THE CONDITION OF SOCIETY IS…

            The twin decisions of the US Supreme Court on marriage are as clear as mud; they resolve none of the issues that drive the marriage debate in California or the nation.  But let’s talk about what they do – and what they do not do.

            With respect to DOMA – the federal Defense Of Marriage Act – they strike down only the section of the act forbidding federal benefits to same sex couples even where states recognize their marriages.  The Court upheld the primary intent to protect states’ rights to recognize only marriages that accord with their laws.  The Court reaffirms the right of states to enact their own laws and definitions of marriage.  California’s Proposition 8 is the action of a state defining marriage, although Prop 8 is not mentioned in the DOMA decision.

            With respect to Prop 8 the court did not overturn the measure.  It did rule that the defenders of the law lacked standing to defend that law in federal court; it overturned the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declaring Prop 8 unconstitutional, which means the case is sent back to the federal district court which also declared the act contrary to the US Constitution.  Here it gets really muddy – the California Constitution states clearly that state laws can only be overturned by appellate courts – state or federal.  No such overturn of Prop 8 has taken place now that the Ninth Circuit decision is voided. 

            The Alliance Defending Freedom – which defended Prop 8 in the courts – joins Focus on the Family’s Citizenlink, the Family Research Council, and SaveMarriage.org – led Andy Pugno – in claiming the measure remains the law of the land.  The media have misreported these decisions across the board.  Pacific Justice Institute – with which I am most familiar and connected – calls the odds on maintaining Prop 8 very long.  California officials have a long history of flouting the law and the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – whose jurisdiction was eliminated by the Supreme Court ruling – has ordered the resumption of gay marriages in California in direct violation of the rule of law which provides twenty-five days for petitioners to seek a re-hearing from the Supreme Court.  Gay marriages commenced in California on Friday, June 28.

            Let’s be clear.  A federal court having neither jurisdiction or authority with no case before it ordered California to violate its own constitution by sanctioning these marriages.  Lawless officials – governor, attorney general, and mayor of Los Angeles – acted on supposed strength of this order.

            Ugandan Evangelist Jackson Senyonga famously said, “The condition of society is the report card of the Church.”  When the Church is healthy the society is healthy.  When the Church is mired in bondage of her own making the society is likewise bound.  Where is the Church now?  Where are her pastors and other leaders?

            Many leaders do speak and act from within the liberating parameters of God’s Word and the laws and constitution of our state and nation.  But when nationally recognized leader Jim Garlow calls for pastors and leaders to assert their freedom to speak under the First Amendment less than half of one percent of the pastors answered from their pulpits.  When a local church was viciously attacked in our local paper I could not find one local pastor to publicly assert with me that church’s right to its own identity.  This is not okay.

            When King David engineered the murder of one of his own officers to cover the affair the king had with his wife Nathan the Prophet publicly confronted the king.  It was the same with Elijah and other biblical prophets.  When President Lyndon Johnson worshipped at Bruton Parish in Williamsburg, Virginia, in early 1967 the pastor confronted him about his lies and lawlessness in conducting the Vietnam war and began the process leading to Johnson’s decision not to seek re-election.  Courageous pastors, bishops, and business owners are challenging the Obama Administration on forced abortion coverage provided in Obamacare.  Will the Church rise up to confront government about its abuses of power across the board – and especially now in the issue of forcing a state to adopt same-sex marriage when its people have said yes to traditional marriage?  Will the Church set its own house in order at the same time? 

My next posting will feature recommendations – exhortations really – on how this should be done.  But whatever we do as a Christian community let us actively recall that we do not place our trust in the human protectors of constitution and community – how has that worked out on Obamacare and traditional marriage – but in the One who creates them both.