As of Wednesday, February 23, 2011, President Obama and his administration will no longer defend the constitutionality of a law that bans recognition of gay marriages. He is for the removal of the ban and for the legal acceptance of same-sex marriage.
In 1996, the U. S. Congress passed DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) which defined marriage as only between a man and a woman. (For what it is worth, God's word, the Bible defines marriage the same way and only that way!) In spite of the president's recent decision, DOMA remains in effect, and the Justice Department will continue to enforce it, but according to a story appearing in The (Nashville) Tennessean on February 24, 2011, "in federal courts, the significant legal firepower of the federal government has changed sides, which could influence judges' consideration of anti-DOMA lawsuits." The president himself is on record as wanting the act "clearly struck down by the courts or repealed by Congress, which he has urged." The story went on to say that Obama's reversal on the law had long been sought by gays who overwhelmingly voted for him in 2008. Obama is quoted as saying that
he is still "grappling" with his personal views on whether gays (a terrible corruption of an otherwise beautiful word) should be allowed to marry.
The Tennessean article, written by Pete Yost and Nancy Benac of the AP under a Washington dateline, spoke of how the legal landscape has changed in the last fifteen years. It also said, "The social landscape has changed as well." Five states—Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont—as well as the District of Columbia have made same-sex marriage legal. In thirty states—including Tennessee—there are constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.
God created the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). When there was "not found a helper comparable to him…the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam…and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man" (Genesis 2:20-21). In Genesis 3:20 the Bible tells us that Adam called his wife's name Eve, not Steve! What, pray tell, is so difficult to understand about God's arrangement for marriage?! No animal was suitable as a mate for man, neither was another man!
In the New Testament, Jesus said: "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?" (Matthew 19:4-5). Is there any doubt as to what Christ taught about marriage and who should be wed to each other?
But as the newspaper article said, "The social landscape has changed." Ah, yes, how it has changed! Some folks seem to think that a changing social environment has nullified biblical teaching, and that the Bible is no longer inspired but that it has expired! The laws of the land can be ignored, changed, and repealed, "but the word of the Lord endures forever" (Isaiah 40:8/I Peter 1:25). Individuals and nations who ignore it do so their everlasting peril.
Hugh Fulford
March 1, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment