Mohler adds, “This is a victory for the United States Constitution, for the rule of law, and for religious liberty, and for that I am very thankful.” SBTS, located in Louisville, Kentucky, had joined the lawsuit “as an act of conscience, conviction, and constitutional concern,” he says, “and we are very thankful for the court’s announcement.”
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented SBTS in the case, also praises the decision, saying OSHA’s emergency statue was “yet another example of government overreach.” ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Bangert says SCOTUS correctly concluded that “the federal administrative state has no authority to treat unvaccinated employees like workplace hazards and to compel employers to carry out the government’s unlawful national vaccine mandate.”
The Role—and Limits—of Government Power
In a statement about the ruling, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) acting president Brent Leatherwood discusses the importance of America’s political checks and balances. “We cast ballots to determine who should represent us in Congress—the legislative arm of our federal government that is tasked with establishing policies of national interest,” he says. “The Court rightly decided the [OSHA mandate] was far too broad and vast in its reach to be developed by an agency in the Executive Branch.”
Leatherwood adds, “Though the goal of achieving a higher vaccination rate is proper and warranted, ultimately, a policy of this magnitude requires Congress to speak and, thus far, it has been silent.”
David French, co-host of the “Good Faith” podcast, tweets that the SCOTUS ruling endorses “the legal status quo” and gives “deference to longstanding agency practice.”
Trump-administration lawyer Jenna Ellis tweets: “Christian, if your first inclination was to get mad at SCOTUS for upholding the healthcare mandate instead of thanking God the OSHA mandate was blocked… consider whether you truly believe ‘Thy Will Be Done.’ Thank God for his mercies toward our very undeserving nation FIRST.”
Many Faith Leaders Cheer Ruling on Vaccine Mandate
Reaction from Christian leaders was swift Thursday. On Twitter, evangelist Franklin Graham writes, “Thank God for answered prayer! Today SCOTUS halted the implementation of the Biden Administration’s OSHA Vaccine & Testing mandate. The Court said it was far beyond the authority of OSHA.”
Graham adds, “This socialistic mandate aggressively overreached & disrupted the lives of millions of people this week as businesses were trying to comply with a 490-page order to avoid unbelievable fines. I thank God that the Supreme Court had enough common sense to see this as what it is.”
Danny Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, tweets, “Extremely grateful for this decision. I believe the @Scotus made the right decision and stopped the extreme overreach of the @POTUS administration.”
