The Bulletin Board:(Please SCROLL DOWN this page to find the article titled on this post in LARGE CAPITAL LETTERS. Thank you.)
"The People, Not the Courts, Should Decide on Same-Sex Marriage" - Ed Meese / Ryan T. Anderson/ September 29, 2014 / http://dailysignal.com/2014/09/29/the-people-not-the-courts-should-decide-on-same-sex-marriage/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailydigest&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonsqrNZKXonjHpfsX56eguXa%2B3lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DS8tiI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFQrLBMa1ozrgOWxU%3D [AS I SEE IT: As we look to the Supreme Court to resume meeting next week (of Oct. 6), there may be no decision they will make in the upcoming term that will have greater impact FOR GENERATIONS to come than on whether to make same-sex "marriage" the law of the land for ALL 50 states. (Who could have anticipated that the Court's Roe v. Wade decision of almost 42 years ago would result in almost 60 MILLION unborn babies being murdered in their mother's womb!) What the Court's wrong-headed decision on this issue will do to the institution of marriage and the impact it will have on the structure of families (God's basic building block of societies) will certainly be catastrophic. Because of this, I hope that you will join me in praying DAILY that there will be a majority on the US Supreme Court that will decide to leave the definition of marriage to the PEOPLE of EACH state rather than deciding that definition for ALL Americans by judicial fiat. There may be no more important prayer we can be lifting up for future generations than this. - Stan [P.S. - Don't miss the follow-up post to this one TOMORROW (#1017).]
Outside the Supreme Court of the United States in June 2013 during the court's ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act. (Photo: Newscom)
On June 26 of last year, the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor, and since then lower courts have issued a string of decisions redefining marriage in the states. This month, in a widely celebrated opinion written by Judge Richard Posner, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit declared that it had “no reason to think [the governments of Indiana and Wisconsin] have a ‘reasonable basis’ for forbidding same-sex marriage.”
This is remarkable. According to this court, the millions of citizens who passed marriage amendments in more than 30 states were all bigots acting on no reasonable basis when they supported marriage as the union of a man and woman — just as President Obama, Vice President Biden, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and most members of Congress all did when these laws were passed.
While generating less fanfare, the day before Posner’s opinion was released, U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman upheld Louisiana’s marriage law — a constitutional amendment passed by 78 percent of the voters. Two federal appellate judges — Paul V. Niemeyer of the 4th Circuit and Paul J. Kelly Jr. of the 10th Circuit — issued strong dissenting opinions this summer on why state laws defining marriage as a male-female union are constitutional. As these marriage cases make their way to the Supreme Court, very likely during the term about to begin, the justices should heed the reasoning of these judges.
As Feldman notes, Louisiana’s marriage law furthers two important interests: “linking children to an intact family formed by their biological parents, as specifically underscored by Justice [Anthony] Kennedy in Windsor” and “safeguarding that fundamental social change … is better cultivated through democratic consensus.” That is, Feldman notes the two central issues in this debate: the policy question — what is marriage? — and the legal question — who gets to define marriage?
On the policy question, Niemeyer explains that there are indeed rational reasons for people to think that marriage is a union of husband and wife: “Only the union of a man and a woman has the capacity to produce children and thus to carry on the species. And more importantly, only such a union creates a biological family unit that also gives rise to a traditionally stable political unit.” Indeed, “when the Supreme Court has recognized, through the years, that the right to marry is a fundamental right, it has emphasized the procreative and social ordering aspects of traditional marriage.” Niemeyer goes further, arguing that “the marriage of a man and a woman thus rationally promotes a correlation between biological order and political order.”
Some claim that allowing opposite-sex couples who cannot have children to marry flies in the face of this purpose of marriage. But while not every marriage has children, every child has a biological mother and father — and marriage policy tries to maximize the likelihood that every child will be raised by his or her mother and father. Redefining marriage to make it a genderless institution fundamentally changes marriage: It makes the relationship more about the desires of adults than the needs — or rights — of children. It teaches that mothers and fathers are interchangeable.
