2 of 2

When it comes to government, evangelical energies seem drawn to positions where Christian beliefs are part of decision-making. It's easy to list conservative Protestants in the legislative and executive branches. But judges? Roy Moore gets rallies for erecting a Ten Commandments monument while Michael McConnell's work goes unread. Is that because evangelicals don't want to do intellectual heavy lifting? Or is it because we disagree with Justice Antonin Scalia's argument that "a judge … bears no moral guilt for the laws society has failed to enact"? Does moral duty always trump job description?

Activism is usually mentioned as one core distinctive of being an evangelical, but we oppose it on the bench. Is this why there are so few top-level evangelical judges? If so, thank God for conservative Catholics.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

More Christianity Today coverage of Samuel Alito and the Supreme Court vacancy is available in our full coverage area.

This column appeared in the magazine's January 2006 print issue as the tenth entry of "Weblog in Print," CT's effort to duplicate on paper our popular online Weblog feature. Earlier entries include:

The Katrina Quandary | America questions the role of Christian charity. (Oct. 20, 2005)

Abolishing Abstinence | Telling underage kids not to have sex is surprisingly controversial (Aug. 24, 2005)

Dirty Qur'ans, Dusty Bibles | If Leviticus or Jude suddenly disappeared from Scripture, would we notice? (June 20, 2005)

Who's Driving This Thing? | Everyone is asking who leads the evangelical movement. (Feb. 21, 2005)

Bad Believers, Non-Believers | Do religious labels really mean anything? (Oct. 19, 2004)

Pro-Abortion Madness | The abortion lobby has abandoned its rationales amid pro-life gains. (Aug. 17, 2004)

Grave Images | The photos from Abu Ghraib have reopened debate on the power of pictures.

Misfires in the Tolerance Wars | Separating church and state now means separating belief and action (Feb. 24, 2004)

A Theoblogical Revolution | Billy Graham's vision goes from print to online, then back again. (Jan. 16, 2004; Weblog update: "New Kids on the Blog," Feb. 13, 2004)

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

January 2006, Vol. 50, No. 1