Get a free copy of Parental Rights & Education when you subscribe to our newsletter!
“It is imperative that conservatives stay in the fight. Indeed, it’s crucial to fight even harder now because Dobbs and 303 Creative poked the woke bear, and the ensuing retaliation will be more intense and targeted than it was before. So, what should conservatives do to keep fighting and keep winning?”
–WILLIAM WOLFE
Over the last two years and, specifically, the last two Junes (when the Supreme Court hands down rulings on big cases), conservatives and Christians in America have notched some serious victories.
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court issued what is no doubt the biggest ruling in decades when they overturned Roe and Casey in the Dobbs decision. As I explained at the time,
“Last Friday, June 24, is a day that will go down in history. Shortly after 10:00 a.m., the Supreme Court finally released its official decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. This case centered around a Mississippi law that banned abortions after 15 weeks. The pro-life movement hoped (and prayed) the case would be used as a pretext to overturn both the Roe v. Wade and the Planned Parenthood v. Casey precedents.
Right on the first page of the ruling, was this glorious line: “Held: The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
Just like that, we knew our nearly 50-year national nightmare — the bloody holocaust of federally protected infanticide in America — had finally come to an end.”
Make no mistake about it: This was a big win. The biggest win for the rights of the unborn in America since the dreadful Roe ruling in 1973.
Thankfully, the wins didn’t stop there.
This year, on June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court delivered another constitutional victory for free speech and Christian religious freedom when they handed down a 6-3 decision in the 303 Creative case.
John Wesley Reid, editor-in-chief at the Freedom Center, explained the significance of this decision, writing:
“The Supreme Court just handed free speech a dramatic victory in 303 Creative v. Elenis with a 6-3 ruling. The landmark case, centered on the First Amendment’s protection of speech and religious liberty, comes during an era where business owners fear legal ramifications for refusing to provide services that violate their convictions.”
And as a way of background, he added: “A Christian web designer sued Colorado over an accommodation law that could ultimately force her to violate her faith or lose her business. The state has used the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) to force business owners to violate their faith before, most notably in the case of Jack Phillips in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Lorie Smith, owner of 303 Creative, serves everyone despite their sexual orientation, religion, etc., but she refuses to communicate messages that violate her faith.”
Taken together, these two cases constitute major victories for the efforts to secure equal protection for the unborn and to ensure that Christians in America can live and work in the public square without being forced to compromise on their sincerely held, biblically informed, beliefs about marriage and sexuality.
As the kids say these days — winning!
But all victories come with the temptation to become complacent. Just like a championship team starts over in the next season at 0-0, with nothing guaranteed, the baby-loving, Christian-protecting conservative legal movement in America starts over at 0-0 in the next Supreme Court season.
Conservatives got these victories because they fought hard for them, and they fought hard for them because our rights were under attack. However, with the radical Left going further and further left these days, and with increasing aggression, they’ll just fight even harder to take our rights again. Consider, for example, how they fought to legislatively enshrine the “gains” they made from Obergefell in the disingenuously named “Respect for Marriage Act” — which actually disrespects and destroys marriage.
That’s why it is imperative that conservatives stay in the fight. Indeed, it’s crucial to fight even harder now because Roe and 303 Creative poked the woke bear, and the ensuing retaliation will be more intense and targeted than it was before.
So what should conservatives do to keep fighting and keep winning?
First and foremost, conservatives should ensure they use their vote wisely, as an act of stewardship before God, and vote for pro-life and pro-Christian elected officials. When it comes to voting for presidential candidates, conservatives should make sure to only vote for candidates who will commit to protecting the Dobbs and 303 Creative decisions and to appointing more Supreme Court Justices who will make similar rulings.
Second, conservatives must pressure elected officials to take legislative action to further protect these decisions. With enough voting effort, conservatives can influence the codification of the Dobbs and 303 Creative decisions into law.
Third, conservatives should get increasingly involved in politics. Maybe you’ve thought about running for Congress. Well, now is the time. These court decisions are never truly settled. If you know that you would be an outspoken and active advocate for the unborn and rightly-ordered religious liberty in America, then you should seriously consider and pray about pursuing a career in politics.
Fourth, and finally, Christians should pray that God continues to grant favor on the United States and blesses us with wise and biblical rulers. We know that “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1). We should then pray that God would continue to direct the hearts of our “kings” — the President, Supreme Court Justices, and elected officials — towards true justice and equal protection for all under the laws of our land.
Complacency is one of the greatest enemies of success. And there is no greater temptation to complacency than after scoring some big wins. Therefore, conservatives must keep fiercely fighting, even after Dobbs and 303 Creative, because the future of America still hangs in the balance — and it always will, until Christ returns. Then, and only then, can we finally and fully rest.
Ready to dive deeper into the intersection of faith and policy? Head over to our Theology of Politics series page where we’ve published several long-form pieces that will help Christians navigate where their faith should direct them on political issues.