So, when it comes to treating same-sex relationships as marriages, as Niemeyer points out, “there are rational reasons for not recognizing it, just as there are rational reasons for recognizing it.” People can differ on whether, as a matter of policy, states should redefine marriage to include same-sex relationships. But that robust debate should not be short-circuited by judicial fiat.
That highlights the central legal question: Who gets to determine marriage policy? Kelly in the 10th Circuit points out that, in our constitutional system, the people and their elected officials should. He explains: “The Constitution is silent on the regulation of marriage; accordingly, that power is reserved to the States, albeit consistent with federal constitutional guarantees. And while the Court has recognized a fundamental right to marriage, every decision vindicating that right has involved two persons of the opposite gender.”And Kelly argues that we need not seek from the courts a single, 50-state answer: “If the States are the laboratories of democracy, requiring every state to recognize same-gender unions — contrary to the views of its electorate and representatives — turns the notion of a limited national government on its head.”
In a system of limited constitutional self-government, the people and their elected representatives should be making these decisions. And there are good arguments on both sides of this debate. Judges should not insert their own policy preferences about marriage and declare them to be required by the Constitution. As Feldman notes, “It is not for this Court to resolve the wisdom of same-sex marriage. The nation is witness to a strong conversation about what is marriage.” The courts should uphold the freedom of the American people and their elected representatives to make marriage policy.
Just as citizens are free to redefine marriage to include same-sex relationships, so too are citizens free to retain the historic definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman — as citizens in a majority of states have done. Nothing less than the future of our society, and the course of constitutional government in the United States, are at stake.
As citizens, we must rally in support of our constitutional authority to pass laws making marriage policy. We must make clear that court-imposed same-sex marriage via a Roe v. Wade-style decision will not settle the marriage debate any better than it has settled the abortion debate.
We must insist, with Judge Kelly, that judges “should resist the temptation to become philosopher-kings, imposing [their] views under the guise of constitutional interpretation.”
[bold and italics emphasis mine] [This was originally published in the Washington Post.]
Edwin Meese III, who served as the nation's 75th attorney general, joined The Heritage Foundation in 1988 as the think tank's Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow.
Ryan T. Anderson researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He also focuses on justice and moral principles in economic thought, health care and education, and has expertise in bioethics and natural law theory. .
PRAY FOR AMERICA: THANK GOD for His many blessings on America throughout it's history. May we then ask that AMERICA once again be a blessing TO GOD, by once again submitting to HIS will in our affairs - both personal and national - that He may truly "heal our land." (2 Chron. 7:14)
WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
Friday, Sept. 26th - Two Year Anniversary of Pastor Saeed Abedini's Imprisonment in Iran! - [NOTE TODAY'S POST!]
We need to continue to pray for Pastor Saeed - that his health will improve and that he will be re-united with his wife and two young children who live in the United States. We also remain hopeful that in addition to getting the medical care he so desperately needs, that Iranian officials display the kind of humanitarian treatment that often accompanies the start of the Iranian New Year which began on March 21st. This is the time of year when the Iranian government frequently offers clemency to prisoners of conscience. [If you have not yet, please sign the petition for his clemency- http://beheardproject.com/saeed#sign]
"Not Everyone Happy with Religious Ambassador Pick," Caitlin Burke,July 29, 2014;
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/July/Obama-Taps-Rabbi-for-Religious-Freedom-Ambassador/ "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States must take a strong stand against those violations. "Around the world repressive governments and extremists groups have been crystal clear about what they stand against, so we have to be equally clear about what we must stand for," Kerry said. "We stand for greater freedom, for greater tolerance, greater respect, for rights of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience," he said A key development in the 2013 report is the large number of displaced members of religious communities, including entire Christian communities in Syria and Iraq that have been forced to flee their homes because of persecution."
SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november
UPDATE: "Second US Doctor Sick with Ebola; Crisis 'Out of Control'" - CBNNews.com, Sept. 02, 2014;
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2014/September/A-Losing-Battle-Ebola-Going-to-Get-Worse-CDC-Says/ "Another American doctor in Liberia has tested positive for the Ebola virus, according to the international Christian mission organization, SIM. SIM leaders report the American doctor was treating obstetrics patients at the organization's ELWA Hospital in Monrovia and not treating Ebola patients..."The epidemic is going faster than we are," he warned. 'We need to scale up our response. We can hope for new tools and maybe they'll come, but we can't count on them.' So far, the West African outbreak has killed more than 1,500 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria."
Of course, let's CONTINUE PRAYING FOR AN END TO THE EBOLA CRISIS IN WEST AFRICA AND THE HEALING OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED.
PRAY FOR THE CRISIS HAPPENING NOW IN IRAQ (see post #907) Pray that allied forces will be able to drive the group ISIS back (see post #964)
LATEST:"Christians in the Middle East Arm Themselves As Genocide Comes to Their Front Door" - Katie Pavlich | Sep 05, 2014;
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/09/05/christians-in-the-middle-east-arm-themselves-as-violence-rages-around-them-n1887849" Earlier this week the BBC and Al Jazeera both reported on armed Iraqi citizen volunteers who helped government forces fight off ISIS in Amerli. Today, the AP is out with a story about Christians in the Middle East who are arming themselves, carrying weapons with them during daily tasks and heading to the hills at night to defend their communities as violence continues to rage around them. Genocide is at their front door and they're doing everything they can to stop it from coming in... So far, the terror army ISIS has slaughtered and tortured thousands of Christians in Iraq and Syria."
/PRAYER ALERT- UKRAINE: As the Lord leads, please pray:
*For God to suppress President Putin’s ambitions to "restore" the Soviet empire.
*For the people of Ukrainen [esp. for the church 'to be THE church'] as they wait to see if the Russian troops will advance.
*About President Obama and to use wisdom in crafting our foreign policy, and wisdom for his advisers.
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
--------------------------------------------------------WORLD-WDE PRAYER REQUESTS:
Friday, Sept. 26th - Two Year Anniversary of Pastor Saeed Abedini's Imprisonment in Iran! - [NOTE TODAY'S POST!]
We need to continue to pray for Pastor Saeed - that his health will improve and that he will be re-united with his wife and two young children who live in the United States. We also remain hopeful that in addition to getting the medical care he so desperately needs, that Iranian officials display the kind of humanitarian treatment that often accompanies the start of the Iranian New Year which began on March 21st. This is the time of year when the Iranian government frequently offers clemency to prisoners of conscience. [If you have not yet, please sign the petition for his clemency- http://beheardproject.com/saeed#sign]
PRAY ALSO : - For comfort and peace for Saeed’s wife and children here in the U.S.\
- For a strong witness and testimony from Pastor Abedini in the prison where God has placed him
- For Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ
- For leadership from the White House and State Department in defending the freedoms of Abedini and other Americans
- GO TO SaveSaeed.org to sign a petition over 600,000 others asking for his immediate release
"Not Everyone Happy with Religious Ambassador Pick," Caitlin Burke,July 29, 2014;
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/July/Obama-Taps-Rabbi-for-Religious-Freedom-Ambassador/ "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States must take a strong stand against those violations. "Around the world repressive governments and extremists groups have been crystal clear about what they stand against, so we have to be equally clear about what we must stand for," Kerry said. "We stand for greater freedom, for greater tolerance, greater respect, for rights of freedom of expression and freedom of conscience," he said A key development in the 2013 report is the large number of displaced members of religious communities, including entire Christian communities in Syria and Iraq that have been forced to flee their homes because of persecution."
SIGN A PETITION TO THE UN FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS :" The church in Syria has shone brightly for 2,000 years. But today violence and persecution threatens its survival. Thanks to an incredible response, Open Doors is helping 8,000 families in Syria survive each month. We believe the signatures and prayers of 500,000 people will encourage the UN to act and protect the rights and lives of all Syrians, especially the vulnerable Christian community." Go to: http://lp.opendoorsusa.org/emails/nov-13-action/save-syria.html?utm_source=action&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=november
UPDATE: "Second US Doctor Sick with Ebola; Crisis 'Out of Control'" - CBNNews.com, Sept. 02, 2014;
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2014/September/A-Losing-Battle-Ebola-Going-to-Get-Worse-CDC-Says/ "Another American doctor in Liberia has tested positive for the Ebola virus, according to the international Christian mission organization, SIM. SIM leaders report the American doctor was treating obstetrics patients at the organization's ELWA Hospital in Monrovia and not treating Ebola patients..."The epidemic is going faster than we are," he warned. 'We need to scale up our response. We can hope for new tools and maybe they'll come, but we can't count on them.' So far, the West African outbreak has killed more than 1,500 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria."
