Why the Supreme Court’s Ruling on “Marriage” Does Not Matter
I will not berate you again with how misguided and ill-advised the five Supreme Court Justices who handed down the majority decision in Obergefell v. Hodges were. Doubtlessly you have seen that. (If not, however, check out this article which does an excellent job explaining.) No, rather, with this article, I want to explain why this decision does not matter. In the slightest.
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| Supreme Court of the United States |
Having read any of my previous articles, you may be surprised that I take this stance. Allow me then to explain.
It’s nothing new, merely codified acceptance of another unnatural behavior. If we live in a nation that has accepted so-called “gay marriage”, then all the Supreme Court has done is vocalize a belief that the majority of the country already had.
But do we? As a nation, have we truly accepted “gay marriage”? The fact that well over half of the states defined marriage as “one man and one woman” by popular vote would definitely lead one to question that. If this is the case, that the majority is not in favor of “gay marriage”, how did it get rammed down our throat?
The obvious answer is an activist Supreme Court or at least 5 justices on that court (bear in mind these justices were appointed). But there is a more subtle answer, that cuts deeper and has far reaching consequences. And this answer leads to why I believe that this ruling doesn’t matter.
“Gay marriage” is legal now because we have been fighting the war for real marriage in the wrong arena. We must change culture in order to change public policy. Instead we’ve been attempting to change public policy, hedging ourselves about with good laws, while forgetting the culture.
(1) A “good culture” (one that believes in the basic principles of the Declaration and the Constitution) cannot help but promote good laws, which will lead to an even better culture. (2) However, if you take good laws and attempt to add them on top of a bad culture (one that does not believe, or possibly even hates the principles of the Declaration and Constitution), all you will accomplish is an eventual degradation and destruction of the good laws which will land you with a worse culture and even worse laws. (3) It obviously follows then that bad laws added to an already bad culture will lead to worse laws and worse culture.
Yes, we must fight for good laws and court decisions that promote Constitutional laws, but not at the expense of forgetting the culture. “Gay marriage” proponents, though thoroughly misguided, have mastered influencing the culture. And that is why this Supreme Court decision doesn’t matter - it was merely a minor battle while the war is in the hearts and minds of every American citizen.
Yes, I said war. Society is never stagnate. Good and evil are in an eternal struggle of which, like it or not, you are a part. This Independence Day, I believe we would do well to remember some admonishments of our Founding Fathers. The fate of America is truly in our hands. As Mr. Franklin so aptly put it, these men sacrificed life and limb to give us “....a Republic, if you can keep it.”
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. ... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” ~George Washington
“Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated [debased] state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.” ~Patrick Henry
“....[C]an the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever….” ~Thomas Jefferson
“I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom I see the rays of ravishing light and glory….This is our day of deliverance.” ~John Adams
It is my hope and prayer that each of us, with the example of fortitude left to us by our Founding Fathers, will be able, “....for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence….mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
Jonathan Paine
@painefultruth76
P.S. Perhaps government should not be involved in marriage. This vein of reasoning leads to many open ended questions and would mean a restructuring of a lot of America’s legal and tax systems, which, if done correctly could end up being a good thing considering the current, complicated state of things (check out last weeks article). In any case, until we start exploring these other options in a civil discourse we are merely hitting our heads against brick walls of preconceived notions.
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