On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts began issuing the first state-sanctioned homosexual “marriage” licenses in the history of the United States, amid the deafening cries and protests of millions of concerned Christians across the nation.
The muddled state of affairs began in November of 2003, when the activist judges of the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in favor of a gay couple seeking for the “right” to marry. The court cautiously issued a 180-day stay on the ruling, during which the state legislature passed a preliminary ban on same-sex “marriage.’ Polls also consistently revealed that the majority of Americans, including residents of Massachusetts, opposed homosexual “marriage.” But because the constitutional process to pass legislation in Massachusetts takes more than three years, time eventually ran out, forcing the nation to witness the beginning of the end to marriage in America.
On a positive note, a precedent case in 1913, which ruled that one state could not enforce an opposing law on another, protected the rest of the 50 states from chaos by limiting the gay nuptials to Massachusettians. Legal experts believe, however, that out-of-state gay couples would take illegal vows in Massachusetts and subsequently challenge their home state to recognize their union.
At this point, the only thing that can be done to protect traditional marriage is to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which has the support of President Bush and thousands of evangelical church leaders nationwide. Once passed, the FMA would not only define marriage as a union solely between one man and one woman, but it would also nullify the gay “marriage” licenses of the past.
Pro-gay groups have charged those in support of the FMA as being “hateful” and “intolerant.” However, the issue at hand is not about hate or malice; it is about upholding the sanctity of marriage. Therefore, Christians must hold firmly onto the word of God, which clearly sets forth the model for creation, as the battle to protect marriage surges forth in the coming months.
