Religious Leaders Condemn Marriage Decision
Missouri religious leaders have been quick to denounce the depraved decision of the United States Supreme Court to redefine marriage to include same-sex unions.
Pastor Matthew Harrison, President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, compared it to the deadly
Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion-on-demand.
"A one-person majority of the Supreme Court got it wrong--again. Some 40 years ago, a similarly activist court legalized the killing of children in the womb. That decision has left a wake of some 55 million Americans dead."
"Today the Court has imposed same-sex 'marriage' upon the whole nation in similar fashion. Five justices cannot determine natural or divine law. Now shall come the time of testing for Christians faithful to the Scriptures...a time of testing much more intense than what followed
Roe v. Wade."
Pastor Harrison said that the Supreme Court had forfeited its moral authority. "When a government no longer distinguishes between right and wrong, when its courts are no longer governed by a strict desire for justice... when it weakens through its family law parental authority and the estate of marriage, then it ceases to be governing authority."
The Lutheran leader added a call for resolve. "Christians will now begin to learn what it means to be in a state of solemn conscientious objection against the state."
"We will resist its imposition of falsehood upon us, even as we reach out to those harmed by the ethic of radical sexual freedom detached from God's blessing of marriage. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with Christians, churches, and people of good will who are resolute on this issue."
Dr. George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, expressed grave concern about the religious liberty threats posed by the decision.
"This ruling will be used as a wedge to narrow the scope and weaken the protections afforded by the free exercise of religion guaranteed to Americans by the First Amendment. No religious person--Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc.--can view that possibility as good news. No freedom-loving American should."
Dr. Wood also stated that the "gay rights" movement has been falsely characterized as a human rights crusade. "Proponents of same-sex 'marriage' like to draw analogies between their movement and the Abolitionist and Civil Rights movements. This analogy is false, but is nonetheless instructive."
"Whereas abolition and civil rights were enacted democratically by amending the U.S. Constitution in the 1860's and passing civil rights legislation in the 1960's, same-sex 'marriage' has been democratically enacted in only 11 states and the District of Columbia. It has been imposed on 39 states and American territories by state and federal courts that overturned democratically enacted definitions of man-woman marriage."
Bishop James Johnston of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese talked about the true nature of marriage. "Marriage is more than simply two people in a loving commitment."
"An essential part of marriage is the physical union that, when entered into by a man and a woman, has the potential to bring new life into the world. That is biology, not bigotry. It forms the basis for a healthy, stable culture for raising children to become integrated adults and citizens."
Bishop Johnston also drew a parallel to the Supreme Court's abortion decision. "What
Roe v. Wade did to the medical profession, this decision does to the rest of us--it creates a crisis of conscience."
"Just as
Roe was not the final word, neither will today's decision be the end of the matter. By redefining marriage, the Supreme Court has ensured there will be church-state conflict for generations to come."
Dr. John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, offers this fitting closing commentary: "We live in a sinful and fallen world, and I am as responsible for this sad reality as much as anyone else."
"The world was not always this way, and it will not always be this way. Ultimately, the redemptive work of Christ will rise to its crescendo in His glorious return, and He will set things right. Until then, be faithful. For He said, 'Take courage, I have overcome the world.'"