Thoughts on the demise of DOMA

Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation, before the appointed time arrives and that day sweeps on like chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord comes upon you, before the day of the Lord's wrath comes upon you.  Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands.  Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord's anger. --Zephaniah 2:1-3

This week I saw a blog post by some Gen Y writer, who was trying to quell the inevitable wail from those of us on the right (politically and spiritually) after the news that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was struck down by the Supreme Court.  His premise was that, to most of us, it doesn't matter.  He said it doesn't matter if you are a heterosexual married person; it doesn't matter if you are a heterosexual single person; it doesn't even matter much if you are a gay person who does not want to get married.  He said it only matters a little to heterosexual fundamentalist bigots who have been trying for years to keep gays from marrying.  The only people that it matters to, according to this person, are the gays who want to get married. The implication was that of the whole universe of people, the folks truly affected by this decision are a very small sub-set of citizens.

That, my friend, is not true.  It is short-sighted, and shows a lack of maturity in the young blogger.  You see, every time the culture shifts in an attempt to become more "inclusive", it inevitably excludes others at the opposite edge of society.  By including gays into the joys (and sorrows) of marriage, the culture de-legitimizes  those who stand for Biblical morality and religious traditions--those referred to by the blogger as "heterosexual fundamentalist bigots."

But before you write me off as a clarion of condemnation, a believer in brimstone and hell-fire to all who disagree with me, let me clarify.  Sex is a gift of God.  It is pleasurable to most people.  Biologically, it is intended to create off-spring, so that the species will not die out.  Biblically, it is intended to be a bond that holds two people together in a traditional marriage relationship.  Homosexuality defies both these paradigms. It is not best for us biologically, nor is it best for us morally.  But people do it.  Just like people lie, and cheat, and steal, and commit adultery, and commit murder.  It is just one sin.  A person can be a Christian and gay, just like one can be a Christian and be jealous of what others have.  Both are sinful, but neither sin is so great as to cut off the unlimited grace of God.

In the movie Steel Magnolias, Shelby (played by Julia Roberts) and M'Lynn (played by Sally Field) get into a mother-daughter argument about Shelby getting pregnant with her Type I diabetes.  When Shelby announces she is pregnant, all M'Lynn's friends are all in wonder of it, because they had thought that Shelby couldn't have children.  M'Lynn clarifies to them that the doctor had said Shelby shouldn't have children, and that there is a very big difference.

In the same way, people are inclined to prove that they can get by with doing whatever they want to do.  God looks at them, and shakes His head.  His Word says that they shouldn't do those things, and there is a very big difference.

But back to the original premise.  It does matter that DOMA was struck down, and here is why:

    1.  In 1996 when the Act was signed by President Bill Clinton, the will of the majority was put into law.  Now, apparently, the will of the majority is that being gay should not prohibit people from being married.  Even Bill Clinton has come out in support of the Supreme Court decision. What changed?  "But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.  There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked." (Isaiah 57:20-21)

    2.   One of the reasons given in the majority opinion by Justice Kennedy was that withholding the tax benefits, as well as all of the other benefits, of marriage from gay couples violated the 14th Amendment.  U.S. tax law has always promoted what is thought to be good.  There are tax incentives for charitable giving, for home ownership, and for providing adequate care for children.  Similarly, tax law has punished what was thought to be bad.  There are harsh taxes levied on the sale of cigarettes and gasoline, thought to be a disincentive to buying those things.  Shortly after the Court ruling, President Obama was quoted as saying he will not mandate that pastors in Evangelical churches perform gay weddings.  But there have been rumblings all year in the halls of Congress that perhaps churches should lose their tax exempt status.  One of the reasons given is that many church officials have come out against laws passed by the Congress, such as The Affordable Health Act.  It is a small step to use the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause to begin withholding tax exempt status from churches that refuse to perform gay weddings.  And not to go too much toward the "slippery slope" argument, but the business of the Church is not just what happens within the sanctuary.  How long will it be before Christian Schools lose their accreditation because they will not teach marriage equality?  Will charitable minded churches have to choose between closing their soup kitchens or accepting limitations on what they can say behind the pulpit? "He said to them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men  is detestable in God's sight." (Luke 16:15)

    3.   In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed Affirmative Action into law.  It was meant to redress decades of discrimination against minorities in employment, education, and business.  In England, the concept is known as "positive discrimination", implying that it is all right to discriminate, as long as the underclass benefits.  Many qualified white students have been denied admission into leading universities because of this program.  By ending discrimination against minorities, the law in effect discriminates against the majority.  This is what I meant when I said earlier that when the culture shifts to become more inclusive toward some, it must by definition become more exclusive of others.  Similarly, now that traditional marriage is not exclusively between a man and a woman, how long will it be before heterosexual couples begin to lose some of their rights and privileges in order that gay couples, who are now a protected class, may enjoy more rights and privileges?  I heard a story on NPR radio this morning bemoaning the fact that in adoption policy, many states and adoption agencies are reducing the price for adoption of minority children.  Families who adopt black children get a discount on adoption fees and costs because minorities are a protected class.  In essence, using a monetary incentive in this way, the state has put black children "on sale."  (Please notice I said "on sale", not "for sale"--there is a big difference).  I predict that very soon, gay couples will enjoy more monetary and tax incentives than heterosexual married couples, to redress decades of discrimination.  "Furthermore, since they do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done....They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil..." (Romans 1:28, 30a)

Did the Congress in 1996 over-reach? Probably; the purpose of the Constitution is to limit government, and protect the rights of the minority.  Following the Law of Unintended Consequences, we probably would not have had this Court decision if we had not written the DOMA law in the first place.  But it would not have slowed the general decay of the culture.

In essence, the culture over the last 20 years has looked at gays on the left and Christians on the right.  And after careful consideration, the culture has decided that it would embrace gays and shun Christians, especially fundamentalist, moralist, Bible-believing Christians.  We are now bird-brained bigots who should be dismissed as irrelevant.  The culture, like generations before it, has chosen the road to perdition.  We who follow the Narrow Way are scorned.  If our nation was ever a Christian nation, we have now lost that distinction.

This is the carefree city that lived in safety.  She said to herself, "I am, and there is none besides me."  What a ruin she has become, a lair for wild beasts!  All who pass by her scoff and shake their fists. --Zephaniah 2:15