With
the release of its two rulings on same-sex “marriage” today, the United
States Supreme Court has lost its legitimacy as an arbiter of the
Constitution and the rule of law. Today marks the death of the Court’s
legacy, because the decision on the Federal Defense of Marriage Act
defies logic and is a pure invention of a handful of Justices.
As
much as pro-homosexual activists will crow over today’s announcements,
rest assured that the battle over marriage in America is far from over!
In fact, Liberty Counsel, joined by well over 200 Christian leaders
representing tens of millions of Americans believers like you, is still
boldly proclaiming “No court can make marriage into what it can never
be”!
Please see my important update on the Supreme Court’s rulings and what we’re doing in response – Mat.
Today, the Supreme Court crossed the line and delegitimized its authority by striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) also
released their opinions on California’s Proposition 8 state marriage
amendment (Prop 8).
Justice
Antonin Scalia wrote in his dissent on the DOMA ruling that the Court’s
errors, both in explaining its jurisdiction and its decision, “spring
from the same diseased root: an exalted conception of the role of this
institution in America.”
Obviously disgusted with the majority’s hubris and its unfounded opinion, Scalia wrote…
”I promise you this: The only thing that will ‘confine’ the Court’s holding is its sense of what it can get away with.”
In
other words, the Supreme Court will retain only the authority the People
give it. Its authority lies only in the fact that the People deem its
decisions legitimate, and the DOMA decision clearly is not!
++How the Court ruled on DOMA.
Justice
Kennedy, writing the DOMA decision under an Equal Protection rationale,
strikes down Section 3 of DOMA, which defines marriage as one man and
one woman for purposes of federal law and federal benefits, specifically
joint federal tax returns, Social Security survivor benefits, and
federal employee health insurance and medical benefits.
But
not at issue in this ruling are the other parts of DOMA, including the
section that says states may define their own marriage policy and are
not required to accept a sister state’s same-sex marriage.
“DOMA
singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled to recognition
and protection to enhance their own liberty,” wrote Kennedy.
++Justice Scalia’s dissent literally scolded the majority.
Writing for the minority in the DOMA ruling, Justice Scalia wrote this in his scathing dissent…
“It
is an assertion of judicial supremacy over the people’s Representatives
in Congress and the Executive. It envisions a Supreme Court standing
(or rather enthroned) at the apex of government, empowered to decide all
constitutional questions, always and everywhere “primary” in its role.
This image of the Court would have been unrecognizable to those who
wrote and ratified our national charter.”
Liberty
Counsel concurs with Justice Scalia’s dissent, as do the more than 200
Christian leaders who have affirmed our powerful Marriage Solidarity
Statement.
++The Court’s ruling on Proposition 8.
Regarding
the Prop 8 case, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the 5-4 decision of
the Court, dismissed the case on standing, meaning that the Court lacks
jurisdiction to reach the merits because the Prop 8 Interveners lacked
standing to litigate the case, after the California State Attorney
General ceased defending it following the lower federal district court
opinion.
This
means that the lower court decision governing the Northern District of
California stands. Thus, only the decision striking down Prop 8 by the
lower district court remains in effect. The remaining parts of
California are unaffected. No doubt, litigation will ensue in the
Southern and Middle Districts of California.
++The High Court is now engaged in raw judicial activism.
Justice
O’Connor, writing in the early 1990’s case of Planned Parenthood of
Southeastern Penn. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 864-869 (1992), candidly
acknowledged:
“The
root of American governmental power is revealed most clearly in the
instance of the power conferred by the Constitution upon the Judiciary
of the United States and specifically upon this Court. As Americans of
each succeeding generation are rightly told, the Court cannot buy
support for its decisions by spending money and, except to a minor
degree, it cannot independently coerce obedience to its decrees.
The
Court's power lies, rather, in its legitimacy, a product of substance
and perception that shows itself in the people's acceptance of the
Judiciary as fit to determine what the Nation's law means and to declare
what it demands.
The
underlying substance of this legitimacy is of course the warrant for
the Court's decisions in the Constitution and the lesser sources of
legal principle on which the Court draws…
The
Court must take care to speak and act in ways that allow people to
accept its decisions on the terms the Court claims for them, as grounded
truly in principle, not as compromises with social and political
pressures having, as such, no bearing on the principled choices that the
Court is obliged to make.
Thus,
the Court's legitimacy depends on making legally principled decisions
under circumstances in which their principled character is sufficiently
plausible to be accepted by the Nation.”
++Neither the Supreme Court, nor any other court, can redefine marriage.
Marriage predates government and civil authorities. No civil authority, including the Supreme Court, has the authority to redefine marriage.
Marriage was not created by religion or government and is ontologically
a union of one man and one woman. For any Court or civil authority to
think it has the authority to redefine marriage is the height of
hubris.
While
today’s decision on DOMA did not redefine marriage, it has provided the
foundation upon which to do so. Today’s decision is the equivalent of
the 1972 contraception decision involving unmarried couples and the
so-called right to privacy on which the 1973 abortion decision in Roe v.
Wade was constructed.
Today,
the Supreme Court has damaged its image, lost its legitimacy, and set
in motion considerable harm to society and to the State of the Union.
++We stand for Marriage Solidarity!
As you probably know, over 200 religious and civic leaders have signed the Marriage Solidarity Statement,
including the leaders of many nationally known ministries representing
millions of members. These are deeply concerned Americans who are taking
a bold stand for marriage that transcends religious doctrine and
boundaries.
The Marriage Solidarity Statement declares that the Christian community will stand in solidarity on this vital issue. Redefining marriage is a line we cannot and will not cross!
This
is an excellent way to raise a cry for moral sanity and help drown out
the crowing and obscenities of the pro-homosexual minority that is
celebrating today’s misguided Court rulings.
We need every friend possible to join this historic effort! If you have yet to sign, please join us today:
Watch
for my further updates on these Supreme Court rulings. Our nation has
lost its moral compass. But we will never capitulate to the disordered
view that marriage can unite what God says it cannot!
By all
means, let us take bold action and continue to pray for our nation.
Above all, don’t give up the battle for natural, God-ordained marriage
in our society!
God bless you,
Mat Staver, Chairman
Liberty Counsel Action
P.S.
Based on today’s rulings, the United States Supreme Court has lost its
legitimacy as an arbiter of the Constitution and the rule of law.
I am
calling for unified prayer this week that God will bless our nation and
that He will call forth a mighty movement among the American People to
affirm and defend the God-ordained institution of marriage!
Together,
we are going on record as declaring that the institution of marriage is
solely for the union of one man and one woman. Please, for the sake of
our nation, our communities, and your own family, join us!
PPS. For those of you on Facebook, we now have a Marriage Solidarity page for you to “Like” and share with your social network.
