While many within the evangelical community are hailing the Supreme Court decision in the Masterpiece Cakeshop Case a win for religious freedom, I lament the breakdown and loss of common sense in what was once a Christian nation founded on biblical principles.
If you think that is an exaggeration stop and consider the current Masterpiece Cakeshop Case as an example. Our legal system has devolved to the point it takes the highest court in our land to decide the circumstances under which one citizen should, or should not, bake a cake for another citizen.
Justice Anthony Kennedy who wrote the majority opinion in this 7-2 decision is the same one who struck down the Defense of Marriage Act effectively legalizing same-sex marriage back in 2015. DOMA was unconstitutional and needed to be struck down, but not for the reasons Kennedy cited in his opinion.
This case has not resolved the tensions between those wanting religious freedom and those same-sex couples who think they are being discriminated against.
In overturning DOMA, Kennedy created, though not alone, the legal imbroglio that led to this case, and any celebration now should be tempered by the truth that what the Supreme Court gives it can take away with the same caprice it uses to interpret the constitution now.
That is because his legal reasoning is as silly now as it was then. DOMA should have been struck down because the regulation of marriage is not one of the powers of Congress enumerated in the Constitution.
According to the Tenth Amendment those powers not enumerated in the Constitution to Congress are reserved to the States and the people. Marriage constitutionally and historically is the exclusive purview of the States and the people. Congress had no constitutional authority to enact DOMA.
The highest court broke the law and justices became outlaws.
DOMA merely gave the Supreme Court the opportunity to redefine marriage and approve same-sex marriage through judicial fiat apart from the legislative process. Ergo, that ruling is constitutionally flawed; the Supreme Court cannot legislate, it can only interpret. But in DOMA the Supreme Court abrogated the right of the States and the people to define and regulate marriage as provided by the Tenth Amendment. What are we to do when the highest Court in the land breaks the law?
Marriage between one man and one woman is not the exclusive practice of Christians. Heterosexual marriage is the predominant practice of all major religions and cultures around the world. No religion or society on the face of the earth has flourished celebrating homosexual marriage that is wholly incapable of reproducing the next generation.
Common sense is not as common as it once was.
Ultimately fallen men cannot be trusted to use common sense when trying to use their position as justices to engineer social change. This is why the Scriptures declare, “Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord,” Proverbs 29:26. Ultimate justice will tarry until Christ returns.
Common sense is not as common as it once was. Evangelicals will soon learn you cannot have your cake and eat it too, because a fallen system does not possess the common sense that will produce lasting, transcendent justice.
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