In 2023, the Tennessee legislature outlawed transgender care for minors. (Tennessee Bans Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Youth) It was upheld by the Sixth Circuit and is now before the Supreme Court (U.S. v. Skrmetti). Today the American Family Association (AFA), a radical Christian organization dedicated to persecuting (yes, persecuting) everyone who is other than strictly cisgender heterosexual, filed an amicus brief (PDF) with the court. Among the “other authorities” it cites are 11 passages from the Bible:
Genesis 1:27; Galatians 6:7; Matthew 22:37-40; Philippians 2:3-4; John 14:15; Genesis 3:5; Genesis 4:6-7; Proverbs 22:15; Galatians 5:19-24; Romans 13:1-5. (fn 3) [and one more below]
These citations are in support of the explanation of their interest in filing the brief:
Central to that mission and vision are these principles: God created every human being, male and female, as free and morally responsible bearers of his image. We all want to make our own rules and struggle to follow God's commands to love him and one another, especially when we are children. Yet with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can grow in faith and maturity and gain the self-control to live with greater obedience to divine law and legitimate governing authority. This biblical understanding, together with contributions from classical civilization, was reflected in our Founders’ belief that only a virtuous, self-disciplined people could restrain their individual passions to live by objective standards under the rule of law. [footnotes omitted]
They rely on this passage from the Federalist (#55) for the “Founder’s belief”:
As there is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust, so there are other qualities in human nature which justify a certain portion of esteem and confidence. Republican government presupposes the existence of these qualities in a higher degree than any other form.
In fact, they are misquoting James Madison (author of #55). Read the passage again: he is relying on “other qualities in human nature” (emphasis added) which will rescue us from what the AFA describes as “man’s sinfulness.”
They also open their summary with this calumny:
Petitioners’ identity politics is a vision of public policy fundamentally at odds with the original meaning of the Constitution and the biblical and classical tradition that influenced the Founders. . . .
Petitioners deprecate free will and self-control. Their appetites define them.
[fn 8] “[T]heir God is their belly.” Philippians 3:19
I found this when I spotted an article in HuffPost: Conservative Lawmakers Repeatedly Cite The Bible In Supreme Court Filing.
Supreme Court briefings of this type typically cite relevant prior cases and statutes, along with other sources such as scientific papers or news articles. In a section marked “Other Authorities,” the group lists 11 passages from the “Holy Bible.” It does not specify any one version of the Bible.
Multiple passages describe the need to recognize the authority and ultimate power of God.
The group argues that the country’s founders urged Americans to live according to biblical teachings and that “with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can grow in faith and maturity and gain the self-control to live with greater obedience to divine law and legitimate governing authority.”
Here is yet another attempt to inject (in the sense of a rattlesnake injecting venom) a radical Christian vision into our national laws.