In a Friday Evening Announcement, word got out that the Supreme Court has decided to hear arguments concerning California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act.
Per ABC News:
The Supreme Court’s announcement that it would hear two cases challenging laws prohibiting same-sex marriage has reinvigorated one of the most hotly contentious social debates in American history, a debate that has been fueled by a dramatic change in attitudes.
With some states taking significant steps towards legalizing gay marriage, the hearings come at a critical moment.
This week in Washington State, hundreds of same-sex couples lined up to collect marriage licenses after Gov. Christine Gregoire announced the passing of a voter-approved law legalizing gay marriage.
“For the past 20 years we’ve been saying just one more step. Just one more fight. Just one more law. But now we can stop saying ‘Just one more.’ This is it. We are here. We did it,” Gregoire told a group of Referendum 74 supporters during the law’s certification.
Washington is just the most recent of several states to pass legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, signifying a significant departure from previous thinking on the controversial subject.
A study by the Pew Research Center on changing attitudes on gay marriage showed that in 2001 57 percent of Americans opposed same-sex marriage, while 35 percent of Americans supported it.
The same poll shows that today opinions have greatly shifted to reflect slightly more support for same-sex marriage than opposition — with 48 percent of Americans in favor and 43 percent opposed.
In fact, just two years ago, 48 percent of Americans opposed same-sex marriage while only 42 percent supported it — indicating that opinions have changed dramatically in the last couple of years alone.
The question a lot of Christian American Conservatives, like myself ,are asking, is: What if we end up like Canada?
From catholicexchange.com in 2008:
In a decision that foreshadows the possible fate of Fr. Alphonse de Valk, Canada’s leading pro-life voice among Catholic clergy, the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal has forbidden evangelical pastor Stephen Boisson from expressing his moral opposition to homosexuality. The tribunal also ordered Boisson to pay $5,000 “damages for pain and suffering” and apologize to the “human rights” activist who filed the complaint.
The complaint stems from Canada’s debate leading up to state legislation recognizing so-called same-sex marriage. In 2002, the pastor wrote a letter to the editor of his local newspaper in which he denounced the homosexual agenda as “wicked” and stated that: “Children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights.”
The activist subsequently filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission — a quasi-judicial body that investigates alleged discrimination within the Canadian province. The government tribunal published its decision [http://albertahumanrights.ab.ca/Lund_Darren_Remedy053008.pdf] on May 30.
While agreeing that Boisson’s letter was not a criminal act, the government tribunal nevertheless ordered the Christian pastor to “cease publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals.” Moreover, the tribunal’s decision “prohibited [Boisson] from making disparaging remarks in the future” about the activist who filed the complaint and witnesses who supported the complaint. Many of Canada’s religious leaders and civil libertarians have expressed concern that the government’s human rights tribunals are interpreting any criticism of homosexual activism as ‘disparaging’.
The tribunal also ordered Boisson to provide the complainant with a written apology for his letter to the editor. This last requirement threatens civil liberties in Canada, said Ezra Levant, a Jewish-Canadian author and lawyer. Levant, himself the target of an Alberta Human Rights Commission investigation, is facing the possibility the state may order him to apologize as well.
If activist judges, as in the case of California, can negate the will of the American People concerning allowing “Adam and Steve” to “marry”, why can’t they call preaching against homosexuality a hate crime?
The following is Article 17 of the Baptist Faith and Message, found at sbc.net.
God alone is the Lord of the conscience and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of god, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things no contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.
While God’s word does tell us to honor and obey our leaders, we are also warned of the consequences of being given over to “a reprobate mind”.
Do the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah ring a bell?
The general consensus by political pundits is that the Court will rule that each individual state must decide for itself whether to allow homosexuals the use of the word “marriage” to describe their “union”.
So far 9 states have voted in favor of gay marriage. The other 41, or 48, if you believe the president, have not.
Liberal propaganda will be flying hot and heavy, both before and after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The majority of the 78% of Americans who still proclaim Christianity won’t be listening to the Liberals’ bloviating, though.
We listen to a Higher Authority.
Here we are, the 8th of December, 17 days from Christmas. Christmas shoppers will be hitting the stores today…and/or putting up Christmas Decorations…including their Christmas tree.
I’m 54 years old today. It has been a remarkable journey. Some years have passed by much too quickly. Others have been as slow and painful as Morning Joe on MSNBC. Some of the lessons that God has taught me have been more painful than others. But, through it all, His Grace has been sufficient for my every need.
I’m not taking it anymore off of the less than 10 % of our population who are so self-involved and bitter in their belief that all of this fantastic Universe around us just happened, that they try to make Christians as bitter as they are. Especially, this time of year as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.
Our nation was founded by people who wished to practice Freedom OF Religion, not Freedom FROM Religion. They were not led in their decision-making by an earthly king, but by their love for the heavenly King.
I’m not taking it anymore from the bunch of amoral, treasonous hyenas controlling the entertainment industry. These are the brilliant individuals who have brought us such cinematic masterpieces as Redacted and The Golden Compass and such high brow television entertainment like @#$% My Dad Says! 
I’m not taking it anymore from spoiled, crybaby, collegiate,and professional athletes. These young men have been gifted by God with extraordinary abilities, placing them in the spotlight. They are followed and proclaimed as role models by American’s youth.
I’m not taking it anymore from so-called Fiscal Conservatives (i.e., Moderates and Liberals), who believe that whatever you want to smoke, whomever you want to sleep with, is fine and dandy, while expecting Social (Reagan) Conservatives to keep our mouths shut about where the GOP is headed, as it slowly swirls down the porcelain receptacle.
I’m not taking it anymore from the Obama’s, and the pinheaded bureaucrats and academicians in their administration who believe that they have the right to tell us how to raise and what to feed our children.
Finally, I’m not taking it anymore from Obama, his administration, his political party, and Congress. These people are so riddled with self-importance, and so intellectually constricted by their self-imposed boundaries of the Beltway Elite society that they live in, that they have completely lost touch with the citizens of the country that they are supposed to represent. They somehow believe that it is in their best interests to govern on behalf of the 18 % of Americans who identify themselves as being Liberals.
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