The Supreme Court of the United States' recent denial of review on state marriage laws that had been overturned by federal courts has left those state laws now unconstitutional, as dictated by the lower federal courts' rulings which will now control the laws of those states. States finding themselves in this situation include:
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.
Previously, marriage was defined in these states, by the citizens of these states, as the legal relationship between a man and a woman. With this ruling, marriage must now be expanded to include same-sex couples. To learn more about what this means for those states see http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/How-Same-Sex-Marriage-Is-Unfolding-In-11-States-278271131.html. This denial of any clear ruling is an inhibitor of family strength for those state jurisdictions, as marriage law stability lends to a stronger state, as set out at this article on state authority for domestic relations regulation at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2427462.
Those states that are not mentioned above remain strong in their stability of marriage as between one man and one woman - the foundation of family restoration.
As I watched the events unfold yesterday after the Supreme Court announced that they were not going to review any of the cases, I could not help but think about how the entire process had become so politicized. I never thought I would see the citizens of Virginia support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and woman and then the state officials refusing to fight an assault on that definition. My question is whether the voters will remove those officials from office when they get a chance? I guess we will see how important this issue really is to Virginians.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to what should be the next steps for those who believe in the restoration of traditional marriage. There has been an obvious cultural shift around marriage. We need to get to the heart of the people. Same sex marriage isn't the only redefinition of marriage. Even many of those who are heterosexual view marriage as a decreasingly important institution. I'm not convinced that simply banning same sex marriage will fix the societal issues with family and marriage that probably occurred even before no-fault divorce policies began to be observed. We need more.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of the trend towards asserting individual rights and freedoms in any arena I immediately think of I Cor. 6:12 which states:
Delete"Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful." (International Standard Version).
As we continue to push towards what we consider to be true freedom from restrictions on our rights (what we perceive to be "permissible"), we forget that there is a consequence that inevitably must be paid whether good or bad (the "helpfulness" of that permission). For each new "right" or "freedom" we perceive as having gained in some courtroom a new set of laws must be developed to regulate it. Other unintended consequences also creep into the picture: increased violence and neglect towards our children and the degradation of marriage are just two examples among many. In this respect, how truly "free" are we? And, while these newfound "rights" may now be permissible, how truly helpful have they really been to us individually and collectively as a society?
There is a reason God gave us his Commandments. Children do best when they have a set of clear boundaries that allow them to experience the freedom from heading down a path that would surely do them harm. And though the Commandments may have been etched in stone sadly they are becoming less and less etched in our hearts, only to be replaced with "freedoms" and "rights" that are really not free or helpful in the long run.