Of course, let's CONTINUE PRAYING FOR AN END TO THE EBOLA CRISIS IN WEST AFRICA AND THE HEALING OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED.
PRAY FOR THE CRISIS HAPPENING NOW IN IRAQ (see post #907) Pray that allied forces will be able to drive the group ISIS back (see post #964)
LATEST:"Christians in the Middle East Arm Themselves As Genocide Comes to Their Front Door" - Katie Pavlich | Sep 05, 2014;
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/09/05/christians-in-the-middle-east-arm-themselves-as-violence-rages-around-them-n1887849" Earlier this week the BBC and Al Jazeera both reported on armed Iraqi citizen volunteers who helped government forces fight off ISIS in Amerli. Today, the AP is out with a story about Christians in the Middle East who are arming themselves, carrying weapons with them during daily tasks and heading to the hills at night to defend their communities as violence continues to rage around them. Genocide is at their front door and they're doing everything they can to stop it from coming in... So far, the terror army ISIS has slaughtered and tortured thousands of Christians in Iraq and Syria."
/PRAYER ALERT- UKRAINE: As the Lord leads, please pray:
*For God to suppress President Putin’s ambitions to "restore" the Soviet empire.
*For the people of Ukrainen [esp. for the church 'to be THE church'] as they wait to see if the Russian troops will advance.
*About President Obama and to use wisdom in crafting our foreign policy, and wisdom for his advisers.
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.]
"The People, Not the Courts, Should Decide on Same-Sex Marriage" - Ed Meese / Ryan T. Anderson/ September 29, 2014 / http://dailysignal.com/2014/09/29/the-people-not-the-courts-should-decide-on-same-sex-marriage/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailydigest&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonsqrNZKXonjHpfsX56eguXa%2B3lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DS8tiI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFQrLBMa1ozrgOWxU%3D [AS I SEE IT: As we look to the Supreme Court to resume meeting next week (of Oct. 6), there may be no decision they will make in the upcoming term that will have greater impact FOR GENERATIONS to come than on whether to make same-sex "marriage" the law of the land for ALL 50 states. (Who could have anticipated that the Court's Roe v. Wade decision of almost 42 years ago would result in almost 60 MILLION unborn babies being murdered in their mother's womb!) What the Court's wrong-headed decision on this issue will do to the institution of marriage and the impact it will have on the structure of families (God's basic building block of societies) will certainly be catastrophic. Because of this, I hope that you will join me in praying DAILY that there will be a majority on the US Supreme Court that will decide to leave the definition of marriage to the PEOPLE of EACH state rather than deciding that definition for ALL Americans by judicial fiat. There may be no more important prayer we can be lifting up for future generations than this. - Stan [P.S. - Don't miss the follow-up post to this one TOMORROW (#1017).]
Outside the Supreme Court of the United States in June 2013 during the court's ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act. (Photo: Newscom)
On June 26 of last year, the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor, and since then lower courts have issued a string of decisions redefining marriage in the states. This month, in a widely celebrated opinion written by Judge Richard Posner, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit declared that it had “no reason to think [the governments of Indiana and Wisconsin] have a ‘reasonable basis’ for forbidding same-sex marriage.”
This is remarkable. According to this court, the millions of citizens who passed marriage amendments in more than 30 states were all bigots acting on no reasonable basis when they supported marriage as the union of a man and woman — just as President Obama, Vice President Biden, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and most members of Congress all did when these laws were passed.
