Law and Order Versus the Pulpit Bullies.

Words are needed to heal wounds. In the aftermath of the glow of victory from the gay community and liberals across America, a lot of Christians feel that their faith and beliefs were trampled by the Supreme Court in yesterday’s ruling in favor of universal and equal marriage in America. (Some will even claim they are being persecuted, but that is an argument for another time.)

You have every right to feel however you want.  But allow me to give you some rationale and logic to help dissuade your fits of anger and fear.

First: this case was never about religion.

Never was. Never has been. The pundits and noise makers on the right-wing of the Republican party made that pitch to work you up…to get your pastors in the pulpit to work you up…to get under your skin.

This case and its trials have always been about the rule of law. From day one.

The law in this case, is the United States Constitution and specifically its 14^th Amendment. Let me quote you the applicable passage here:

                       

            “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the

            privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor

            shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,

            without due process of law; nor deny to any person within

            its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

This is referred to as the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution.  It means if you make a law favoring and protecting a class of people — let’s say, Catholics, then the Baptist get the same protection. And so do the Methodists and the Presbyterians and even the Mormons and the atheists — for that matter, so too would the Islamic members of our society. Every member of society is protected equally under the law. Every member.

It a nutshell, the 14^th Amendment says what is good under the law for the goose is also good for the gander. Equal. Protection by the law. By the constitution.

Why is it part of our law of the land? Too keep one group of people from bullying or overpowering another group because they can either, by vote or by abusive power, place their will over a subjugated class. It is YOUR protection that the law is as much for you as for your neighbor. It is there for white people. For black people. For Asians. For Hispanics. For Jews and Gentiles and even for Dallas Cowboys…(we think).

And it is there for gay and lesbian members of our country, too.

The parties fighting the lawsuit on behalf of gay and lesbian couples believed that their liberty had been usurped by states that refused to recognize their right to get married.

Now whether you believe in gay marriage or not, that is not the issue here. It may boil your blood and turn your stomach, but in America, those people have the same rights as you and me. It is in black and white. It is guaranteed in our Constitution.  And in this case, in this matter, that usurps scripture.

Sorry. That’s how it works.

Second:  This in no way diminishes your marriage.

It does not affect your family values.  It does not degrade either the act of or the institution of marriage. No one is going to force you to marry a gay person. No one is coming to take your religious beliefs away. No one is challenging your faith. And if you fear that it does challenge your faith, you need to reexamine your belief system.

However, in this case, marriage was and is being looked at as a legal tool of the state.  Truly nothing more.

People get married for love, true; but also, there are huge financial, tax and legal ramifications to being wed. Trusts. Wills. End of life directives.  Powers of Attorney. Tax issues. Home purchasing. The list goes on and on.

And the plaintiffs in this case said their ability to be rewarded and benefit from those things that are endowed to married couples were kept from them by the state(s) who refused to offer, condone or accept their marriages or opportunity to marry.

All they were asking for was the right to have a piece of paper just like you that tells the world, “Look we are a legal entity — a couple.” That does not take away from your union one iota no matter what First Baptist or Rome say.

No matter what your preacher or priest will rant about on Sunday, no matter what the governors of the very conservative states will say on TV or the one hundred thousand Republican candidates for President will shout out, the truth is, your marriage is your business.  Its sanctity is in your hands. No one else’s.

But as of today, so is the sanctity of the gay couples. It is in their hands. Not the government’s. Not the states’. They have to fight the fight and endure the battles and ups and downs of married life now like the rest of us. And they’ll do fine. Some will divorce. But many, many more will not. And they will love each other not unlike how you love your spouse. In fact, their victory actually strengthens your own liberty. As President Obama said, “(the ruling) affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts: When all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free.”

But through it all, it will not affect your marriage or your vows in any way. And believe me, that is exactly how the gay community wants it. What is your business is yours. What is their business is theirs.

Some of the gay and lesbians couples have suffered far more and for far longer than you have ever suffered for your marriage. And that builds unique and special bonds. So don’t try and tell me it is not true love they have. They may understand love and devotion far more than straight couples ever will.

Which leads me to point number three. There is a theological side to the issue of getting married. It runs deep and has all kinds of historical caveats. And right now it is yelling at the top of its lungs that this is all wrong — not God’s will.  Forbidden in the Word of the Lord.

In the past the scriptures allowed polygamy. Man stopped that.  Marrying a child wasn’t frowned on until mankind stopped it. The bible sure didn’t say anything about stopping it. Taking a slave for a bride was fine, too. Again man brought that to an end. In fact, scripture turned a blind eye to slavery all together. It took struggle and strife to end that dark practice.  And many clergy led the fight to stop slavery, even if their scriptures didn’t.

Sometimes you have to look past the scriptures to find inspiration for life. Sometimes ‘the way’ is not printed in the old or new testaments.  Sometimes it comes from other sources — sources deep within our hearts.

The Bible never said slavery was wrong. But we knew it was. Even though many claimed biblical rights to own slaves. The point here is that theology is not law. Law is law. And the ultimate law in our land is the Constitution. It is not a theological idea or notion or edict found on a page from the Bible or a Koran — it is not preached from some pulpit nor does it come handed down in a Papal decree. It exists in the Constitution.

And because of the Constitution, now gay people can wed. As Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “The right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty.”

Now that may well go against your religion and church doctrine. I’m oaky with that. So long as you do not use that as a hindrance within and under state law to disallow people, not like yourself, to get married. Then you have violated the 14^th Amendment of Federal Law. You will have broken the law of the land.

What you believe in your faith is your business.  Keep it that way. I will respect you for that. That way we will all get along a lot better.

You see, this was never about religion. It was always about equality… equal justice…always about the law.