It’s late in America – the Supreme Court hastens it

By: American Decency Staff

Add your name to the Marriage Solidarity Statement. Tens of thousands of Americans have signed just within the last two days.  Click here to show your support of true marriage – that of one man and one woman – and sign the Marriage Solidarity Statement.

As we look back on history there are dates which we now see were crossroads, turning points for nations and cultures.  July 4, 1776;  June 6, 1944.  December 7, 1941; January 22, 1973.  Battles fought, decisions made – some establishing goodness and justice, others are dates that “will live in infamy.”

I believe today, June 26, 2013, is the latter.  A date when the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of same sex marriage, and undermined true marriage – one man and one woman – which was instituted, not by any government, but by God.

Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver writes today:

“Marriage predates government and civil authorities. No civil authority, including the Supreme Court, has the authority to redefine marriage. Marriage was not created by religion or government and is ontologically a union of one man and one woman. For any Court or civil authority to think it has the authority to redefine marriage is the height of hubris. Deconstructing marriage will hurt children and society. While today’s decision on DOMA did not redefine marriage, it has provided the foundation on which to do so. Today’s decision is the equivalent of the 1972 contraception decision involving unmarried couples and the so-called right to privacy on which the 1973 abortion decision in Roe v. Wade was constructed. Today, the Supreme Court has damaged its image, lost legitimacy, and set in motion considerable harm to society and to the State of the Union.”

In cutting through the legalese of these rulings, I again turn to Liberty Counsel Founder and President, Mat Staver.  Mat is a champion for life, family, and religious freedom.  He has argued numerous times before the U.S. Supreme Court and is one of the most highly regarded Constitutional attorneys of our day. 

In a news release in response to today’s Supreme Court decisions, Staver states:

“Today, the Supreme Court released opinions on California’s Proposition 8 state marriage amendment (Prop 8) and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

“Justice Kennedy, writing the DOMA decision under an Equal Protection rationale, strikes down Section 3 of DOMA, which defines marriage as one man and one woman for purposes of federal law and federal benefits, specifically joint federal tax returns, Social Security survivor benefits, and federal employee health insurance and medical benefits. Not at issue in this ruling are the other parts of DOMA, including the section that says states may define their own marriage policy and are not required to accept a sister state’s same-sex marriage.

“Regarding the Prop 8 case, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the 5-4 decision of the Court, dismissed the case on standing, meaning that the Court lacks jurisdiction to reach the merits because the Prop 8 Intervenors lacked standing to litigate the case, after the California State Attorney General ceased defending it following the lower federal district court opinion. This means that the lower court governing the Northern District of California stands. Thus, only the decision striking down Prop 8 by the lower district court remains in effect.  …”

Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council also weighs in on the implications of these court rulings, as he states:

“… by striking down the federal definition of marriage in DOMA, the Court is asserting that Congress does not have the power to define the meaning of words in statutes Congress itself has enacted. This is absurd.  The Defense of Marriage Act imposes no uniform definition of marriage upon the individual states. However, the states should not be able to impose varying definitions of marriage upon the federal government. The ruling that the federal government must recognize same-sex 'marriages' in states that recognize them raises as many questions as it answers. For example, what is the status of such couples under federal law if they move to another state that does not recognize their 'marriage?' This decision throws open the doors for whole new rounds of litigation.

"We are disturbed that the court refused to acknowledge that the proponents of Proposition 8 have standing to defend Proposition 8.  This distorts the balance of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.   The Court's decision allows the executive branch to effectively veto any duly enacted law, simply by refusing to defend it against a constitutional challenge. Ironically, by refusing to defend the law, California's executive branch has also denied the nation any definitive ruling on the constitutionality of defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

Liberty Counsel’s news release adds the following:

“… Justice Scalia wrote in his dissent that the Court’s errors, both in explaining its jurisdiction and its decision, ‘spring from the same diseased root: an exalted conception of the role of this institution in America.’ Disgusted with the majority’s exalted view of its power and it unfounded opinion, Scalia, wrote: ‘I promise you this: The only thing that will ‘confine’ the Court’s holding is its sense of what it can get away with.’ In other words, the Court will retain only the authority the people give it.  Its authority lies only in the fact that the people deem its decisions legitimate, and this decision clearly is not.

Mat Staver submits that the Supreme Court has crossed a line, stating:

 “… Today is the death of the Court’s legacy, because the decision in the Federal Defense of Marriage Act case defies logic and is a pure invention of a handful of Justices.”

The homosexual agenda cannot and will not abide peaceably alongside the true, biblical institutions of marriage and family as ordained by God.  As the homosexual agenda is legitimized – even by the United States Supreme Court –  marriage, family, and our religious liberty will be undermined.

Consider the following short list of what may be in our future :

1. Hate crime laws will be increasingly instituted and enforced.  Will pastors be prosecuted for preaching what God’s Word says regarding homosexuality and refusing to perform same sex “marriage” ceremonies?

2.  Homosexuality will be a protected class by the government.  Christian school teachers and administrators, pastors, business owners, etc. could be charged with discrimination if they speak out against or refuse to embrace homosexuality.

3. Organizations such as our own American Decency could easily lose their (c)3 tax-exempt, non-profit status as we continue to call homosexuality what it is – SIN. 

4.  God will not bless a nation that puts a stamp of approval upon that which he calls an abomination.  The evidences of God’s displeasure are evident and becoming more so with each passing day. 

We are rapidly coming upon a time when a handful of unelected, increasingly politicized appointees are demonstrating that their allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and to natural law is under question.

However, God’s law supercedes man’s.  As Christians, we must defy man’s law if it requires us to break the law of God.

Last week,hundreds of Christian leaders and pastors, including Jim Dobson, Don Wildmon, Dr. Ben Carson, Gary Bauer, Gen. Jerry Boykin, and many others signed the Marriage Solidarity Statement.  I, too, have signed it.

It states in part: Make no mistake about our resolve. While there are many things we can endure, redefining marriage is so fundamental to the natural order and the true common good that this is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross.

You, too, are being urged to add your name to the Marriage Solidarity Statement.  Tens of thousands of Americans have signed just within the last two days.  Click here to show your support of true marriage and sign the Marriage Solidarity Statement.

America is at a crossroads.  Now is the time to boldly stand against the destruction of marriage as God ordained it.  We have drawn a line.  The definition of marriage is not negotiable.  If you agree, please stand with us.  And, most importantly, please join us in praying for our embattled America.

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