When Did Clarence Thomas Become White?

July 4, 2022

Watching the blizzard of bizarre Supreme Court rulings this past week, particularly the gutting of the ability of the EPA to address climate change and the upholding of the restriction to the Voting Rights in Arizona implies a movement backward, dreamed about by the Koch brothers, who set out to dismantle many of America’s rights and freedoms, apparently now have even with David Koch’s death, managed to obtain their dream agenda.  The Koch brothers influence in conservative Republican circles (the Heritage Foundation) apparently helping select the Supreme Court’s justices through various Presidents, Samuel Alito, (George W. Bush), Neil Gorsuch, Brent Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett (Donald J. Trump)  joining now Clarence Thomas (George H. W. Bush) as the conservative five who have promoted these sudden changes in our nation’s law.

The dismantling of Roe v Wade takes down the right to privacy, the strengthening of the second amendment restricts states’ ability to regulate gun owners, but it may help in sales by private owners.  The gutting of the EPA dismantles its regulatory function effectively taking down it’s regulatory function over industry, perhaps including OSHSA.  The attack on the Voting Rights act in the Arizona case allows states who wish to prevent minorities from legally voting to do so.

The dismantling of rights of the Living Constitution is made by those who argue for the original meaning of the text.  The more radical of the originalist (as Clarence Thomas) states that if a particular right is not stated in the Constitution itself then that right does not exist.  Since the framers of the U.S Constitution were all white males, then the rights enumerated in the June 21, 1788 constitution upon ratification are those of white men, mostly landowners.  So, Clarence Thomas speaks as a landowning white male.   The Constitution as framed in 1788 did not allow for the rights of the negro slaves, nor even the voting rights of women, as both were not given any rights except what might be inferred from their relationship with land owning white males.

This presents a great dilemma today as most persons in the United States own no land and are not white males.  The conservative judges are following their training on originalism (some call this a form of textualism), which binds all their interpretations of law to this rule of constitutional interpretation. This  form of textualism produces a blinding to the real society at large which often does not hold to the “conservative agenda.”  More cynical persons would say the conservative justices have been bought by money, but it is more likely they are simply blinded by their considerable learning of law.

Our Supreme Court justices lack the ability to see what is clearly before them, that truth without grace becomes a destructive hammer to the common order.  Law is only received by the human heart when it is given with a great quantity of grace.  The Supreme Court justices are not asked to “love our country,” but only to interpret it’s laws.  They have forgotten the intent of government which is to take care of the rights and liberties of the people. The inalienable rights of the people are inherent rights, not bestowed by government, since we are all human beings, made in the image of God, our divine creator. The worse decisions of the Supreme Court are those (as Dredd Scott which negated the humanity of the black race) and the decision to intern the Japanese Americans (again negating the rights of American Japanese as citizens) brought genuine harm to these communities of American citizens.  If the rights and freedoms of a particular group of citizens is curtailed based on race, then the purpose of the United States Constitution to bestow rights is negated.  The Supreme Court in both these cases failed to understand the intent of the Constitution which is to allow for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness within our civil society.

If follows, then, that a reasonable person must ask this question, is the dismantling of law which has provided for the shared rights of the unborn and of the mother for the past 50 years been found to be objectionable only because this cannot be found in the Constitution of 1788, written only by men and for men?  Is the modern right to use contraception mentioned at all?  Contraception governs the need of a woman to regulate conception so that she can decide whether or not she wishes to have children!   Are only men given the right in the Constitution to propagate the human family, or does this fall to both women and men?  Obviously, this applies to both women and men, as I have never seen a man carry a child to term and neither have you.

Something so basic as applying to at least 50% of the human family is not mentioned in the Constitution at all, because contraception did not exist as we know it today in the time the Constitution was being framed.  Does this mean a woman has no right to make use of something which is a modern invention to regulate her life?  Are we bound in this life to live only as those persons did in 1788?  A reasonable person can see how ridiculous it is to imagine in the year of our Lord 2022 (A.C.E.) that we should be bound to all the limitations of our freedoms if it means we are to live by the standards of the 18th century!  The obvious intent of the United States Constitution is to enable life in our civil society today and not limit it!  Or have we forgotten why this country began?

Why do highly educated persons trained in the best law universities miss something so simple to see?  It is because in their great learning they have become the modern Pharisees, who fail to recognize the Savior even though he stands in the midst of them!   And the Pharisees of Jesus’s day missed the salvation of God when He came and visited them.  Their great learning of our justices has made them blind to see the obvious intent of the Constitution to enhance life and not to limit the freedom of the human conscience to make his or her own decisions before God.

As Christians, we are not bound to the United States Constitution, as we have only one King, Jesus Christ.  As United States citizens, we are to live before God under the law of our society, as Paul the Apostle says, “That we might live in peace with all men.”  (Romans 12). The constitution is relevant for all American citizens, when we have the help of reasonable interpreters who continually attempt to apply it to modern life.  As Christians, we can live as citizens of the United States under our common laws, but in the final say we are bound to Jesus Christ, the living Word of our God.  He transcends the letter of the law (any law) and in his humanity embodies all the Truth of our God.   He is our Redeemer and our Savior!  He is the grace and the truth we all need!  Our conscience enlightened by the Holy Spirit through the holy scriptures pointing us to Christ gives us the ability and the right to interpret any law as to whether it meets the test of Christ, who said to us:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  And love your neighbor as you love yourself.  On such hang all the law and the prophets.” (The Gospel of Matthew 22:37-39)

The great divide of our nation is simply that, “a great divide.”  As long as one side of what is perceived to be true feels they are right and the other wrong, the division we are experiencing in this present time will remain.  In actual fact both sides are wrong; neither side is “right” as neither side has listened to the other.  There is no compromise emerging because no one is listening to the other, but only talking.  No one is listening to the voice of his brother and sister. We are all afraid; we are all angry and we cannot save ourselves, so we cry out for politicians (who are mere men and women) to come and save us!  “Save us, Save us please!”  we cry.

