> The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.

The highlighted part just doesn’t make sense unless you believe in some universal, God-given “law of nations.” In this context, the supernatural belief renders the statute itself nonsensical, like a law setting tariffs on imported “faerie wings.”

I’m not using it as an ad hominem to disparage a statute that makes sense on its face. The part of the statute referring to acts in violation of US treaties is perfectly fine.