Thursday, August 12, 2010

On Gay Marriage.....

On August 4th a judge ruled that California's ban on same sex marriage was unconstitutional. "Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license," wrote U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker in a 136-page decision. "Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.".........."Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians. The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples," wrote Judge Walker.
I could talk about how he had no right to overturn the votes of over 7 million state wide voters, how has a judge he made a legislative ruling which is NOT within his rights to do. I could talk about how as one of the few openly homosexual judges on the bench he should have recused himself from this decision because of an inability to be un-biased. If you think perhaps I am being unfair on his bias you should read more of his ruling.
" The ban on gay marriage, for example, "exists as an artifact of a time when the genders were seen as having distinct roles in society and in marriage." "That time," the court declared, "has passed." According to the court, "gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage; marriage under law is a union of equals." The plaintiffs in Perry "do not seek recognition of a new right," but instead simply the existing fundamental right of marriage.
So are ALL laws based on morality unconstitutional?
The voters should be allowed to make the decision, and those who don't like it can move to a state that satisfies their preferences. During the Constitution's ratification, Alexander Hamilton assured New Yorkers that the Constitution would never permit the federal government to "alter or abrogate" a state's "civil and criminal institutions [or] penetrate the recesses of domestic life, and control, in all respects, the private conduct of individuals." (insert your own LOL here!)
All that said that is not my main basis for being opposed to what the judge did. I am opposed to gay marriage whether it is handed to us by a judge over stepping his bounds or by a vote of the people. I am morally opposed to homosexuality and I think that the ramifications of it becoming mainstream are harmful to me and my family, and my children. Marriage is not a 'right' that we have to fight for, it's not a "social contract that we can re-negotiate based on changing social trends". It IS something set up and established by God, and to suggest that we can in any way change his laws is somewhat prideful of us. Gen 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6...Whenever Jesus was asked about marriage he went back to the passage defining it as between a man and a woman. Romans 1:26-27, 1 Cor 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:9-10.
There is more that I can say but part of why I felt compelled to write is because a lot of the response I am hearing from Christians is about how we are to be loving, and that how others live their lives shouldn't affect us at all. I agree COMPLETELY that we have to respond in love, only ever condemning the sin, always loving the sinner. However a quote in Martin Luther's biography got my attention and I couldn't shake it.
"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking. I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."
WOW! So if the enemy has been revealed, perhaps it is time for us to reconsider where we pick our spiritual battles!