Massive Earthquake with Severe Aftershocks to Follow
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“The judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working under ground to undermine the foundations of our confederated fabric.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1820
“If the policy of the government upon vital questions, affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, … the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal.” — Abraham Lincoln on the Dred Scott Decision
“If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” — Ronald Reagan
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Summary
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex “marriage” must be recognized by all 50 states – including many like Virginia that had passed laws against it.
The ruling is a reprise in many ways of the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 in which the Court legalized abortion – again overturning laws in many states and leading to the death of some 57 million unborn babies.
Attached below is a slightly revised statement that the Forum provided to the media today, followed by selected quotes from three of the dissenting Justices.
VFF Statement on Court Ruling
The Quake: Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has triggered a massive earthquake on the moral, religious, cultural, legal, and governmental landscape of America that will reverberate for years to come.
Moral because it normalizes and promotes a form of sexual conduct that violates God’s design for marriage between one man and one woman as the bedrock for social stability and economic prosperity.
Religious because it has placed itself above the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God, reflected in the Judeo-Christian values and church teachings on which America was founded and has prospered for over 400 years.
Cultural because it will be used to dramatically alter what is taught in our schools, what is promoted in an entertainment industry already obsessed with sex, and what will be advanced by a sympathetic media.
Legal because it will be used to force acceptance by churches, non-profit organizations including Christian schools, and private businesses that oppose sexual relationships that violate Biblical teachings on marriage.
Governmental because it has again taken on the role of a Super Legislature to override the will of over 50 million people and their elected representatives in 31 states that recognized only natural marriage — just as it did in 1973 when it legalized abortion.
The Impact: In sum, it has placed our religious freedoms at even greater risk, undermined our respect for the court and the rule of law, further damaged the delicate system of separation of power and checks and balances on which our government depends, and defied constitutional limits on federal power over state governments.
The Challenge: Our response to this heartbreaking decision will have a huge impact on our children and on our children’s children for generations to come. Will we bow down to the dictates of an overreaching Caesar, or will we continue to stand for God’s clear, definitive, and unchanging truth about marriage?
The Outcry from the Bench
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia:
(This is) a “threat to democracy … a naked judicial claim to legislative — indeed, super-legislative — power; a claim fundamentally at odds with our system of government. … A system of government that makes the people subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy.”
Chief Justice John Roberts:
“The Court’s accumulation of power does not occur in a vacuum. It comes at the expense of the people. And they know it.”
Predicting that demands for polygamy would be next, Roberts warned that this decision “offers no reason at all why the two-person element of the core definition of marriage may be preserved while the man-woman element may not. … (M)uch of the majority’s reasoning would apply with equal force to … plural marriage.”
Justice Clarence Thomas:
“Aside from undermining the political processes that protect our liberty, the majority’s decision threatens the religious liberty our Nation has long sought to protect.”
The Challenge
As Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council warned, “With this ruling, the Supreme Court has set our government on a collision course with America’s cherished religious freedoms, explicitly guaranteed in the First Amendment of the Constitution.”
Therefore, while this is an opportunity to stand up and speak out for marriage, we also need to prepare for the coming storm of attacks on those who do so – particularly churches and other faith-based organizations and Christian-led businesses.
To that end, Alliance Defending Freedom has produced a handbook that includes practical steps for developing and adopting strong marriage policies, including sample resolutions and statements. Simply go to A Legal Guide for Churches, Christian Schools, and Christian Ministries to download your own copy.
“Lord, grant unto your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word, … for we ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 4:29 and 5:29)
For God and Country,
Dean