By Bob Allen
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention says the unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Feb. 14 raises stakes even higher in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor of Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas, cited five “major issues facing genuine evangelical believers” in a blog dated Feb. 15. They include the sanctity of human life, marriage and family concerns, religious liberty and finding a competent executive who “may not be able to state theological positions and quote Bible verses to your satisfaction,” but is a leader and understands U.S. history and the Constitution.
Identified as No. 5, he said, is “appointments, appointments, appointments.”
“The president of our nation makes appointments to various places of influence all over our nation and world,” Floyd said. “Have you ever considered the power of his influence in these appointments? Some of these appointments are not for a term, but for life.”
Floyd said one of the most critical issues facing the next president will be appointments to the nation’s highest court. “These appointments are for life,” he said. “Some say the next president may be able to appoint as many as four different Supreme Court justices.”
Floyd said he was just finishing his article when he learned of the “sad and untimely death” of Scalia, a Ronald Reagan appointee who served on the bench since 1986.
“Justice Scalia leaves a legacy of conservatism on moral and social issues,” Floyd said. “He was a giant of a man and a leader. He championed human life from the womb to the tomb, biblical marriage between a man and a woman, religious liberty, the Second Amendment, and he was a brilliant jurist and faithful to upholding the United States Constitution.”
Floyd said with Scalia’s death “we may finally see the appointment powers of the president become talked about in this election season.”
“We must wake up and ask each candidate: What kind of people are you planning to appoint to any open positions on the Supreme Court of the United States?” he said.
Floyd said in a Fox News commentary Feb. 1 that evangelical Christians can pick the next president if they don’t get discouraged by partisan rancor and engage the culture by exercising their right to vote.
“Think about what our country would look like today if all 60 million U.S. evangelicals showed up to vote this year,” Floyd said “To put that number in context, President Barack Obama only earned 65 million votes in total in 2012. Mitt Romney received just over 60 million that same year, while John McCain didn’t even receive 60 million votes four years prior.”
Floyd said he believes America would be a better place if every eligible evangelical voter were to cast a ballot in local, state and federal elections.
“Think about an America where 60 million Jesus-loving, God-fearing men and women stepped into their voting booths this election season,” he said, “not with the intention of electing a ‘Christian president’ but with the intention of faithfully living out biblical values in the public square.”
“Make no mistake,” he concluded. “Evangelicals have the ability to determine the course of America’s future, one vote at a time.”