Why is the U.S. Supreme Court Jilting States on Marriage?

2 CommentsMarriage, ,

Earlier this week we learned the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear several appeals over lower court rulings that struck state laws defining marriage as the union of one man to one woman.

This was a surprising move by the court. And while it is not the “victory” many on the Left claim it is–there are still other appeals pending, so our justices will not be able to dodge the issue forever–it does raise the question exactly why the U.S. Supreme Court is running away from the marriage debate at the moment.

In order for an appeal to brought up before the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four of the court’s nine justices must vote to hear it. The fact that these appeals concerning marriage will not be heard means that no more than three justices wanted to hear the cases–and it’s possible that the court decided unanimously to ignore the appeals. Depending on who you ask, many people agree there are three or four “conservative” justices on the court: Associate Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito and Chief Justice Roberts. Since it only takes four votes to bring an appeal before the court, presumably at least one (maybe more) of these four justices did not want the marriage issue brought up. Why would they do that?

It’s just speculation on my part, but the answer may lie in Associate Justice Scalia’s dissenting opinion from the 2013 United States v. Windsor ruling that struck part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In his dissent, Justice Scalia wrote, (more…)

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U.S. Supreme Court Kicking the Can Down the Road

Marriage, ,

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear appeals over state marriage amendments defining marriage as the union of one man to one woman in five states. This means lower court rulings overturning the amendments will be allowed to stand.

Some of the activists who want to redefine marriage are treating this as a victory. The truth is all the court is doing is kicking the can a little further down the road.

As you probably know, federal judges around the country have issued rulings on state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage. Several judges have declared these laws unconstitutional; recently, however, a federal judge in Louisiana upheld the state’s marriage amendment.

(more…)

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The Unseen Pain Behind Same-Sex Marriage

Homosexuality, Marriage, ,

Last week we shared a commentary by John Stonestreet at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview articulating why Christianity is wedded to traditional marriage. This week, Stonestreet has released a commentary on the painful consequences of same-sex marriage.

Stonestreet writes,

Seven years ago, [Janna] Darnelle’s husband of ten years told her that he was gay and that he wanted a divorce. As she wrote in The Public Discourse, “In an instant, the world that I had known and loved—the life we had built together—was shattered.”

She tried to persuade him to stay, and work through their problems and fight for their marriage. But, as she writes, “my voice, my desires, my needs—and those of our two young children—no longer mattered to him. We had become disposable, because he had embraced one tiny word that had become his entire identity. Being gay trumped commitment, vows, responsibility, faith, fatherhood, marriage, friendships, and community.” …

USA Today, in its cheerleading for same-sex marriage, ran a photo section on her ex-husband, his partner, and her children without her consent or even notice to her. Darnelle wrote, “Commenters exclaimed at how beautiful this gay family was and congratulated my ex-husband and his new partner on the family that they ‘created’ . . .,” even though, she continued, “there is a significant person missing from those pictures: the mother and abandoned wife. That ‘gay family’ could not exist without me.”

Darnelle’s story, sadly, is not unique. Stonestreet discusses the series of cultural shifts that have brought us to this point–and the pain they have left in their wake.

Listen to his full commentary below.

[audio:http://bit.ly/1qVttEY|titles=John Stonestreet – The Unseen Pain Behind Gay Marriage]

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