The Real March (toward) Madness

By Rick Scarborough

In six short years, President Obama has evolved from my position on marriage, to becoming the most radical same-gender marriage champion in the history of our Republic.  In that same span 37 states have adopted laws allowing same-gender marriages.

In 26 states, judges have overturned the will of the citizens after bans passed by overwhelming majorities were challenged in courts.  In 8 more states the legislators have passed laws allowing same-gender marriages.  In only three have the people actually voted for redefining marriage. The judges, legislators and citizens who voted to redefine marriage have said, in effect, that the Bible is incorrect or incomplete on this subject.  Knowingly or unknowingly, they have chosen to deny the unmistakable evidence that both God’s Word and the laws of nature provide on the subject.

The most recent state ordered by a Federal Judge to become a same-gender marriage state was Alabama, when on February 9, 2015, U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade ruled that the Alabama Marriage Protection Act and the amendment that later enshrined it in the state constitution were both unconstitutional. The marriage amendment, known as Amendment 774 of 2006, also known as Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, made it against the law to perform homosexual marriages or civil unions in the state. The referendum was approved by 81% of the voters, an over-whelming affirmation of traditional marriage.

Needless to say, the citizens were shocked to find their vote on matrimony did not matter.  Neither Scripture nor observable laws of nature provided the judge with any rationale to declare that the essence of marriage should be changed.  The judge simply declared that she had the authority to rule such, despite the fact that her ruling trampled over the deeply held religious convictions, not to mention the First Amendment rights, of a vast majority of citizens in Alabama.

Judge Granade decided that her interpretation of the Constitution trumped all others and with a stroke of her pen she declared marriage to be something it was never intended to be.  Furthermore, as a logical consequence, she ruled that children had no inherent need for both a mother and a father and could be sufficiently reared by a contrived and invented family consisting of two mommies or two daddies.  By the stroke of her pen, mothers and fathers became unnecessary.

In Ms. Granade’s world, God’s word on the subject must be wrong.   Apparently, she believes that  in Matthew 19:5 Jesus was wrong when he quoted the Genesis 2:24 text; “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” Likewise, the Apostle Paul, who quoted the same text in Ephesians 5:31, was apparently wrong.

Thankfully, unlike other states, Alabama has Justices that understand the law and who are courageous enough to stand up and say, “NO!” to her radical ruling.  Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, along with seven other Justices, reminded Judge Granade that in Alabama the people have spoken and they refused to accept her decision, setting up a judicial confrontation of epic proportions.  Knowing Justice Moore as I do, neither he nor the other Justices who stood with him, have any intention of backing down!

Regarding the upcoming ruling by the Supreme Court on marriage in June, I am compelled to take the same position as a both a Minister of the Gospel and citizen of the United States, should they rule, as expected, that same-gender marriages are a Constitutionally protected right.  I cannot in good conscience, honor any ruling that seeks to undermine the integrity of the Scripture upon which I have based my whole life, and the clear meaning of the Constitution of the United States, which provides all of us with an assurance that our rights are protected, including the right to exercise our deeply held religious beliefs.

With all due respect, I must refuse to honor any ordinance or judicial ruling that makes restricting marriage to a union between one man and one woman, which God ordained and our nation throughout our history protected, invalid.  Regardless of the consequences.

It is the duty of all Christ’s followers to lovingly uphold a standard of righteousness and be true to God’s Word which never changes.  God’s Word provides an offer of hope and forgiveness to anyone who is caught up in sin through Jesus, but if we compromise His Word, on what authority can we offer His hope?

Homosexuality is a sin…but it is not an unforgivable sin nor worse than any other sin.  Though some who have chosen homosexuality may choose to reject me for saying this, I am willing to suffer such if that is the cost of being true to God’s Word.  If Christians quietly allow marriage to be redefined we will find ourselves being forced to be quiet as judges impose the acceptance of more and more aberrant behaviors.

We will soon find ourselves in a brave new world with tyrannical laws and regulations forcing us to not only accommodate same-gender marriage but to keep our message of love and forgiveness to ourselves, lest our message cause some to be offended.  Paul spoke clearly about such a time as this: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

Those who are advancing this agenda want Christians to be silenced, thinking that to be a good thing.  But if they succeed they will cut off the very Gospel that can change their lives and provide hope and forgiveness, not only for sexual sin, but for all sin.

There are thousands of “former homosexuals” who can testify that Jesus has the power to liberate us from any sin.  Traditional marriage doesn’t discriminate.  There are many former homosexuals now rearing their children in such marriages and they are living proof of God’s forgiveness and matchless love.

That alone is reason enough for Christians to defend marriage as God designed it.

We must be reminded that the courts do not have the last word on this subject.  The Supreme Court has gotten it wrong more than they want to admit.  More than 200 previous decisions of the Supreme Court have either been rescinded or overturned.  Some of those past rulings have been infamous for wrong-headedness, like Dredd Scott v Sandford or Buck v Bell.

In Dredd Scott, SCOTUS declared that African Americans weren’t fully human and could be bought or sold.  In Buck v Bell, SCOTUS found a Constitutional excuse for sterilizing women who gave birth to undesirable children.  In the state of Virginia alone thousands were sterilized by the state before the practice was stopped.

By the way, the Nazis cited the SCOTUS decision, Buck v Bell, as justification for exterminating “undesirables,” during their attempted justification at the Nuremburg Trials.  Clearly the court doesn’t always get it right.

Right now people of faith are being discriminated against by local and city ordinances that have placed Christians in conflict with the law for being-well-Christians.  Pastors in Houston were sued by the city and had their sermons subpoenaed for speaking out against an ordinance that permitted transgendered people to utilize the restroom or locker room of their choice, while others have lost their businesses and one woman was recently banned from her health club for objecting to a gender confused man who decided that he was a female on the day he undressed in her locker room at the gym.

Now the Court is threatening to unleash the spirit of hell on the nation, if they deny what nature clearly teaches on this subject of gender and marriage.  The time has come for pastors and leaders to stand up and declare what innately we all know to be true…that this idea is morally unacceptable and we will not allow it proceed without our objection.  There can be no compromise on this issue.

We are witnessing a culture March toward Madness!