As the dust settles and the role that conscientious dissenters will have in our New Society is made clearer, we who pray “Thy kingdom come” need not be afraid. What is new is the unfortunate decision of five Supreme Court justices. What isn’t new is the call for Christians to live lives of peace, love, joy, freedom, generosity, kindness, and prayer. The Holy Spirit, as far as I know, hasn’t been overruled by the Supreme Court.
What better time to let our light shine before all mankind. We can be gracious in our legal defeat while remaining firm in our conviction that God made man, male and female, in his own image, and created man and woman to live together in fruitful harmony. We can still ask his unfailing mercy for ourselves, first of all, and for all those who do not know him.
Jesus is king. Amen. Alleluia. No civil authority can change that. What we owe him in obedience cannot be changed by any civil compulsion, full stop. Freedom is something so internal that external things cannot touch it. When civil society falters, each believer can check to see whether the foundation of his life was set on the rocky ground of God or the sands of fickle earthly masters.
We realize anew today that the Constitution was written by mere human beings. The Word of God that is inspired by the Spirit and the teachings of the holy men and women who have preserved the faith remain unchangeable. The road ahead will be difficult. At the very least, over 100 million Americans still object to the judicial imposition of a false right on the Constitution of this country. That is not a number which can be summarily dismissed. But today, we reaffirm our faith in God, and ask him to guide us as we discern how to move forward to establish a just society, with laws that reflect human nature and promote the common good.
Vivat Christus Rex!
Dominic Bouck, O.P., is a Dominican brother of the Province of St. Joseph and a summer intern at First Things.
