The Supreme Court’s Latest Ruling on Marriage

By: American Decency Staff

Yesterday, October 6, the Supreme Court declined to hear arguments on "same-sex marriage" cases from Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana, and Wisconsin, thus inactively upholding the lower courts' decisions and legalizing "gay marriage" for those states and, most likely, the states in their appeals court circuits.   

The Supreme Court may be waiting for two other cases moving through the appeals courts to possibly uphold a state marriage amendment in a split decision, but if the highest court is to make a ruling on marriage this term, it has only until January.

Until and unless that happens, the number of states allowing "marriage" between same-sex couples has effectively grown to 30. If, in fact, the Supreme Court has no intention of hearing those cases, they have sent a clear message to the lower courts.

As Albert Mohler explains, "The remaining federal courts were put on notice that same-sex marriage is now the expectation of the Supreme Court and that no appeal on the question is likely to be successful, or even heard."

Without making a ruling, it appears that the justices have legalized "homosexual marriage" by default.

Writing for the Daily Signal, Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation explained the implications, "This is an unfortunate setback for sound constitutional self-government and a setback for a healthy marriage culture.

The truth of the matter is that the marriage laws in these five states—as in many states across our nation—are good laws that reflect the truth about marriage. Frequently they were passed with overwhelming democratic support. The Supreme Court should have reviewed these cases and should have upheld the authority of citizens and their elected representatives to make good marriage policy. Instead, the Supreme Court left standing bad rulings from lower federal courts that usurped authority from the people by striking down good laws."

He goes on to explain how it affects what he calls "a healthy marriage culture."

"A comprehensive union capable of uniting children with their mom and dad is something only a man and a woman can form. So enacting same-sex marriage would not expand the institution of marriage but redefine it. Finishing what policies such as no-fault divorce began, it would finally replace the conjugal view with a revisionist view of marriage as fundamentally an emotional union."

As we said a few weeks ago, however, the best argument for marriage is not tradition, but the Bible. And, as Russell Moore articulateseven more clearly, "Our vision of marriage is not the equivalent of a church constitution and by-laws, adaptable by a majority vote. Marriage is not simply a cultural or legal practice, but is instead an icon of the union between Christ and his church, embedded in the creation (Eph. 5:22-31). Without a Christian vision of marriage, we have no Christian vision of the gospel."

So what do we do in the shadow of this court decision? We can guess that the "homosexual marriage" juggernaut will keep pushing; we can assume that our culture will grow less and less tolerant of Christianity; we can foresee that our freedoms of religion and speech will likely be stunted; and we can wonder if we be persecuted for faithfulness to the scriptures. But what can we do?

Let's be for something. Let's celebrate God's gift of marriage. Let's resist the "revisionist view of marriage as fundamentally an emotional union" – that idea that as soon as the butterflies are gone, the marriage might as well be over. Let's show the world what sacrificial love for our spouse looks like.

Dr. Moore says it like this, "Let’s hold fast to what the gospel reveals about the meaning of marriage and the gospel behind it. Let’s articulate a Christian vision of what marriage should be, and let’s embody that vision in our churches. Let’s love our gay and lesbian neighbors. Let’s move forward with persuasion and with confidence. This is no time for retreat or for resentment. This is a time for mission."

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