The Opportunity

If the Supreme Court continues to hand down rulings of the same caliber as some of those it has already produced in this decade, Christians will be afforded a singular opportunity to reassert their religious beliefs, an opportunity the like of which has never yet existed in America. Even without any further rulings, the opportunity is almost here. Briefly, it consists of a socio-political condition in which the laws of the land not only give no support, directly or indirectly, to the religious principles and moral system of Christianity, but in fact read into the body of citizens’ rights the specific right to violate those principles and that system—in the name of the law.

Consider, for example, the family, in the light of Supreme Court rulings on abortion since 1973. At one time, the essence of the Christian family ideal was embodied in a Sacrament, administered by the partners to each other, in which each gave the other exclusive rights over himself or herself. Each family member—husband, wife, and eventual child—had authority, values, and functions that were distinct and yet intrinsically related to the authority, values, and functions of the other two: the authority and functions of the parents in guarding the moral wellbeing of their child; the value of the unborn child as a human being from the time of conception, and therefore his right to expect protection from his parents, especially, but not only, when still in utero; the value of the husband as father, and therefore his authority, shared with the mother, over the future of their child.

MM

About the Author

Malachi B. Martin

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If the Supreme Court continues to hand down rulings of the same caliber as some of those it has already produced in this decade, Christians will be afforded a singular opportunity to reassert their religious beliefs, an opportunity the like of which has never yet existed in America. Even without any further rulings, the opportunity is almost here. Briefly, it consists of a socio-political condition in which the laws of the land not only give no support, directly or indirectly, to the religious principles and moral system of Christianity, but in fact read into the body of citizens’ rights the specific right to violate those principles and that system—in the name of the law.

Consider, for example, the family, in the light of Supreme Court rulings on abortion since 1973. At one time, the essence of the Christian family ideal was embodied in a Sacrament, administered by the partners to each other, in which each gave the other exclusive rights over himself or herself. Each family member—husband, wife, and eventual child—had authority, values, and functions that were distinct and yet intrinsically related to the authority, values, and functions of the other two: the authority and functions of the parents in guarding the moral wellbeing of their child; the value of the unborn child as a human being from the time of conception, and therefore his right to expect protection from his parents, especially, but not only, when still in utero; the value of the husband as father, and therefore his authority, shared with the mother, over the future of their child.