As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
SCOTUS
Supreme Court of the United States
“More than 100 civil and human rights groups wrote a letter to the Senate on Tuesday demanding that Congress reject Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The letter was headed by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which has over 200 member groups, and was signed by over 100 groups.” - NReview
“Kavanaugh’s inclusion on the court would preserve the Catholic majority, with six justices reared and formed in that tradition. (Neil Gorsuch attends an Episcopal Church but grew up Catholic and attended the same Catholic high school as Kavanaugh.)” - RNS
“The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission president Russell Moore said that he was confident that Kavanaugh would be a ‘strong defender of the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights, especially our First Freedom of religious liberty.’” - CToday
Related:
“The United States Supreme Court has rejected a Presbyterian Church (USA) regional body’s effort to claim ownership of the property of a dismissed conservative congregation in Minnesota.” CPost
“The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal in the case of a conservative diocese that broke away from The Episcopal Church seeking to maintain ownership of $500 million worth of property.” CPost
“Phillips’ petition quotes Barnette that the point is to protect the private citizen from uttering “what is not in his mind.” On this basis the Supreme Court protected from punishment not just students from saying the Pledge, but an automobile owner who covered up the state motto “Live Free or Die” on his license plate.” Center for Vision & Values
In any nation that aspires to be free, freedoms will clash, and there will be winners and losers. Speeding laws limit the freedom to drive fast in favor of the freedom to drive safely. Theft laws limit the freedom to take things we want in favor of the freedom to keep what’s ours. In the retail setting, antidiscrimination laws limit the freedom to sell selectively in favor of the freedom to buy what we want without being turned away because the seller doesn’t like “our kind of people.”
Soon, the Supreme Court will rule in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (if it hasn’t already by the time this post appears). When it does, it’s likely that one set of freedoms will be protected or expanded, and another set will be limited. Which freedoms should prevail?
Though I’m not a lawyer, several features of the case are clear to me, and they point toward the conclusion that the Court ought to rule in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop.
“The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an amicus curiae bief with the US Supreme Court Thursday in support of the Masterpiece Cakeshop” Jurist
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