On June 26, Supreme Court made a decision that same-sex marriage is legal nationwide. Prior to this ruling, same-sex marriages were permitted in 37 states and in 13 states it was illegal. With this ruling, same-sex couples can enjoy a host of benefits supported by the federal government such as wealth sharing, inheritance, and adoption, etc. Since Obama government declared that they would support legalization of same-sex marriage, it was expected that it might happen, but it seems that it happened earlier than expected.
The definition of marriage is no longer a union of a man and a woman but became a union of two adults. With this definition, I wonder how family values will change and deteriorate as time goes by. One of the fundamental orders of creation is a distinction of man and woman and children growing under their parents and developing healthy image of each parent. Now with this new ruling, I can just imagine the social confusion and the impact on children and their character development with this issue of same-sex couples around them.
It is possible that the church will have many legal issues related to this. Homosexuality cannot be preached as sin. Also, it is illegal to reject church registration of gay or lesbian or their applications to work in the children’s department because of their sexual orientation. Also, I cannot decline performing marriage ceremony for this reason. I believe it is time to brace ourselves to deal with these expected matters and know our legal rights. However, since the Constitution is the highest law in the US, whatever legal defense we may depend on may not be the ultimate support for our position.
America is a land of freedom. We have religious freedom, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech. Then, you may ask why the church cannot act according to its faith? The reason is the religious freedom cannot hinder the constitutional right of equal justice. Same-sex couples knew that they cannot win from religious approach. Therefore, for the last 10 years, they pushed their position politically as a right of minority.
The gay and lesbian community will not stop at winning this Supreme Court ruling. They will start suing churches which oppose their position and will try to establish precedents on their behalf. It could be a start of a new persecution against churches and many churches would suffer. The effort to protect minorities could have resulted in taking away religious freedom and persecuting believers.
In the US southern Baptist convention, which was concluded on June 17th, it was firmly declared that homosexuality is not right biblically and there will not be any compromise on this matter. Therefore, they will not recognize same-sex marriage nor will perform such marriage ceremony. I am quite relieved by their solid position but I also notice that many faiths are making concessions. It is time for us as Christians to stand firm on our principles.
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