Last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate may have caught conservatives off guard, but it was Chief Justice John Roberts' decision to side with the court's more liberal members that left some of the country's leading conservatives spellbound. Some are now rethinking what cases to take to the high court.

"We now have to be careful which issues we take before the Supreme Court," Focus on the Family founder Dr. James Dobson told The Christian Post. "For example, if Justice Roberts were to rule against Proposition 8, (the California amendment banning same-sex marriage) then marriage would no longer be just between a man and a woman – even in the states that have such amendments in place. The game has certainly changed."

Dobson's view, along with the view of other conservatives of Roberts' decision, may well impact the types of issues brought to the court now that they are unsure where he might fall. more >>

The Supreme Court ruled last week that the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) requirement that individuals purchase health insurance is constitutional because it is a tax. While the White House agrees with the ruling, officials are not calling it a tax. Republicans, meanwhile, says they disagree with the ruling, but have been referring to the mandate as a tax.

George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC's "This Week," pressed White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew on President Barack Obama's conundrum in a Sunday interview.

"But you do concede -- and you keep wanting to use the word penalty -- you do concede that the law survived only because Justice Roberts found this to be a tax?" Stephanopoulos asked. more >>

"Leopards? I don't see any leopards," said Slim Majority, who considered himself one of the world's greatest animal tamers, as a prowl of spotted beasts was let into the big cage in the center ring.

"But what about those spots?" a timid animal handler asked.

"Spots? I see no spots," said Slim. more >>

A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that just days before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) (ACA), the majority of Americans supported "Obamacare," although Christians remained divided on President Barack Obama's health care law.

The bill has attracted much criticism from conservative Christian groups claiming that the Act is bad for American families, but the PRRI poll found that 43 percent of Americans as a whole wanted the law to be upheld, as opposed to 35 percent who wanted it struck down – while 21 percent of respondents could not give an opinion.

Although it seems that a great number of Americans wanted Obamacare to be upheld, the survey's results also indicate that some Americans may not be very familiar with the intricacies of the law. more >>

While much of the objection to the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold Obamacare on Thursday included talk about the loss of individual liberty, Christian and conservative legal groups point out that religious freedom is still in jeopardy as well.

The court's ruling did not address the religious liberty issue regarding the constitutionality of the "HHS mandate," that requires religious employers to pay for contraception, abortifacients and sterilization despite holding religious objections.

"The HHS mandate is the first exception to our national commitment to protect religious conscience in the abortion context – a tradition that has been bipartisan for forty years," explained Kim Colby, senior counsel for the Christian Legal Society's Center for Law and Religious Freedom. more >>

My first reaction to the Obamacare decision was: Well, it was a great country while it lasted.

My second reaction to the Obamacare decision is to re-remember just how important elections are. Elections have far-reaching consequences. Obviously, the president nominates the judges (who generally serve for life), and the senate confirms (or rejects them).

The Supreme Court virtually governs our lives today, although that should not be the case. more >>