The
Federal Sixth Court of Appeals went against the grain of recent appellate court
decisions the other day when it upheld traditional marriage laws in four
states. The Supreme Court must now
decide the constitutionality of state laws declaring marriage is between one
man and one woman – an issue that was never an issue in the twenty centuries of
Western Civilization preceding this one…or in any civilization in any century.
The
Court’s ruling – whatever it is – will bring closure to marriage validity
across the country. It will be a
one-size-fits-all decision. And the
marriage laws found unconstitutional in thirty-two states – no vote of the
people has ever accepted same sex marriage – will all once again be on the
table. That includes California’s
Proposition 8.
Why
is it so important? It’s about
compassion, the Constitution, and God.
The
Word of God commands authentic compassion for all. In Matthew 25:31-40, Jesus says when we show compassion
for “the least of these” we show it for Him.
Just as clear is the prohibition against condemning (judging) in 1
Corinthians 6, placed alongside a strong prohibition against homosexual
behavior, for “that is what some of you were.”
But the operant term is “authentic” compassion.
“In 2012 men who
have sex with men (MSM) accounted for 75% of…syphilis cases in the United
States,” according to the Federal Centers for Disease Control. Gays lead in every other category of STD;
their rates of addiction, suicide, and domestic violence are equally
disproportionate for less than 2% of the population. Gays have been sold the lie that marriage
will solve their health disasters; this is such a farce that they sued the
Canadian government because the very opposite was so clearly the case after
Canada legalized gay marriage. Authentic
compassion begins with speaking the truth.
The
Tenth Amendment reserves all powers not explicitly granted the Federal
Government to the States and the people.
That means states are entitled and expected to order their culture as
seems best to them. “But,” say the
supporters of so-called marriage equality, “the courts have overturned many
laws that compromise the equal protection guarantees in the Fourteenth
Amendment, laws the Civil Rights Movement fought for decades. This is why we must overturn traditional
marriage laws.” The difference is that
slavery, voter rights, and racial discrimination were controversial issues from
America’s birth. In every racial issue
before the Supreme Court justices returned to the original intent of the
Founders for freedom. In affirmative
action cases the justices have increasingly found they actually cause more
discrimination and – as such – are outside original intent. Again, all the civil rights issues of
previous years were alive and controversial from the birth of our nation. Re-defining marriage was beyond imagination
to the Founders, and so never an outgrowth of the freedom for which they fought. The Fourteenth Amendment is not in play here,
but the Tenth can and should govern these decisions. Authentic interpretation of the Constitution
requires it.
And
what about God? He speaks clearly in
Mark 10:6-8. “But at the beginning of
creation God made them male and female.
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and the two will
become one flesh. So they are no longer
two but one.” The defenders of gay
marriage are right when they say Jesus never condemned gay marriage. He is a Lord of creation and resurrection,
not of condemnation. He speaks the only
model for marriage that works to bring peace and wholeness to humankind; He needn’t
speak of what does not work and never has.
God does not condemn; He commends the only model consistent with His
greatest creation.
That
the Supreme Court must take up the issue – not of what constitutes marriage but
of who gets to decide it for a state or for all the states – is good news for
the heterosexual community. Many of this
more than 98% of the population are disenfranchised by the high handed tactics
of multiple federal courts. Freedom of
speech and faith have been abused in every state these courts have impacted. And the jury is in; all studies show that
wherever traditional marriage is stripped of cultural authority heterosexual
marriages become less frequent and less enduring. But the homosexual community
suffers the most damage. The gay
lifestyle is inherently deadly to those who practice it. Turning back the lie that permitting gays to
marry will somehow save lives is the first step to healing the whole culture –
gay or straight. And it just might
stimulate Christians to discover what it really means to reject sin and
dysfunction while embracing those trapped in its tentacles.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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