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Aug 13, 2010
What is there to debate about? If you’re a Christian, it’s a question we all know the answer to. What could be higher, more supreme than the word of God? The Holy Bible is the book of books; it contains the highest laws, which are of divine origin. The Ten Commandments from the time of Moses to this day has remained the only laws by which we will be judged by God.
But these days, the clash between moral and civil issues has become more intense and confusing. With the rise of homosexuals and their clamor for equal rights, among them the right to marry each other, there arises too the battle between conservatives and liberals, the former being advocates of traditional marriage and the latter being defenders of civil liberties and individual rights.
In California, as it is in Florida and Arizona and some 28 other states, voters have upheld the ban on gay marriages. California’s Proposition 8 was one such ban voted overwhelmingly by the people but was recently overturned and ruled unconstitutional by U.S. Circuit Court Judge Vaughn Walker. It was huge victory for the gays and lesbians and their supporters but the battle is far from over. The defenders of Proposition 8 are ready to take their battle all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Some people find it hard to reconcile the conflict between voters’ choices of ending discrimination when they elected a black president in November 2008 and yet voted against equal rights for homosexuals, thereby discriminating against the latter. Actually, the seeming disconnect is only harder to get when one views the issue from a civil libertarian’s perspective. Factor in religion and the Bible references to homosexuality and it will be clear where the discrimination is coming from. In his controversial ruling, Judge Walker mentioned among other things that “That the majority of California voters supported Proposition 8 is irrelevant, as fundamental rights may not be submitted to a vote. They depend on the outcome of no elections.” He also blasted the traditional concept of marriage, saying: “The evidence shows that movement of marriage away from a gendered institution and toward an institution free from state-mandated gender roles reflects an evolution in the understanding of gender rather than a change in marriage.
The evidence did not show any historical purpose for excluding same-sex couples from marriage as states have never required spouses to have an ability or willingness to procreate in order to marry. Rather, the exclusion existed as an artifact of a time when the genders were seen as having distinct roles in society and in marriage. That time has passed. The right to marry has been historically and remains the right to choose a spouse and with mutual consent join together and form a household. Race and gender restrictions shape marriage during eras of race and gender inequality, but such restrictions were never part of the historical core of the institution of marriage.
Today, gender is not relevant to the state in determining spouses‘ obligations to each other and to their dependents.” A Republican appointee, Judge Walker clearly didn’t think along the lines of his conservative party. He is a true believer in individual rights and liberties and a fierce defender of the 14th Amendment, which states in part that, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
There’s a bigger possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will find for the rights of individuals, regardless of their orientation. Proposition 8 and the likes of it are clearly discriminatory and will, eventually, be defeated. Does this mean that the Constitution reigns supreme over the Bible and its commandments? Not so. Only that in a changing world like ours, the need to rethink old beliefs shouldn’t be ruled out. God gave us the freedom of choice when He could have just made us like robots who are programmed to do at His bidding. If the union between two men or two women is, indeed, an abomination to God, then let those who are guilty be meted their punishment on the last day of judgment. End of debate.