This week's
Supreme Court decisions overturning part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act
and failing to rule clearly on California's Proposition 8 case are deeply
troubling. They worsen the widespread confusion on the definition of marriage.
Together, the Court neglected to uphold the will of the people through their
elected representatives in Congress and the public votes of more than seven
million California citizens.
Yet, however disappointing the rulings may be to those of us who embrace
natural marriage, the decisions should not elicit a spirit of despair.
To be clear, the Court rulings responded to two complex cases asking narrow
legal questions. Legal experts will spend days dissecting the pages of opinion and
case law. And yet, for most Americans, the big picture is more of what the
Court did not do:
--It did not create a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage as it did
for abortion in 1973.
--It also did not declare same-sex marriage a civil right on the order of
ethnicity or nationality.
The two rulings do not touch the 38 states across our nation that enshrine
natural marriage as law. And the two rulings don't diminish the job of the
Church to proclaim God's truth to a culture that desperately needs it.
The critical role of man-woman marriage is not diminished by these rulings. The essential need for children to have both a married mother and father
is not lessened by the opinions.
Proponents of same-sex marriage are hailing today's rulings as a turning point
for the institution of marriage and, indeed, the debate will continue.
That's why, especially in the days to come, the Church will have a new
opportunity to shine its light into a confused culture.
It is time for everyone who supports the natural definition of marriage to
recommit and affirm the sanctity of their own marriages. We must humbly confess
the damage we have done to marriage by our own collective careless treatment of
it. As we continue to distance ourselves from God's design for marriage and
family, Christians will need to take their oath and commitment to marriage more
seriously. Though the divorce rate among committed Christians is lower than
among the general populace, it remains far too high.
The single greatest argument we can present to the world on this issue of
marriage is to personally live out marriage in all its God-ordained fullness
and radiant beauty.
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excerpt from Focus on the Family by Jim Daly
