Pat Robertson - Courting Disaster: How the Supreme Court Is Usurping the Power of Congress and the People

COURTING
DISASTER

COURTING
DISASTER

HOW THE SUPREME COURT IS
USURPING THE POWER
OF CONGRESS AND THE PEOPLE

PAT ROBERTSON

COURTING DISASTER

Copyright 2004 by Pat Robertson.

Published by Integrity Publishers, a division of Integrity Media, Inc.,
5250 Virginia Way, Suite 110, Brentwood, TN 37027.

HELPING PEOPLE WORLDWIDE EXPERIENCE the MANIFEST PRESENCE of GOD.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The New King James Version, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Used by permission.

Other Scripture quotations are taken from the following sources:

The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

The King James Version of the Bible (KJV).

Quotations designated NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 1996). Used by permission.

Cover Design: Bill Chiaravalle
Interior: Inside Out Design & Typesetting

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Robertson, Pat.

Courting Disaster / Pat Robertson.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-59145-142-6

1. Christianity and politicsUnited StatesHistory. 2. Christianity and law. I. Title.

BR115.P7R714 2004

261.7'0973dc22

2004016281

Printed in the United States of America

04 05 06 0708 PHX 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

I want to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Jim Nelson Black for his invaluable work on this manuscript. Jim is a scholar of history and a brilliant researcher without whose patience and skill this book would not have been possible.

I would also like to thank Jay Sekulow, the general counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, as well as Stuart Roth, senior counsel, and law clerks Erik Zimmerman, Jim Breckinridge, Nathan Bruner, Nate Cook, Spring Rowell, and Joy Weber for their incredible diligence in checking Supreme Court cases and for bringing their valuable insights to bear and providing the case citations on 167 Supreme Court cases cited in this manuscript.

This work has been a cooperative effort, which I hope brings it to the highest level of scholarship and insight into the workings of the Supreme Court and our federal judiciary.

The candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the government, upon vitalquestions, affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of theSupreme Court... the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having, to thatextent, practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

PROLOGUE:
A PARABLE

D emetrius looked down at the crowd assembled in hushed reverence before him and his fellow priests presiding at the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. He allowed himself a brief smile of satisfaction.

At forty-four years of age, Demetrius had been elevated above his peers to become high priest. To hide his youth, he had shaved the top of his head and allowed his rapidly graying beard to flow down onto his chest. For days before the public audience, he carefully practiced his regal walk, majestic posture, and grave demeanor. Since his youth, Demetrius had, like Demosthenes, month after month practiced shouting above the roaring breakers at the shoreline near his village on the Aegean Sea. His once high-pitched voice was now resonant and at times made to sound deep like thunder. When he rose to speak, dressed in a black robe, Demetrius seemed to the awestruck crowd in the temple to be the very personification of one of the gods from Mount Olympus.

The temple at Delphi was the center of life throughout the amphictyony, which was the confederation of Greek states served by Demetrius and the others. They believed that Apollo, the powerful son of Zeus, had descended here to bring a marvelous gift. Apollo himself would visit the temple virgin, known as the Pythia, and give her the power to foretell the future. This middle-aged virgin would thereafter be able to grant to the faithful success in battle, bountiful crops, fruitful marriages, great achievement in sports, and the blessings of the gods.

Finally the day had come: today was the day to reveal to those who crowded into the temple the secrets of the oracle for the year ahead. This was no ordinary assembly. Foremost among them was Odrysae, the king of Thrace. His question to the oracle: should he launch his armies against Macedonia? Would they be victorious?

Philonius was there. He was the richest man in the confederacy, owning a fleet of one thousand trading vessels that plied the waters of the Aegean, seeking ever-increasing bounty. Philonius clasped his fleshy, ring-adorned fingers in supplication. What would the oracle reveal to him about the success of his business prospects for the coming year? Those in charge knew that success for Philonius meant success for the temple and its priests; for Philonius, with all of his obscene self-indulgence, was always generous to those who tended to the temple of Apollo.

In the crowd were merchants waiting for a signal to buy or sell, farmers hoping for word of a good harvest, and legislators who wanted a word from the oraclewhether to raise taxes or lower taxes, spend more or spend less, stiffen criminal penalties or reduce them. All looked up to the elevated platform, where nine priests in black robes were preparing to render the word of the oracle that could determine their destiny.

Demetrius was suddenly oblivious to the moment as his mind retraced the events of the preceding week. Behind the assembly hall was a stone grotto enclosing a pool of water. As light struck the colored stones surrounding the grotto and then reflected back into the pool of water, there was created a lovely, sparkling, iridescent setting that was intoxicatingly beautiful. The Pythia, the virgin priestess of Apollos oracle, had walked to and fro in this overwhelmingly beautiful grotto for seven days prior to this gathering.

On the eighth day, Demetrius, the high priest, gathered leaves of special plants, placed them on a stone ledge in the grotto, and then set them ablaze. As the smoke rose to fill the grotto, the Pythia breathed the smoke deeply and fell into a trance. Her body writhed in uncontrolled contortions as she began to moan and shriek.

Aeee! Aeee! Aeee! she screamed. Then a torrent of words came from her lips. Demetrius and his fellow priests strained to hear every word.

You will goyou will return not in battleyou will perish. Sun and rain. Burning heat and freezing cold. Wind and storm. Heaven above. Earth beneath. Waves on the water. Ships on the sea. Armies marching. The strong will overcome the weak. The lion and the bear. Life and death. Good and evil. The snake will strike. The rat will eat. Happiness and sorrow. Aeee! Aeee! Aeee! Then the Pythia collapsed and was silent.

Demetrius and the ashen-faced priests looked at each other in amazement. They had just heard babbling nonsense, but they were not selected to criticize, only to interpret. After several moments of silence, the most senior priest, Gaius, spoke softly. It is clear to me that the Pythia has said, Go to war and be victorious. Philologia, who had served as priest for ten years, stood up and said, I differ with my distinguished colleague. To me she was saying to avoid war at all costs. Gentlemen, interrupted Demetrius, what did she say about agriculture and commerce? Nestos of Macedonia spoke forcefully. It is clear to me that the forecast is for bountiful agriculture and prosperous commerce. Nonsense! interjected Philologia. There will be storms at sea, shipwrecks, and serious drought. After hours of wrangling, it became clear there could be no consensus. So Demetrius, as high priest, made his declaration: We are not in agreement, but we must reveal the sacred oracle. So we will vote.