States rights, same-sex marriage, and the end of the road

For some reason, I made my way to PoliticsUSA.com the other day and I came across a headline that made me question whether or not people actually read. Oklahoma’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the state must remove its Ten Commandments monument at the state Capitol because it violates the state Constitution.

Article 2, section 5 of the Oklahoma Constitution says, “No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.”

Now, states are free to decide these types of issues among themselves. However, those who oppose this truth always seem to point back to the establishment clause in the First Amendment of the Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

Merely having a 10 Commandments statue on the capitol is not an establishment of religion, especially if it is privately funded. If Oklahoma had been arresting and throwing their citizens in jail because they didn’t believe in the 10 Commandments, then we would be having a completely different discussion.

The fact of the matter is this, if a state like Oklahoma wanted to declare themselves as a Christian state, they absolutely could. The federal government (Congress) can’t make a law forming an American theocracy. A state establishing a religion is what we call Federalism. In fact, many of the early state constitutions didn’t shy away from religion:

• The Delaware State Constitution Oath of Office, 1776 stated: “I _______, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, One God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old Testament and New Testament to be given by Divine Inspiration.”
• In 1784, If you wanted to be an elected official in New Hampshire, you had to be a protestant, and the same went for Georgia (1777).
• In Massachusetts, the state Constitution in 1780 mandated that all elected officials take an oath of office that included their professing the Christian faith.

This is something I never learned in school, nor is it taught much in public schools today.

So why does this matter? Because the fight has just begun following the Supreme Court ruling last Friday forcing states to license same-sex “marriage.”One such battle involves the tax-exempt status of churches and other non-profits. For instance, Michael Oppenheimer, a “religion” columnist for the New York Times, recently presented his case for the government to end the “subsidizing” of institutions of faith.

Translation? With the Supreme Court’s ruling now being the so-called law of the land, we should use their favorable ruling to punish every church that refuses to marry same-sex couples.

When tax exemptions are removed, donors will give far less than they are giving now. Churches will become liable to pay property taxes, and most likely will be forced to forfeit their property to the government because they will be unable to pay the taxes owed. Churches located on valuable properties in urban locations would be immediately vulnerable. Eventually, so would everyone else.

Are people so naive as to discredit the end result of this ruling? The Strident Conservative documented how the methods used in the homosexual movement are being used to legitimize pedophilia and polygamy. And just yesterday we learned about a Montana Polygamist seeking to legitimize his relationship with his two “wives.” Welcome to the wonderful world of liberal socialism.

I know you’re thinking that it’s just a tiny minority who will fight for polygamy. But keep in mind that depending on what poll you’re looking at, the LGBT community only represents 2-4% of the population in America, and look at how far their agenda has advanced.

By the way, did you know that the ACLU has officially announced they are no longer interested in defending the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Interestingly enough, in the same op-ed penned by ACLU Deputy Legal Director Louise Melling, they still claim to believe in religious freedom.

Love has indeed appeared to have won, unless you’re a Christian who loves our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This has never been about marriage “equality.” This is a slow loving agenda in which we have recently learned the Episcopal Church has bowed out of the fight. And let’s not forget that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) folded on homosexual marriage just this past March.

If you are a believer in the biblical definition of marriage, are you ready to stand firm on God’s Word? America’s future depends on your answer.

 

Zach Pugh is the founder of Critically Christian. The Pugh Report is heard every Friday during the Rush To Reason radio show on KLZ560.

Send your comments and questions to zach@criticallychristian.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @ZachDoesRadio and Facebook.