OPINION:
For the past four years, astute citizens have observed a strange dichotomy. The Supreme Court has been trending back to the original meaning and intent of the Constitution and the nation’s laws. No more the wild law-making errors of Courts that made up so-called rights to kill unborn babies. This Court is experiencing a long-needed correction. You could call it justice.
At the same time, I see evidence of growing injustice. Individuals who were present or near the Capitol on January 6 have been detained without formal charges or coerced into pleading guilty to crimes they claim they did not commit. This starkly contrasts with the leniency shown by progressive prosecutors towards other offenders. Notable figures who questioned the election results have suffered significant personal and professional losses, and many still face litigation.
Subscribe to have The Washington Times’ Higher Ground delivered to your inbox every Sunday.
While some are prosecuted with unusual zeal, others are not hampered in their lawless and unruly behavior. Among them are the “protestors” who continue to harass certain members of the Supreme Court at their homes.
And that leads us to Justice Samuel Alito and Mrs. Martha-Ann Alito.
I wonder if law librarian Martha-Ann imagined where they would be today when she agreed to marry law clerk Sam Alito. Did she know about his description in the 1972 Princeton yearbook: “Sam intends to go to law school and eventually to warm a seat on the Supreme Court.”
SEE ALSO: Justice Alito refuses call to recuse, says flags were flown by his wife
On first read, that lofty goal might have been hubris or arrogance. But Grace Bolge, Justice Alito’s ninth-grade Latin teacher, indicates otherwise: “He was a wonderful student,” she told The Washington Times. “However, I have to say he was never a rah-rah cheerleading student. If anything, you could call him humble. He could have shown off because the kids knew he was bright, but he was not attention-grabbing.
So where did this desire to serve on the Supreme Court come from, if not from ego? It is a perfect example of Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
We are each made for a divine purpose. God began reversing Roe v. Wade before it was even decided by stirring in Sam Alito the desire to serve on the Supreme Court. I have no idea what gave this son of two teachers the boldness to write the decision that corrected decades of wrong constitutional jurisprudence and just plain bad law. But I know that his leadership on the Court is part of the divine purpose of his life.
Supernatural forces oppose divine purposes. This is a truth evident throughout the Bible.
The attacks on Justice Alito began before the consequential Dobbs case was even heard. We know now that his wife was attacked as well. In his letter this week to the Senate, Justice Alito described what must be only a small portion of what Martha-Ann Alito endured and endures:
… I note that she was greatly distressed at the time due, in large part, to a very nasty neighborhood dispute in which I had no involvement. A house on the street displayed a sign attacking her personally, and a man who was living in the house at the time trailed her all the way down the street and berated her in my presence using foul language, including what I regard as the vilest epithet that can be addressed to a woman.
SEE ALSO: Chief Justice Roberts rejects Senate Democrats’ meeting to press for Alito’s recusal
This very personal attack on Mrs. Alito by a neighbor prompted her to fly an upside-down American flag, which she told a Washington Post reporter is “an international signal of distress.” Can you blame her for sending a signal of distress?
And I want to point out again that this was before the leaked Dobbs decision, before the personal harassment of justices at their homes, and before the failed assassination attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
When we read about prominent Democratic politicians demanding Justice Alito’s recusal because of his wife flying an upside-down flag, we must remember this context. What we see played out is a personal attack for political reasons.
As President of Intercessors for America, I am passionate about praying for the nation’s elected and appointed leaders, including Supreme Court justices. Leading up to the historic Dobbs decision, IFA organized daily prayer for every Supreme Court justice, their clerks, and the key lawyers on both sides. We prayed for each one by name for more than 50 days. We also prayed for their families, not knowing what Mrs. Alito had suffered. But God knew, and I believe that He orchestrated our unusual prayer effort in advance of the catastrophic leak of the Dobbs decision and the very real threats and intimidation facing the justices and their families.
It’s no coincidence that the second flag debacle involves the Appeal to Heaven flag that Mrs. Alito displayed at their summer home. This flag is very important to me. The story and meaning behind it have always resonated with me.
The motto came from the philosopher John Locke, whose ideas were instrumental to the birth of the United States. He said, “And where the body of the people or any single man, is deprived of their right, or is under the exercise of a power without right, and have no appeal on earth, then they have a liberty to appeal to heaven … .” This sentiment is the heart of how the community of Intercessors for America prays. Whether we find justice on earth, we know we have the freedom and privilege to pray, intercede, and appeal to the sovereign God over heaven and earth.
Why did Mrs. Alito fly that flag? Justice Alito wrote this to Senators Durbin and Whitehouse: “I was not familiar with the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag when my wife flew it. She may have mentioned that it dates back to the American Revolution, and I assumed she was flying it to express a religious and patriotic message. I was not aware of any connection between this historic flag and the ‘Stop the Steal Movement,’ and neither was my wife. She did not fly it to associate herself with that or any other group, and the use of an old historic flag by a new group does not necessarily drain that flag of all other meanings.”
I love that Mrs. Alito flew this flag over her summer home because I love what it represents — the existence of a higher power and the real hope that prayer to Him gives people in unjust or unfair situations.
I have a sense that Justice Alito’s most important decisions are in the future. Supernational and political forces are attempting to thwart God’s divine purposes for Justice and Mrs. Alito. Let’s appeal to heaven, to the Almighty God, on their behalf. Let’s pray for their protection and that they both complete the good works that God in Christ Jesus has prepared in advance for them to do.
–
David Kubal is President/CEO of Intercessors for America (IFA), which serves over one million praying Christians every month. David serves on the National Faith Advisory Board and the National Day of Prayer Task Force and is also frequently featured in national news outlets such as Victory Channel, CBN, and Fox News.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.