You might also want to check out “Gay Marriage is Not a Justice Issue: Rawlsian vs. Christian Justice” for the arguments against viewing gay marriage as a social justice issue.
What are your thoughts one way or the other?
(Reuters) – The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a federal law that restricts the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples in a major victory for the gay rights movement.
The ruling, on a 5-4 vote, means that legally married gay men and women are entitled to claim the same federal benefits that are available to opposite-sex married couples.
The court was due to decide within minutes a second case concerning a California law that bans same-sex marriage in the state.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Howard Goller and Will Dunham)
From USA Today:
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court gave a major boost to gay and lesbian rights on Wednesday, striking down a key section of a federal law that denied federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples.
The justices declared unconstitutional part of the 17-year-old Defense of Marriage Act, a law that has denied federal benefits to married gays and lesbians in a dozen states, from Maine to Washington, and the District of Columbia.
The decision gives the high court’s blessing, at least in part, to a gay-marriage movement that has gained momentum in the past decade and now stands on the threshold of full equality. The ruling represents a major step forward for marriage equality and a setback for defenders of traditional marriage between only men and women. But 36 states still ban same-sex marriage, and the high court’s ruling doesn’t affect them.
Here are mine:
As a former employee of the State (i.e. congressional staffer) I can understand the ruling, and even sympathize with it constitutionally. As a now employee of the Church (i.e. pastor with the ECC) I am grieved that Empire America has endorsed the same licentiousness of Empire Rome.
I will not go apocalyptic, though, as in generations past. Nor will I fight for more “Christian” Members, Justices, or Presidents. The Church of Jesus Christ—not Congress, the White House, or the Supreme Court—is the hope of the world. This ruling hasn’t changed that. Which demands we remain sane and humble, but also honest about what God intends for families both inside and outside the Church.
That our culture is confused about the meaning of marriage is as much a result of the force of sin at work in our world as it is the laziness of the Church to graciously and honestly bear witness to God’s intent for human flourishing and make disciples of Christ, regardless of the ruckus such honesty makes.
