By Thurman Hayes

Many of us were watching this past Monday night as President Trump announced a new nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States.

Although I was sort of hoping that the pick would be Judge Amy Coney Barrett — mainly because I thought it would be wonderful to have a conservative woman on the Court — I was thrilled by the selection of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Actually, any of the four finalists would have been excellent.

As regular readers of this column know, I have not hesitated to criticize President Trump when he behaves in ways that lower the office of the presidency, and lower his own ratings in the polls. I believe that if he would simply get off Twitter, his popularity would rise by as much as 10 percent!

But I will also commend our president when he does well, and in the area of judges, President Trump has done very well. His first appointment to the Court, Justice Neal Gorsuch, has been stellar, and there is every reason to expect the same from Judge Kavanaugh. In addition, the president’s appointments to the lower courts have been superb.

So why would a pastor like me care so much about judges? Actually, not just pastors but every person of faith should care about it, and care deeply. As we have seen over and over, the Supreme Court has a massive influence on issues of great importance to our nation, and especially to people of faith.

For many years, religious liberty has been under attack. There are those on the left who have sought to marginalize people of faith and prevent us from living out our deepest convictions. This has come in the form of pressure on businesses, churches, schools and colleges to “conform or be cast out” when it comes to views of sexuality or abortion.

Judge Kavanaugh’s views on religious liberty are rock solid. There is every indication that he will champion the religious freedom of all Americans, no matter what faith they hold. There is also every indication that he will promote the sanctity of every human life, from womb to tomb.

This is a man who has shown a willingness to follow the Constitution without prejudice. Furthermore, he is a man without personal prejudice. He invests his time in serving the needy and tutoring inner city students.

But none of this will prevent the left from attacking him and engaging in irrational and vicious character assassination. They will seek to portray Judge Kavanaugh as some sort of extremist. He is nothing of the sort. It is the left that has become extreme, particularly in their views on abortion. They believe that any restriction on the right to kill babies in the womb is out of line. This extreme policy of abortion on demand puts our nation in the same category as the nation of North Korea, and just a few others.

As people can plainly see from ultrasound imaging, a baby in the womb is a baby, deserving of protection under the law. Bible-believing Christians don’t need ultrasound pictures to know this. As David says in Psalm 139:13, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.”

We should pray for more judges who value life and liberty for all.

Dr. Thurman R. Hayes Jr. is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Suffolk. Follow him on Twitter at @ThurmanHayesJr.