Tim Grieve
National Journal
6/26/2013
Dissenting from this morning’s opinion on the Defense of Marriage Act, Justice Antonin Scalia – as expected – holds nothing back.
In a ripping dissent, Scalia says that Justice Anthony Kennedy and his colleagues in the majority have resorted to calling opponents of gay marriage “enemies of the human race.”
But to defend traditional marriage is not to condemn, demean, or humiliate those who would prefer other arrangements, any more than to defend the Constitution of the United States is to con- demn, demean, or humiliate other constitutions. To hurl such accusations so casually demeans this institution. In the majority’s judgment, any resistance to its holding is beyond the pale of reasoned disagreement. To question its high-handed invalidation of a presumptively valid statute is to act (the majority is sure) with the purpose to “disparage,” “injure,” “degrade,” “demean,” and “humiliate” our fellow human beings, our fellow citizens, who are homosexual. All that, simply for supporting an Act that did no more than codify an aspect of marriage that had been unquestioned in our society for most of its existence— indeed, had been unquestioned in virtually all societies for virtually all of human history. It is one thing for a society to elect change; it is another for a court of law to impose change by adjudging those who oppose it hostes humani generis, enemies of the human race.
Scalia says that the court’s holding – while limited to the Defense of Marriage Act – is a sure sign that the majority is willing to declare gay marriage a constitutional right…
The article continues at National Journal.
H/T Sister Toldjah
Related: Here is the full text of the ruling.
IRS Cound Revoke Non-Profit Status for Religious Institutions Refusing to Perform Same-Sex Marriages
Based on Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling, in which the Court majority determined that the Defense of Marriage Act’s federal definition of marriage had to incorporate state-based same-sex marriages, Internal Revenue Service regulations could be modified to remove non-profit status for churches across the country.
The DOMA decision makes clear that marriage is a state-to-state issue, meaning that religious institutions that receive non-profit status on the federal level but do not perform or accept same-sex marriages in states where it is legal could have non-profit status revoked…
Obama promises not to force churches to perform gay weddings
…“On an issue as sensitive as this, knowing that Americans hold a wide range of views based on deeply held beliefs, maintaining our nation’s commitment to religious freedom is also vital,” he said. “How religious institutions define and consecrate marriage has always been up to those institutions. Nothing about this decision — which applies only to civil marriages — changes that.”…
To which Bryan Preston replies:
…The reality is, and Obama knows, he won’t have to publicly move to force churches into anything. Our litigious society guarantees that someone will sue to force churches into gay marriage, and our activist judiciary guarantees that they will get the outcome they desire somewhere. It’s going to happen. And Obama and/or his allies will be supporting the lawsuits when they come, tweeting that they’re accomplishing “something special.”
And another thing: This will be used to further divide the church…
Putin throws down Obama from Pravda:
…The US is broke and Russia is the world’s largest oil producer with a growing economy. Russia is not backing down and they have China to back them up. Who will back the US? Tiny Britain? Americans are turning gay and Russian men are looking more like the Klitschko brothers. The US is the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah while Christianity triumphs in Russia. No ACLU in Russia suing Christians to be sure. The largest country in the world shows only contempt at the US Bomb & Missile Diplomacy.
The western media will warp the truth as usual. They will not show the entire video of Putin and Obama fearing that Americans will see things as they are and wise up…
H/T Freedom Outpost
The Future of Religious Liberty
…Representative politics ought to represent, and the people and their representatives should decide what marriage is, and whether they wish to change their minds on it, not the Court…
Update: Limbaugh: ‘Looks like doom, unavoidable doom’ Radio giant wonders if America can be rescued
In the wake of a string of recent advances for Barack Obama’s left-leaning agenda, radio’s Rush Limbaugh, the top-rated voice on the political right, admitted Wednesday there appears on the surface to be little hope in rescuing America…
…“For 25 years, I have been asking, ‘When’s all this stuff gonna even out? When are we gonna hit the bottom? When are we gonna reach the point where people say this is enough and we start to rebound?’ And I’m continually surprised that we haven’t, that our decay continues apace.”..
…“I’m not a fatalist,” he said. “I just have a feeling that something’s gonna happen to straighten this stuff out. I’ve always thought that. I don’t know why. I don’t know what my faith is in. In the past, it’s always been in the people…”…
Update 2: Video at GlennBeck.com:
…Glenn supported the idea of getting government out of marriage entirely, but questioned the implications that the state can choose not to defend referendums passed by the people.
“Let’s get a couple of things right out on the table right out front. Government should not be involved in marriage at all, I believe. There’s no reason for it. I don’t get the value of my marriage government, I get it from God,” Glenn said.
“I want the government out of my life.”
“If you want to find a church that marries a gay couple, that’s totally fine,” he added. “My church does not do that and it will fundamentally change what i believe is the eternal family, the basic building block. And I have a right to believe that, and I have a right to go to a church that believes that and we have a right to practice. As long as I’m not trying to force you to do anything.”
Glenn said he does not believe that government necessarily believes with that.
Glenn said he also believes that the people have the right to pass laws. The Prop 8 decision seems to imply that the people can pass whatever they want, but if the state decides they are not going to defend those laws they have no jurisdiction to bring it to the Supreme Court.
“That means the courts and your representatives have complete power,” Glenn said.
