Monday, September 17, 2018

Four Conservative Christians React to Kavanaugh Hearings


The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for United States Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has garnered national attention.  President Donald Trump’s pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy experienced a good deal of vocal opposition since the hearing began last week, including yelling protesters and Senate Democrats claiming he would turn back women’s rights. 

Here are how four conservative Christian leaders view the proceedings, especially regarding the protests and the line of questioning from Senators:

Tony Perkins
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins viewed the hearing as a vindication of President Trump’s remarks before evangelical leaders.  In a statement, Perkins called the hearing “a snapshot of where America is and where we will head if the Left has the reins of government.”  “The Left will stop at nothing as evidenced by the violence of Antifa,” stated Perkins.  “The unhinged conduct of the Left should make it crystal clear what is not only at stake in the balance of the Court, but the future of our country.”

Ralph Reed
Ralph Reed of the Faith & Freedom Coalition has stated that he considers the actions of Democrat Senators and protesters alike to be “political theater.”  In an email sent to supporters, Reed denounced the critical statements and protests as an “outrageous example of political theater” meant to “rile up the progressive base ahead of the Midterm Elections.”  “Despite 12 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals and 25 years of stellar public service, Democrats are opposing Judge Kavanaugh simply because he is the nominee of President Trump,” Reed stated.  “Members of the Senate have 307 legal opinions and 480,000 documents produced by or related to Judge Kavanaugh – more than TWICE the number of documents ever received by the Committee for any previous Supreme Court nominee … yet Democrats are opposing Kavanaugh again, simply because he was nominated by Donald Trump.”

Al Mohler
Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, weighed in on the hearing in an episode of his podcast “The Briefing.”  Mohler believed that the incidents and rhetoric at the hearing showed that “the politicization of this entire process has reached points that not only the framers of the Constitution could not have imagined but even members ... of the Supreme Court or of the United States Senate could not have considered just a matter of perhaps a decade or so ago.”  “Because the way that game is played is that those on the Republican side are going to try to offer opportunities for Judge Kavanaugh to speak to his most basic and fundamental judicial philosophy.  Whereas, on the Democratic side, you’re likely to have almost exactly the opposite,” added Mohler.  “Very little attention to the underlying judicial philosophy and a great deal more attention to the likely outcomes of that way of interpreting the Constitution on the hot button issues of greatest interest to voters who back the Democratic Party in elections, and most especially are likely to be motivated for the 2018 midterms and the 2020 presidential cycle.”

David French
Notable conservative National Review columnist David French penned an opinion column that argued that the various protests and attacks against Kavanaugh proved that “too much of the talk about norms and civility and decency is just another weapon of convenience, to be dropped the moment it is perceived to pave the path of defeat.”  “Yet yesterday, from the top down, from senators to protesters to online trolls, the Democrats offered a preview of how they’d react to any Republican nominee, and it was a shining example of how and why conservatives don’t believe for one moment that Donald Trump is the sole source of American dysfunction,” wrote French.  “When the chips are down, will you practice what you preach?  Yesterday’s performance provides a clear answer, and it should worry all of us who genuinely care about health of American political discourse.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

2 comments:

  1. Senate confirmation hearings have become a circus. Largely because the Senate has become a joke. In fact the whole congress has become a laughing stock. We can thank party politics for all of this as George Washington warned us. I have serious misgivings about Kavanaugh, especially when it comes to his views on Fourth Amendment rights and court precedent.Kavanaugh is viewed on the left as one who would turn back the clock on many issues but how could that happen if he relies on precedent to be his guide. The progressives should actually be happy with Kavanaugh since they would just be replacing Kennedy with another Kennedy. It's really the constitutionalists that should be wary of Kavanaugh

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  2. A woman with life-threatening disability comes to a church she loves, by God’s Hand, and is badly groped, grabbed after surviving lung failure with lymphoma and lung disease she has survived for years. The respected church leader grabs her arm after she has been weak, on oxygen and steroids to survive, and badly homebound. His wet mouth and lips are on her neck while grabbing her arm and holding her tightly, after he knows she has nearly died, and joked about it. He grabs her chest hard in the front row. Both pastors know, and that she is protecting others, including the man, by keeping silent.
    By staying away, even when the low-grade lymphoma leaves her very ill, damages her kidneys, she cannot enjoy classes or worship, yet still visits others in nursing homes and hospitals when God calls her to, even when she cannot pay for parking. She borrows a car to visit a beloved elderly church friend in a home, visits a man in the ICU, despite badly damaged kidneys and liver leaving her barely able to stand, and nausea so severe she often passes out from the vomiting. Both “pastors” know she is sacrificing and suffering by staying away so the respected man can enjoy the church, all while no one else knows.
    When the grabber-groper is away, she reads Scripture to the congregation while achieving 50% lung capacity and being in partial remission. She is overjoyed that God had made a way with her fortitude and praise.
    But illegal actions, promises, and assurance over a supposedly great need she offered to help with, left her risking her life and half-alive at the side of the road. She protects 1 “pastor” while he is going through personal loss, while the illegal actions and medical costs leave her beyond bankruptcy. The other “pastor” knows, and promises meetings, crying pastor 1 “is sensitive, he’ll be crushed!”
    She lovingly and sacrifically protects others, and their paychecks, waiting for the meetings, then never held. Instead, she receives belittling, defamation, false accusations, slander, and worse, all while her kidneys are failing, her heart is so damaged she cannot walk or stand normally, repeatedly states limitations, but is berated when she is suffering financially and not expected to survive, all due to illegal actions.Those who knew not only turned their backs but participated in the cruelty set by “leaders,” who found power in the glory of the male ego. And it is entirely documented.
    There is right, and there is wrong. Abuse of power is everywhere. We laugh over the hearings, but God weeps when in His church by those who proclaim His name with their titles.


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