DID THE U.S. SUPREME COURT SOW SEEDS OF DISSENSION?

The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision legitimizing the idea of considering same-sex marriage to be within the scope of civil liberties will have unintended consequences that very few could even imagine. In fact, I believe the seeds for another war between the states have just been sown. Let me explain.

Those who ascribe to the idea that we are “One Nation Under God” believe that there are some basic, fundamental principles established by God that can never be negotiated away;  three in particular are expressed in the Manhattan Declaration: the Sanctity of Life, the historical definition of Marriage, and Religious Liberties.

The history of the United States has been, until recently, the history of achieving a more perfect union by improving our institutions and standards to provide greater opportunities for everyone.  All our advances for equality have been initiated by people of faith motivated by their understanding of God’s will as reflected in the Bible.  Abolition of Slavery, Women’s Suffrage, the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, these were all fueled by the Biblical understanding of God’s plan for a peaceful and orderly society. Though all these initiatives experienced resistance at their outset, they were eventually assimilated into our culture and now seen as legitimate progressive steps in our journey toward that “more perfect union,” because they were consistent with Biblical ideals and also reflected in natural law.

There have been some missteps along the way. The Dred Scott decision of 1857 which dehumanized blacks, declaring slaves to be “property” not entitled to citizenship or recognition as human beings, launched a long Civil Rights struggle that led to the eventual overturning  of that decision,  because the Bible clearly establishes the equality of all regardless of skin color. As the electorate became more educated concerning this issue it eventually absorbed this “truth” into the fabric of our culture though we paid a great price in blood and treasure, coming close to committing national suicide in our first War Between the States, in which we lost more than 500,000 citizens.

The Roe. V. Wade decision of 1972 likewise spawned a “pro-life” movement led, again, by the Church, because the Bible, and natural law clearly speaks to the sanctity of every human life, and the need to protect the most defenseless among us. As society has become educated on this issue popular opinion has been steadily becoming more “pro-life.” As the U.S. Supreme Court reflects culture, it will eventually overturn another “bad” decision, this time at a cost of the lives of more than 50 million babies.

Now the U.S. Supreme Court has, in effect, given the green light for homosexual rights groups to pursue a universal redefinition of marriage. As they attempt to impose their morality on America, some “progressive” states will acquiesce to their sense of equality based on the religious view of Secular Humanism that declares that there is no higher standard of morality than that which is established by human reasoning. States whose people and institutions still subscribe to the Judeo-Christian standard of morality will never acquiesce to an imposed anti-biblical standard of morality, even if imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court or federal regulatory authorities.

What will make this conflict different than the abortion issue is that no American is being compelled by law to abort a baby, however the same-sex marriage movement is moving toward compelling Americans to recognize homosexual unions as a legitimate moral union, even calling it “marriage”. This will present a clear conflict where people of faith will have to choose to obey God rather than man. State governments that recognize that “It is the duty of nations as well as of men to acknowledge their dependence upon the overruling power of God”  will never bow down to dictates contrary to the standards set by God. One of the mottos from our first war for independence  “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God” will ring out once again.

I can foresee the day when  people of faith will begin to move toward “faith-friendly” states while humanists will continue to build power in their “progressive” states, thus polarizing the country even more than it has been polarized by the current left and right ideologies, until there will be two standards of morality. This will prove to be untenable in these “United” States of America. We will be, in effect,  as one writer called it, “The Divided States of America.”

There are certain truths that must be agreed upon by all Americans if we are to continue to live with the peace and prosperity that we have known since our founding. The most fundamental truth is that our rights come to us not from the generosity of the state but by the hand of God. Yes, we can debate the meaning of those rights in our various state and federal legislatures, but we must never depart from the laws of nature and nature’s God, or we will surely experience civil discord, chaos, and yes, possibly even war.

Either we will be one nation under God, or many nations under man. Let us pray for the former to avert the conflict and chaos that will result from the latter. Let the seeds sown by the U.S Supreme Court not sprout a harvest of discord and strife, and yes, possibly war between the states. Let us pray and continue to work toward realizing that more perfect union—One Nation Under God.

