It has been said that, “The Constitution is not what it says, it is what those nine black robed justices say it says.” The truth in that statement points to the fact that the closest thing we have in the American government system to an oligarchy is the Supreme Court of the United States.
SCOTUS recently ruled that the COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the State of California on churches was not in keeping with the Constitution of the United States when the state allowed other businesses and venues to open at 25% capacity.
In an especially egregious abuse of local government power, the city of San Diego forced churches to close but allowed strip clubs to remain open. I suppose the city of San Diego believes there is less chance of COVID transmission at a strip club that there is at church.
The Los Angeles Times ran an editorial titled, “U. S. Supreme Court sticks its nose in California’s business.” The editorial conveniently left out the part about California sticking its nose in the church’s business by imposing greater restrictions on churches than other venues.
The Supreme Court issued its ruling in the California case in a 6-3 decision. In a stunningly ignorant descent Associate Justice Elena Kagan, writing for the three liberal justices of the court, wrote, “Justices of this Court are not scientists.”
Where is the science that says one is less likely to get COVID-19 at the roulette wheel than a prayer altar?
Neither is Associate Justice Elena Kagan ‘just’ as her title implies. When the governor of Nevada said casinos, bars and gyms could reopen under certain restrictions, but churches could not, Associate Justice Kagan ruled with the majority of the Court in supporting the governor’s decision.
What role did science play in that ruling? Where is the science that says one is less likely to get COVID-19 at the roulette wheel than a prayer altar? The freedom to exercise one’s religion is enshrined in the first words of the First Amendment of the supreme law of our land; where is the constitutional right to gamble at a casino, drink at a bar, and workout at a gym protected?
I am not suggesting our court system should ignore science in their decisions and rulings, what I am saying is it is hypocritical to invoke science in a case to support your ruling and ignore the same science in another case.
Associate Justice Kagan is right, the justices of the Supreme Court are not scientists, I don’t expect them to be; what I do expect form them is justice. Paul wrote, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called,” 1 Timothy 6:20, KJV. Science has not always gotten things right and regarding what we know scientifically about COVID-19 is still in its infancy. But even if we are on the right track at this stage of the pandemic, it still does not give the Court leave to manipulate that knowledge hypocritically.
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