In my last
blog, I discussed the union of the legal and Godly components of what we called
marriage. I ended that blog by saying
that if those two components of marriage were ever separated, marriage would
lose its meaning.
Since then,
the Supreme Court of the United States has issued a ruling that makes same sex
marriage legal throughout the country.
America joins 20 other countries with similar policy. The divorce of marriage has happened in these
countries.
It’s
important understand that while the legal definition of marriage has changed,
God’s definition hasn’t, and never will.
This means that same sex marriages will only be legal marriages. They cannot be marriages before God, because
they do not fulfill the definition of marriage as put forth by God in the
Bible.
The
importance of this depends on what marriage means to you, and where you stand
with God. To a lot of people, going to a justice of the peace and getting
married is enough. Some, however, want
to involve their God, and their faith, in their marriage. For example, a marriage in the Catholic
church is one of 7 sacraments, intimate moments between God and man. It’s even given another name, matrimony.
Since same
sex people can now marry, they now become subject to not only the joys of being
married, but the responsibilities of marriage and the consequences. Most obviously, legalized same sex marriage means
legalized same sex divorce.
While same
sex marriage is legal in every state in the US, the requirements that need to
be fulfilled for two people to marry are still subject to individual state
law. This means that it can be very easy
to marry, such as the infamous “Las Vegas” wedding. Marriage in haste, while caught up in the
moment, has risk involved. By contrast,
in the Catholic church, couples must attend a series of meetings designed to
insure that the couple each other well, and are entering into matrimony after
careful consideration. This is another
benefit of a “church” wedding.
As with the
Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973, society, and especially, the
business world, will quickly embrace the decision. Planned Parenthood and other abortion
providers quickly became entrenched and an abortion industry arose which makes
reversing that decision impractical, and eventually, unthinkable. It’s no longer about what is legal, it’s
about who is making money. This decision
will be no different.
One
encouraging aspect is justice Kennedy’s remarks in the decision re-affirming
the American right of dissent. But, that
doesn’t stop the dissent limiting aspects of the society that led to this
decision in the first place. Already,
you see the articles arising of people that are practicing “hate” by resigning
their jobs because issuing same sex marriage licenses is against their life
philosophy, guided by their faith. Less
obvious in the media are articles like about the Catholic priest who happened
by a celebration for the decision by accident and was spat upon. I guess “love wins” is just another hollow
slogan.
The truth
is there is no going back at this point with this divorce. Divorce always victimizes innocent parties
and this one will be no different. Let’s
hope that love truly does win in all of this.