THE RIGHT HAS IT WRONG!

I’ve been hearing from too many on the right, in their attempts to defend against the same-sex marriage movement, a call for government to stay out of the marriage business. The thinking seems to be “Let the democratic process play out by letting the people decide by the conventional democratic process on a state-by-state level how marriage will be defined.”  Wrong! This is absolutely the wrong argument. Marriage is not the product of popular consensus. It is an institution devised, defined and overseen by God himself—the God in whom we declare place our trust!
 
Government didn’t create marriage. Federal or state governments cannot, therefore recreate marriage in any form.  The only obligation and responsibility government has concerning marriage is to recognize it as God has defined it, and protect it as a foundational principle for the “pursuit of happiness.” But unfortunately, you won’t hear this argument from today’s populist leaders. So it’s up to the clergy of this nation to once again lead the way to American revival.  One cannot separate American peace and prosperity from American morality. The very Father of our country taught us:

“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”
 

 The U.S. Supreme Court should simply declare that marriage is not a construct of human government, but rather an institution ordained by God, codified in natural law, and verified through human experience as the union of one male and one female unrelated by blood. It is the duty of nations as well as of men to recognize it as such, and to prefer it for the betterment of civil society above other social arrangements.

Same-sex Marriage is Regressive

I’m tired of hearing same-sex marriage proponents pontificate about how “progressive” and “socially evolving” their actions were in legalizing same-sex marriage when their actions were, in fact, the exact opposite.

It’s clear that proponents of this “pseudo marriage” are either totally uneducated (or mis-educated), or at best, they are very short-sighted in their view of world history.

Marriage was, in fact, a progressive step upward toward civilization when it was introduced by Jewish Law to a pagan and hedonistic world. The introduction of marriage was one of the civilizing institutions that brought order, peace and prosperity by defining the family, providing protection for women and a sense of responsibility for children.

Redefining marriage to make it what it used to be is not progressive, but regressive; it’s not social evolution but social devolution.

Let truth be told, even if it bursts the good feelings of those who don’t know history. There’s nothing progressive about same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is a step backward to the days of pre-civilization. Remember Sodom?

Social scientist Lewis Mumford explained it this way;

"Unable to create a meaningful life for itself, the personality takes its own revenge: from the lower depths comes a regressive form of spontaneity: raw animality forms a counterpoise to the meaningless stimuli and the vicarious life to which the ordinary man is conditioned. Getting spiritual nourishment from this chaos of events, sensations, and devious interpretations is the equivalent of trying to pick through a garbage pile for food." -The Conduct of Life 1951

Legalization of "Pseudo" Marriage.

Tonight the Republican State Senate legalized same-sex, “Pseudo” Marriage, further degrading social order and decency for the citizens of New York.

As an institute dedicated to the preservation of marriage and families for the well being our children and ensuing generations, we will double our efforts to right this wrong that has been imposed upon our citizens.

For the first time we find ourselves on the wrong side of the law, but when that law violates the higher moral law derived from the One who is the very source of our inalienable rights, then we must pledge our allegiance to that higher moral law, regardless of the personal cost.
Adoption of this Pseudo-Marriage is nothing less than rebellion toward God, who will not be mocked.

Despite protections for religious organizations this law will embolden the radical homosexual community to push Christians into the very closet homosexuals came out of.

This is certainly not the settlement of an issue, but rather the beginning of a new movement that will not rest until we are once again, “One Nation Under God,” and our laws once again reflect God’s order for his creation.

An Impeachable Offense

The Obama administration has announced today that it will no longer defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bans the recognition of same-sex "marriage." This indicates either a total ignorance of the limits of executive authority, and the responsibility of the Department of Justice, or blatant arrogance and disregard for our system of law. This is not a dictatorship where the executive can choose which laws he will enforce and which he will ignore. If he believes a law is unconstitutional we have a judicial process to make that determination. The President and the Attorney General do not have the unilateral authority to declare what laws –and by extension, what part of the Constitution-they will enforce. he President took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. This is a clear attempt to shred it, and in my view, it is an impeachable offense.

