President Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was once asked “Why does
the church become involved in issues that come before the legislature and the
electorate?” He replied: “We regard it as not only our right but our duty to
oppose those forces which we feel undermine the moral fiber of society.” The
moral fiber of society was undermined in a big way with the ruling of the
Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges. This milestone case settled once and for
all the debate over same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court invalidated the marriage laws of more than half of the United States. However, by so doing the 5 unelected
judges who made up the majority raise an obvious concern about the judicial
role and the rule of law. As Chief Justice Roberts said in his dissent, “By
deciding this question under the Constitution the court removes it from the
realm of democratic decision.” Simply put this was not the Supreme Court’s decision
to make!
John Adams the 1st vice president and 2nd
president of the United States said something I found interesting, especially as
I considered the court’s opinion in this case. He said: “Our Constitution was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the
government of any other.” Moral and religious people are the key! The burden of
self-government is a great responsibility. It calls for restraint,
righteousness, responsibility and reliance upon God. Righteousness is a
required ingredient to liberty. As Satan has more and more success in our world
the Constitution will work less and less as it was intended. This case is a
good example of that!
I love President Hinckley so much; I can still hear his
voice from years gone by, speaking out on the topic of same-sex marriage. I
started this post with a quote from President Hinckley and I would like to end
it as well. He said “Some portray legalization of so-called same-sex marriage
as a civil right. This is not a matter of civil rights; it is a matter of
morality. Others question our constitutional right as a church to raise our
voice on an issue that is of critical importance to the future of the family.
We believe that defending this sacred institution by working to preserve
traditional marriage lies clearly within our religious and constitutional
prerogatives. Indeed, we are compelled by our doctrine to speak out.”
How will you speak out?
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