Sunday, April 26, 2015

Defining Marriage

Supreme Court justices warned to leave marriage alone By Bob Unruh 4/25/15
'This is a line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross'   Thousands of signers of a new marriage pledge, including leaders of Christian organizations representing millions, are warning the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to leave marriage alone.
No “redefinition.” No “gay marriage.” No nothing.
“We will view any decision by the Supreme Court [overturning traditional marriage] or any court the same way history views the Dred Scott and Buck v. Bell decisions. Our highest respect for the rule of law requires that we not respect an unjust law that directly conflicts with higher law,” says a Marriage Pledge that was assembled by Keith Fournier, a Catholic deacon who is editor of Catholic Online, and Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel.
“A decision purporting to redefine marriage flies in the face of the Constitution and is contrary to the natural created order. As people of faith we pledge obedience to our Creator when the state directly conflicts with higher law.
“We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross this line.”
The justices are scheduled on Tuesday to hear arguments in a case that was elevated from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That decision said that residents of states have the right to define marriage for themselves, and the judges would not do it.
But that flies in the face of the pro-homosexual activism that has enveloped America over recent years, and even the agenda pursued by Barack Obama in the White House, given his pursuit of open homosexuality in the U.S. military and more.
“We stand united together in defense of marriage,” the pledge states
“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 common good that this is a line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross.”
The warning to classify an adverse decision regarding marriage along with Dred Scott and Buck brings to the fore of the argument the fact that the Supreme Court has, in fact, released decisions in the past that properly horrify contemporary Americans.
In Dred Scott, an earlier generation of justices found “blacks are inferior human beings.” And in Buck, the ruling allowed forced government sterilization of specific individuals because “three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
Thousands of Americans have signed onto the pledge, including those with considerable followings, such as Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse, Gov. Mike Huckabee, James Dobson of Family Talk Action, Sen. Rick Santorum, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America. Rich Bott of Bott Radio Network, Jonathan Cahn, author of “The Harbinger,” Don Wildmon of American Family Association, Richard Land of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation, and more.
Some of the leaders’ constituencies can be numbered in the hundreds of thousands or even millions.
“We stand together in defense of marriage and the family and society founded upon them. While we come from a variety of communities and hold differing faith perspectives, we are united in our common affirmation of marriage.
“On the matter of marriage, we stand in solidarity. We affirm that marriage and family have been inscribed by the Divine Architect into the order of Creation. Marriage is ontologically between one man and one woman, ordered toward the union of the spouses, open to children and formative of family. Family is the first vital cell of society, the first government, and the first mediating institution of our social order. The future of a free and healthy society passes through marriage and the family.
“Marriage as existing solely between one man and one woman precedes civil government. Though affirmed, fulfilled, and elevated by faith, the truth that marriage can exist only between one man and one woman is not based on religion or revelation alone, but on the Natural Law, written on the human heart and discernible through the exercise of reason. It is part of the natural created order. The Natural Law is what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., referred to as a higher law or a just law in his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail.
“Marriage is the preeminent and the most fundamental of all human social institutions. Civil institutions do not create marriage nor can they manufacture a right to marry for those who are incapable of marriage. Society begins with marriage and the family.
“We pledge to stand together to defend marriage for what it is, a bond between one man and one woman, intended for life, and open to the gift of children.”
Co-author Mat Staver wrote at Stream.org that, “I argued that a bad court decision might require civil disobedience. I still pray that won’t be necessary. I pray the Supreme Court will allow states to recognize natural marriage. That would be a great victory for truth, but it would not end the fight. Neither the Supreme Court nor any state has the authority to redefine the natural created order of marriage. Marriage is no more a state’s rights issue than is slavery or the law of gravity.”
“This is the redline we will not cross,” Staver wrote. “While no one wants this conflict, we have no choice but to resist an unjust law, particularly one that will force us to participate in acts that directly conflict with the Natural and Revealed Law.”
He continued, “How will peaceful resistance be manifested? In many different ways depending on our individual circumstances; but in every case, it should be peaceful and it should be resistance. For example, if a state commands a Christian adoption ministry to ignore the difference between a same-sex couple and a married husband and wife for purposes of adoption, the ministry should not comply and should not close its doors. It should not abandon its God-given call and mission to place children in homes with a mother and a father. Only in this way will the full truth of the conflict be seen. Only in this way will the naked injustice of the state’s coercive power be exposed.”
About two-thirds of the states already formalize “gay marriage,” and the Supreme Court decision is expected to nationalize whatever opinion is released. Most of the states that do recognize the status have been ordered by individual federal judges to allow for “gay weddings.”
In one state, Alabama, the state Supreme Court justices noted that they had as much power to interpret the Constitution as the federal judiciary and forbade their state officials from following the order of Judge Callie Granade.
The Alabama justices noted that the Supreme Court already ruled, just over a year ago, that decisions about regulating marriage belong to the states.
Other commentators have suggested it might be time for “pitchforks and torches” over the issue, and several judges forced out of office because of orders they conduct same-sex “marriages” are suing their state for violating their religious rights.
The attacks on Christian business owners by homosexuals who demand they violate their faith to provide various services already is in full swing across the U.S.
WND has compiled a “Big List of Christian Coercion” with dozens of cases in which Christians have been fined, threatened or penalized for recognizing the biblical definition of marriage.
WND reported longtime conservative leader Pat Buchanan urged Christians to fight the “LGBT fanatics” who are demanding they betray their faith, even if it means civil disobedience.
In an interview with WND, Buchanan, the author of “Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?” and other bestsellers, spoke on the controversy.
Buchanan forcefully condemned defeatism among social conservatives and rejected retreat or even compromise. Instead, the one-time presidential contender and Reagan White House aide urged Christians to put the laws of God above the laws of man.
“This battle can be won, but it cannot be won if we do not stand our ground and fight against this moral onslaught from the left,” he said. “The hill to stand on and fight on is the God-given natural right and the constitutional principle that people of faith may choose not to associate with those whose actions are abhorrent and whose lifestyle is insulting and offensive to that faith.”
Buchanan dismissed arguments that “gay”-rights activists are simply asking for political freedom or the same rights as any other citizen.
“The LGBT militants are not asking to be left alone,” he said. “They are demanding that we accept the morality of homosexuality and same-sex marriages, and manifest that acceptance, under pain of law and sanctions, in our daily lives.”
Buchanan added: “As the Romans demanded of the Christians, the LGBT fanatics want us to burn incense to their gods. The answer is no. If it comes to civil disobedience, so be it.”
WND also reported a team of prominent Christian leaders worked on a statement to inform the public – including justices on the U.S. Supreme Court who soon will hear arguments on the issue – that they will engage in civil disobedience rather than follow a ruling that establishes homosexual marriage in the United States.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/supreme-court-justices-warned-to-leave-marriage-alone/
Comments
Defining Marriage is not included in the enumerated powers granted by the States to the Federal, outlined in the US Constitution.  The Supreme Court is constitutionally restricted to publish opinions within the confines of the enumerated powers.  All other matters are determined by the States and the People.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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