Jon & Kate, Plus the California Supreme Court, Plus Other Stuff

The following have warranted a paragraph or two because they keep popping up in my world, or on my computer, or on Facebook, or in discussions...

To Jon & Kate...
Jon & Kate Gosselin, of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" fame, need good pastoral counseling. Could I ask if those Christian publishers who gave them their book deal would use some of the wealth generated by the project to bring some sort of pastoral counseling intervention into their lives before we have a much more public and painful tragedy? I don't know if Jon and/or Kate have been unfaithful to their vows, and we don't need to know. But they need help. They need prayer. And they need someone to do more than profit from their lives. Their TV network is milking this for all the publicity that they can get. Maybe the Gosselins (or one of the Gosselins) is, too. Isn't there anyone who can speak truth, grace, love, and perhaps a call to repentance into their lives? Jon & Kate, save your marriage by putting it and each other ahead of yourselves. Give your eight children the example of parents strong enough to do what is both good and right. Call me if there is no pastor available to you.

A Temporary Sanity
The California Supreme Court, by at 6-1 decision, has upheld the voter approved Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state. This came after that same court unanimously ruled that California's earlier ban on same sex marriage was unconstitutional. I honestly am surprised, not on the merits of the decision, but given the flow of events lately and the seeming momentum such a reversal would have followed. This does not settle matters, but it is an encouragement nonetheless.

It Might Be Worse
That may not be too encouraging, but that was my thought in hearing about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to be our newest Supreme Court justice. I knew it would be a minority pick, and I also was guessing it would be a woman, but the "tokenism" factor was exacerbated by the President's making such a point of her status as a female Hispanic, a Puerto Rican raised in public housing, etc. Early reports on her decisions and reversals are not encouraging to many conservatives. However, I keep thinking it could have been worse. After all, the most liberal (based on voting record and publicly voiced positions) president with a near unstoppable 59 votes in the Senate has suggested someone first made a federal judge by George H. W. Bush. Yes, he also gave us David Souter, but if all that happens is we get a Souter-like nominee, we've escaped a far worse fate. Imagine giving the position to the liberal equivalent of an Antonin Scalia!