Posted on 08/09/2010 12:41:40 PM PDT by GonzoII
(RNS) When U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker struck down California’s Proposition 8 on Wednesday (Aug. 4), he said voters’ motivation for outlawing gay marriage was clear.
“The evidence shows conclusively that moral and religious views form the only basis for a belief that same-sex couples are different from opposite-sex couples,” Walker wrote in his sweeping, 136-page decision.
“These interests do not provide a rational basis for supporting Proposition 8.”
Religion, in Walker’s reasoning, amounts to a “private moral view,” which should not infringe upon the constitutional rights of others.
While some legal scholars say Walker’s decision lands on firm legal ground—a law must advance a secular purpose to pass constitutional muster—some religious leaders accuse the judge of trying to scrub faith from the public square.
“Judge Walker claimed to read the minds of California’s voters, arguing that the majority voted for Proposition 8 based on religious opposition to homosexuality, which he then rejected as an illegitimate state interest,” R. Albert Mohler, president of a leading Southern Baptist seminary in Kentucky, wrote in an online column.
(Excerpt) Read more at religionnews.com ...
One man's decision trumps over 7,000,000 legally voted on LAW!!!Sounds like opinion is now the law... well, opinions from the left and that is SCARY
It’s not about Walker....It’s about Kagan being on the court....You think she got appointed because of her brains or her “mindsets”.
Amen. Won’t be long till they outlaw heterosexuality.
Darn right its scary. If this thing doesn’t get overruled by SCOTUS - gays will be lining up at church’s all across the country demanding marriage rights. If/when the Pastor of said church refuses because of his religious beliefs, hate crimes will overrule his 1st amendment rights, and off to prison he goes! Same will be true for any Christian across the country who views homosexuality as a sin - persecution begins on a massive scale. Don’t think gays aren’t planning this - they are.
Scary indeed.
It’s only a matter of time before we start telling these judges to shove their rulings up their Obamas.
Our predecessors disobeyed their “rulers” before, and we can and will do it again.
Our justice system is worth about as much as Windows ME, and will garner just about as much respect.
ONLY? Doesn't being able to be procreate count as a major overriding difference?
So while Walker criticizes “private moral view”, he injects his subjective interpretation of what it takes to raise a healthy family.
Foo.
So this judge is saying that morality is outdated and we should give special rights to people based on behavior and he calls that Constitutional? Overturning the will of the people by judicial fiat is Constituional? Seems to me that I read somewhere that the government rules by the will of the governed. When the people say “No”, it is NO.
When a legal opinion is based upon the religious intention of others, it reveals the battle between the right and left is Christianity. How can a judge make a decision based upon the very precepts by which our country was founded unless he disagrees with those precepts? It’s all about Jesus and the left hates Him.
Absolute BS! same-sex "couples" can't procreate and so said unions provide no benefit to society worth sanctioning.
It’s only a matter of time before we start telling these judges to shove their rulings up their Obamas.
I would suggest the time is NOW.
I do not feel bound by ANY of these laws passed by the socialists. Zerocare, the finance laws, the red flag regs..I just want to say NO.
And I certainly am not ever going to consider homosexual marriage as any valid construct.
I wouldn’t think one would have to be a religious conservative to be rightly fearful of the continuing precedent that one judge has the power to overturn the will of the people - who, theoretically, are supposed to be the originating sovereign power in a republican system.
If the libertarians and fiscal conservatives don’t come out on the right side of this one, we’ll know that their supposed devotion to constitutional, limited government is bogus.
I wouldn’t think one would have to be a religious conservative to be rightly fearful of the continuing precedent that one judge has the power to overturn the will of the people - who, theoretically, are supposed to be the originating sovereign power in a republican system.
If the libertarians and fiscal conservatives don’t come out on the right side of this one, we’ll know that their supposed devotion to constitutional, limited government is bogus.
” If/when the Pastor of said church refuses because of his religious beliefs, hate crimes will overrule his 1st amendment rights, and off to prison he goes!”
In today’s world when a pastor refuses to marry persons of different faiths those pastors are not sent to prison. However, if a county or parish official refused to issue a marriage licensee to a couple of different faiths or races, they will be found to be in violation of the law.
This guy’s ruling should scare everyone.
His decision isn’t rooted in anything Constitutional.
It would be one thing if he threw Prop 8 out. But that’s not what he did.
What he did was assert on no uncertain grounds that people have a RIGHT to get married - and that marriage is protected under the Equal protection clause.
So in one fell swoop, this guy has legally established a relgion (marriage is usually thought of as a religious rite) and he has opened the door to a lot of new questions: how will this effect polygamy? How will this effect men who want to marry 13 year old girls?
Aren’t those covered under equal protection as well?
And then yes, there is the whole one man’s decision means more than 7 million voters....
Simple really when you sanction bad behavior you get more of it. Slippery Slope you know.
Well said.
“moral and religious views”
Condemnation of moral views, and religious views by a judge!! This is now officially TOO MUCH!!!!
The idiot has stomped all over the 1st amendment.
B.S. I voted for Prop 8 primarily for health reasons as well as moral reasons. Gays are promoting a filthy life-style. Where have their mouth or hands been? Vile disgusting creatures. They are different from opposite-sex couples; similarly we shouldn't allow people to marry animals.
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