So, the Supremes have ruled. The word "marriage" no longer means what it used to. People of the same sex can now "marry." I am not surprised at this ruling. Disappointed, but not surprised. And it will not stop with this ruling. There will be further expansions and re-definitions of the word "marriage" in the future. Count on it.
So here's my question: now that the state has taken the word "marriage" and made it something it never was before, what is our response? We can cry and pout, but that never does any good. We can insist our our own definition of marriage, as opposed to the state definition, but I think that too will not do any good. Perhaps we need to separate the church's definition of marriage from the state's - to make a consistent
verbal distinction between
civil secular marriage and biblical marriage, so that it is always front and center that something is amiss.
Will faithful pastors be able to stay in the marriage business? Probably not. It will be different in different states. In New York (where I was previously), anyone "ordained" could perform a wedding and sign a marriage license. And they didn't really check - they just took your word for it. In Virginia, you have to
prove that you are ordained, submit your credentials, a letter from your ecclesiastical supervisor, and then take an oath at the court that you will not do anything against the state's law. Currently, the state has not said that clergy
have to marry anyone, but I can see the day coming. And once it does, I will be out.
What I would like also to see is a yearly march like the March for Life. There was one this year, a March for Marriage (or something similarly worded), but I didn't know about it until after the fact. I will look for it next year, and I hope they publicize it more and more and make it as big an event. I do not think we should capitulate to this redefinition, but make it an issue.
Another sad day for the truth.