It would be nice if there were politicians who could reason with us and help us.  But we are so afraid, we want someone who will tell us what to do, how to behave, and what to believe.  This is, by definition, a dictator.  A dictator does the thinking for us, and he or she simply tells us what we need to know and to believe and do.  This is not the way of Jesus Christ!  Jesus invites us to follow Him, as his disciple, but he does not punish us if we refuse or cannot do so.

We are in a great inflection point in this democracy.  We are being tested to the core of what we believe about the US constitution and right governance.  Many of us no longer trust our Supreme Court justices to give us impartial justice.  We are losing faith in the very institutions we need to govern us.

Do I have an answer for us?  No, I am afraid I have no answer.  The divide among us is now so deep and so severe, it cannot be easily healed.  It is very likely that in the next election our democracy could fail.  Those who want the power of governance have now taken away all the checks and balances for good governance.  They have done so in their greed for power to take over us.  As Senator Mitch McConnell says, “those who govern make the laws.”  It will be interesting to see what the 30% try to do to suppress the 70% majority.  I expect unrest, possible sedition, underground railways, and civil disobedience. 

When we tear ourselves into pieces, we rend the garment of our democracy.  Persons of the quieter spirit, as myself, will turn to God and the church of Jesus Christ for sustenance and help.  If the church we join is full of political turmoil, we will pray to God, leave and find another church.  The church is designed to be the place of servanthood for Christ’s work. It is meant to be a place of refuge and peace!  But many of our churches have become involved in politics; they are seeking not servanthood, but power.  But Jesus gave up his power to die for us all!  As followers of the Savior, we must ask ourselves, what we are doing!

 If we sold all the church buildings, divested ourselves of property and lands, and worshiped God in our homes together, could we feed all the poor in the land?  In the time of Ahaz and Jezebel, God told Elijah, the despairing prophet, that he had preserved a remnant who had not bowed the knee to Baal.  Paul the Apostle applies this same thought to the people of Israel, and remarks in the epistle to the Romans, that the is a remnant among his own people, who are true worshipers of God, preserved as “God’s remnant of the faithful.”  Paul then remarks that when all the Israel of God has come to Christ, this will be the end of time and then following the judgment.   Paul the Apostle implies, “God will make short his work in the earth.” (Romans 11:25-32)   In other words, when the end of the world is upon us, and the last person to be granted faith is confirmed in God’s church, there will be no delay with God in bringing the world and history as we know it to its final end.

Knowing this, we proclaim the gospel of Peace:

Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior through the church of Jesus Christ has the ability (power) to heal us all, to make us one in Christ! This promise is found in the gospel, the good news of Jesus, which Paul declares to all:  “In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free, but all are one in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Paul’s letter to the Galatians).

We could say this another way: “There is neither black nor Hispanic, nor white, nor Asian nor_____(just fill in the blank).  The is neither male nor female, neither Democrat, Republican, nor Independent voter, but all can be made one in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  This is true for all who are in Christ Jesus.  This is not true for those who are outside Christ, who are still bound in their sin.  But our God continues to offer the forgiveness of sins and mercy for us all!

Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, we are very pessimistic regarding the health of our country and whether we will survive this next round of our election process of 2022 and 2024.  We are saddened when those governmental institutions which are designed to protect us fail to do so.  We are frightened, lonely and without answers or solutions to our nation’s ills.  We do not know whether you can help us in this mess of our own doing, or not.  However, despite all our fears, our angst, and our worries about what the future holds for our nation, we are not afraid to place our trust in You, Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.  Therefore, knowing that you alone do all things well, we commit ourselves and our future into your loving hands.  Thank you for the promise that you will never leave us nor forsake us!  Walk with us now through this valley of the shadow of death, death to our hopes, death to our dreams and even our prayers.  Nevertheless, as Habakkuk prayed, we also pray:

                Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine; the labour of the olive shall fall, and the field yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the field, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:  Yet I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD, I WILL JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION.  THE LORD GOD IS MY STRENGTH, AND HE WILL MAKE MY FEET LIKE HINDS’ FEET, AND HE WILL MAKE ME WALK UPON MINE HIGH PLACES.  (Habakkuk 3: 17-19) 

Habakkuk said this as the army was destroying Jerusalem, the beloved city of God.  We do not know if he survived his life, but we do know that his prayer reminds us to have faith when there seems to be no reason to have faith, yet we do, because we know the one in whom we can have faith, because He loves us still, Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior and our God!  “Amen!”

Rev. Bill Wilson, D. Min., M.D.

“Amen!”

“Let all of God’s people say, “Amen!’

“Amen!  We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ!”