The Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission (ERLC) has been feigning over Roman Catholic Marco Rubio and praising him for his stance on a multitude of issues. They have all but officially endorsed his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. While the ERLC has been vehemently opposed to Donald Trump, it seems as though some of the rhetoric is unwarranted. Despite the fact that Trump would make a terrible president, his immigration stance is solid.
The ERLC’s latest attack has been on Trump’s decidedly strong immigration stance, a particular stance that most conservative evangelicals would side with him on. Yet Russell Moore and the ERLC have been pro-immigration, pro-amnesty, and pro-open borders–an issue in which Marco Rubio highly resonates with them on.
But another prominent evangelical figure is speaking out against Rubio’s weaknesses. One who has openly spoken out against many of the ERLC’s tactics and opinions, and has been vilified by the ERLC over it. But now, like most true, convservative evangelicals, Dr. Robert Gagnon, a Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Professor, and respected theologian, is admonishing Christians to support the Southern Baptist candidate, Ted Cruz, over both Rubio and Trump.
“Dump Trump, Choose Cruz,” he says on his Facebook page,
Cruz remains better than Rubio on the issue of the Obergefell case and “gay marriage.” Obergefell is to be rejected as “settled law” not just because the Court could subsequently overturn itself (but until then it is the law of the land; so Rubio’s position) but also because the Obergefell verdict is such a radical departure from the Constitution — in effect a judicial usurpation of the legislative role and an illegal amending of the Constitution by the Court (and as such a violation of Article V) — that at most it could be applied only to the particular litigants in the case and does not establish public policy (so Cruz, following Jefferson and Lincoln in their rejection of judicial supremacy; and following some contemporary scholars of jurisprudence such as Robert George of Princeton; and following Justice Scalia). The article [referenced article] rightly notes the importance of selecting the next president in terms of shaping the Court: “The next president could appoint numerous justices. Four Supreme Court justices are over the age of 75: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Stephen Breyer.”
[Contributed by RC]