While generating less fanfare, the day before Posner’s opinion was released, U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman upheld Louisiana’s marriage law — a constitutional amendment passed by 78 percent of the voters. Two federal appellate judges — Paul V. Niemeyer of the 4th Circuit and Paul J. Kelly Jr. of the 10th Circuit — issued strong dissenting opinions this summer on why state laws defining marriage as a male-female union are constitutional. As these marriage cases make their way to the Supreme Court, very likely during the term about to begin, the justices should heed the reasoning of these judges.
As Feldman notes, Louisiana’s marriage law furthers two important interests: “linking children to an intact family formed by their biological parents, as specifically underscored by Justice [Anthony] Kennedy in Windsor” and “safeguarding that fundamental social change … is better cultivated through democratic consensus.” That is, Feldman notes the two central issues in this debate: the policy question — what is marriage? — and the legal question — who gets to define marriage?
On the policy question, Niemeyer explains that there are indeed rational reasons for people to think that marriage is a union of husband and wife: “Only the union of a man and a woman has the capacity to produce children and thus to carry on the species. And more importantly, only such a union creates a biological family unit that also gives rise to a traditionally stable political unit.” Indeed, “when the Supreme Court has recognized, through the years, that the right to marry is a fundamental right, it has emphasized the procreative and social ordering aspects of traditional marriage.” Niemeyer goes further, arguing that “the marriage of a man and a woman thus rationally promotes a correlation between biological order and political order.”
Some claim that allowing opposite-sex couples who cannot have children to marry flies in the face of this purpose of marriage. But while not every marriage has children, every child has a biological mother and father — and marriage policy tries to maximize the likelihood that every child will be raised by his or her mother and father. Redefining marriage to make it a genderless institution fundamentally changes marriage: It makes the relationship more about the desires of adults than the needs — or rights — of children. It teaches that mothers and fathers are interchangeable.
So, when it comes to treating same-sex relationships as marriages, as Niemeyer points out, “there are rational reasons for not recognizing it, just as there are rational reasons for recognizing it.” People can differ on whether, as a matter of policy, states should redefine marriage to include same-sex relationships. But that robust debate should not be short-circuited by judicial fiat.
That highlights the central legal question: Who gets to determine marriage policy? Kelly in the 10th Circuit points out that, in our constitutional system, the people and their elected officials should. He explains: “The Constitution is silent on the regulation of marriage; accordingly, that power is reserved to the States, albeit consistent with federal constitutional guarantees. And while the Court has recognized a fundamental right to marriage, every decision vindicating that right has involved two persons of the opposite gender.”And Kelly argues that we need not seek from the courts a single, 50-state answer: “If the States are the laboratories of democracy, requiring every state to recognize same-gender unions — contrary to the views of its electorate and representatives — turns the notion of a limited national government on its head.”
In a system of limited constitutional self-government, the people and their elected representatives should be making these decisions. And there are good arguments on both sides of this debate. Judges should not insert their own policy preferences about marriage and declare them to be required by the Constitution. As Feldman notes, “It is not for this Court to resolve the wisdom of same-sex marriage. The nation is witness to a strong conversation about what is marriage.” The courts should uphold the freedom of the American people and their elected representatives to make marriage policy.
Just as citizens are free to redefine marriage to include same-sex relationships, so too are citizens free to retain the historic definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman — as citizens in a majority of states have done. Nothing less than the future of our society, and the course of constitutional government in the United States, are at stake.
As citizens, we must rally in support of our constitutional authority to pass laws making marriage policy. We must make clear that court-imposed same-sex marriage via a Roe v. Wade-style decision will not settle the marriage debate any better than it has settled the abortion debate.
We must insist, with Judge Kelly, that judges “should resist the temptation to become philosopher-kings, imposing [their] views under the guise of constitutional interpretation.”
[bold and italics emphasis mine] [This was originally published in the Washington Post.]
Edwin Meese III, who served as the nation's 75th attorney general, joined The Heritage Foundation in 1988 as the think tank's Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow.
Ryan T. Anderson researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty as the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He also focuses on justice and moral principles in economic thought, health care and education, and has expertise in bioethics and natural law theory. .
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