IT'S NOT A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE

Governor Paterson recently called for the redefinition of marriage to include homosexual and lesbian couples claiming this to be a civil rights issue.

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. must be rolling in his grave!
Mr. Paterson, himself an African-American, should have a better understanding of what constitutes a civil rights issue. Sadly, he denigrates his own heritage by associating the civil rights struggle of the African-Americans with the current trend to legitimize an immoral lifestyle. Governor Paterson insults the African-American community, and the memory of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by placing the gay rights movement on the same level as the civil rights movement of the 60s.

Civil rights movements are characterized by the defense of an oppressed minority, a people who demonstrate disadvantage in three areas: economically, politically and socially.

In every area the homosexual community enjoys not only equality, but superiority. They earn more, they have greater political clout, and they are, in fact, the only protected social class in America today.

They are not an oppressed ethnic minority, and it is an offense to legitimate minorities to place a group characterized by deviant behavior in the same class.

Homosexuality is not an immutable characteristic of one’s identity such as race, or as defining of one’s identity such as religion. There are no “ex” African-Americans, but there are thousands of “ex” homosexuals who have changed, and have chosen to develop healthy heterosexual relationships.

If you want to properly include gays and lesbians in a class it would have to be in a class made up of people who are addicted to destructive behaviors, such as drug addicts, or alcoholics. Just like these addictive lifestyles, homosexuality can be nearly impossible to change without divine help, but as the evidence clearly indicates, change does happen. To this end we must always demonstrate love and compassion toward those who are bound by homosexuality.

Albert J. Williams-Meyers, a professor of Black Studies at SUNY New Paltz, knows civil rights. He had this to say,

"In terms of the civil rights movement of the '60s and '70s, there isn't much parallel there at all. People from the African continent were brought to America as slaves because of their skin color. Such factors don't figure into the discrimination that affects gays and lesbians.”

The Rev. Sylvester McClearn of Newburgh, NY was part of the black civil rights era. He said,

"They are not deprived of anything. They are rich people. They are middle class. They are all kinds of people coming from all walks of life, not just poor people. They are a special interest group that is fighting for what they want."

This is not a righteous fight for “marriage equality” as the gay community claims. They have equality already. They have as much a right to marriage as anyone --marriage being the union of a male and a female unrelated by blood. They don’t have the right to redefine marriage to suit their deviant lifestyle, and in doing so, making marriage more common, thus devaluing the institution itself.

This is not a civil rights issue, and it must not be so framed. It’s about legitimizing an immoral lifestyle, and changing the institution that has served as the foundation of civilization. It must not be changed, or our posterity will reap the unintended consequences of our immorality.

The “Father of Our Country,” George Washington, in his 1789 inaugural speech, reminded us that,

“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”

We must demonstrate moral leadership, or we will continue to see a decline in the quality of life in America. We must continually work for the expansion of civil rights, but we must never encourage, by our public policy, civil wrongs.

NY Governor Usurps Legislative Process

The governor of New York has just issued a directive and a video web cast directing state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages solemnized in other states, and even other countries. By this action he shows his solidarity with the radical homosexual activists who are attempting to impose their morality on New Yorkers undermining the legislative process and violating the New York State Constitution that explicitly places the power of making laws in the hands of the legislature, not judges in Monroe County, California, Massachusetts or Canada! According to the New York Times, New York will be the only state to recognize homosexual “marriages” where homosexual “marriage” is not legal. That doesn’t even make logical sense, but that is only a sample of the chaos that will be unleashed if sanity is not restored to government. Remember, that in 2006 the state’s highest court refused to recognize same-sex “marriage” and rightly said the issue should be decided by the legislature, but Governor Paterson is joining with forces that would subvert our democratic process to push their own agenda. This must not stand.

We are calling on New Yorkers to write, call, email the governor’s office, as well as the offices of their state legislators, and let them know that for the sake of the next generation we will not surrender the institution of marriage to a special interest group bent on destroying those bedrock values and institutions that our parents passed on to us.

The actions of the Governor, and even the appeals court judge who chose to disregard New York’s highest court ruling must be rejected by New Yorkers of common sense.

Impeachment for these attempts to undermine our constitution should not be out of the question.