SCOTUS on marriage

These are my thoughts on the SCOTUS rulings this week.

Let me begin by saying I don't care who you marry.  When my daughter Sue gets married I will truly be happy for her and her wife.  I will dance at her wedding.  Not my business but I do have an opinion.

Now, SCOTUS got it all wrong.  It is not for them or any other Federal Government body to define marriage.  The U.S. Constitution does not address marriage.  Therefore it is by definition a States right as defined in the 10th Amendment and/or retained by "We the People" as defined in the 9th Amendment.  The use of the 14th Amendment in this decision is a stretch because that Amendment was passed to straighten out problems that arose after the Civil War when the southern states came back into the Union.  What the Supremes have done is remove the will of the people from the equation and replaced it with the rule of five.  The Government continually takes more and more power from the People and it's our fault.  We vote them in.  Not the Supremes I know but the ones who appoint and confirm them.  We keep running to the Supreme Court to get our wants validated.  We should try working it all out ourselves.

I or anyone else should not have to go to any government agency, hat in hand, and ask permission to enter into an agreement, contract or marriage with someone we love.  I realize some protections need to be in place to protect those who cannot answer or consent for themselves.  But that's not what this ruling was about.  It was the Government inserting themselves into our lives.  If we ask them to define marriage we are asking them to regulate marriage.  They can't help themselves.  We have asked the Government into our bedrooms after all these years of yelling for them to stay out.

Now same sex marriage is the law of the land.  What does that mean?  No one knows but we have some indications.  First every county will start issuing marriage licenses.  Well most will.  I've read of some counties in Alabama who will not issue marriages licenses at all.  For any type of marriage.  How do you get married without a government permission slip?  What are we going to do if the Government doesn't give us permission for every step in our life.  Time and lawsuits will tell.  Yes Lawsuits!  Lots and lots of lawsuits!  Lawyers are going to get rich over this because the government will have to pass laws, rules and regulations to counter all the nuances of enforcing this ruling.  All those laws will have to be adjudicated through the courts.  The Congress will spend time debating and passing these laws further inserting themselves into our private lives.

What about the religious rights of citizens who object to this ruling?  Justice Kennedy wrote in the majority option that our First Amendment rights will not be affected.  Well present and past practices say the opposite.  Already bakers and caterers have lost lawsuits defending their religious beliefs.  A Georgia state worker was fired because he was as a lay preacher in a church that opposed same sex marriage.  A Marine was discharged because of a scripture quote sitting on her desk.  The Solicitor General before the Supreme Court, in answering a question from a Justice about the tax exempt status of religious organizations, stated "That's being looked at".  I've written before how I think this administration would like to force a confrontation with churches so they could strip their tax exempt status to gain revenue and control.  To force a crisis with the Obamacare law so they could force single payer onto every one.  Single payer was the goal all along if you listen to Obama from his 2007 speeches, but I digress.  The President has stated that we have First Amendment rights in our worship and private homes but has indicated that is as far as it goes.  Being a Christian is fine and dandy as long as you keep it to yourself.  Don't take it to work with you.  It has no place in the public square.  Your business, adoption agency, hospital all must conform or be ruined, closed down and fined.

I am a Catholic!  My Church opposes same sex marriage.  Will I be barred from employment because of my faith?  Will I be barred from my social security next year when I reach 62?  Will the Christians have to return to hiding in the woods or the catacombs again?  I could write on how this might be a good thing but that's not for this discussion.

The future is uncertain.  The path is unclear.  But that doesn't matter.  I write to organize my thoughts and I publish to share them.  Thank you for putting up with me.