trial is not about truth, but is about "process."

The Fortnight for Freedom - From Kim Colby

I want to welcome Kim Colby as my guest blogger for the next two weeks to help celebrate The Fortnight for Freedom.  

Kim is Senior Counsel at the Center for Law & Religious Freedom, where she has worked since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1981. She has represented religious groups in numerous appellate cases, including two cases that were heard in the United States Supreme Court.  She was involved in congressional passage of the Equal Access Act in 1984. With Kim's long history of service in the area of religious liberty, I thought it appropriate that she post for me during the Fortnight of Freedom. From Kim:

The Fortnight for Freedom begins today.   Please thank God that America has been a refuge for those seeking religious liberty for hundreds of years.  Specifically, thank God for the Supreme Court’s January decision protecting churches’ right to employ ministers without governmental interference (the Hosanna-Tabor case).   Please pray for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the unanimous opinion, and for his work on the Court.  (We will pray for each Justice in the coming days.)

The “Fortnight for Freedom” is a national campaign of teaching, witness, and prayer against the abortifacient and contraceptive mandate and in favor of religious freedom. -MS