The decision of
the United States Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage has been on my
mind since it passed on Friday. At first
I was concerned about the worldly consequences of the decision, but I soon
recognized the eternal consequences also.
Same-sex parents will condemn their children to being without family for
all eternity because same-sex partners can never be sealed and their children
cannot be sealed to them.
Matt Walsh published an essay here about how gay marriage hurts him personally and listed
three reasons: (1) We apparently have a
society of “moral idiots” because people are okay with the decision because
same-sex marriage “doesn’t affect me.”
We should all be alert to any evil in our nation whether or not it
affects us personally or financially.
(2) We are all affected by “State-imposed
falsehoods.” “Marriage is a certain
thing with a certain nature and definition.
When the State mandates that the thing is something other than what it
is, and has a purpose other than its actual purpose, you are now living under a
tyranny of confusion. The severity of
that confusion depends on the degree of the falsehood…. I would still oppose this redefinition
because it’s not true, and I prefer Truth…. I
want our culture to have a proper understanding of reality. Moreover, I don’t want our government to impose an improper understanding….
Marriage is the bedrock upon which all of human civilization rests. To expand its definition into oblivion is to
weaken and destabilize it….”
(3) “Why do you think liberals
care so much about [same-sex marriage]?
If it doesn’t matter, why have they dedicated years to bringing about
this past Friday? … Gay marriage is not an essential or true institution, nor
does it serve any real purpose in society.
There’s no practical or moral reason for the romantic lives of
homosexuals to be recognized or elevated or protected in any way…. This whole
gay marriage debate is about opening up the lifelong monogamous bond of
matrimony to a community that often doesn’t desire a lifelong monogamous
bond. Do you understand what’s going on
here? They don’t want marriage as it
currently is; they want to change it into
something else…. It makes no
sense. That is, until you come to
understand that liberals desire not to fortify or strengthen the family, but to
dismember it. This is purely a game of
power and destruction….”
Walsh continued his essay by
explaining other destructive actions that will follow the decision. Walsh thinks the first step “they” will take
is to destroy the churches by taking away their tax exempt status if they
oppose gay marriage and attack the churches legally if they refuse to perform
same-sex marriages. The second step is
to attack church leaders for not performing same-sex marriages. We already know that florists, photographers,
bakers, and even T-shirt makers have been sued for refusing service to same-sex
couples. The third step is to reduce the
institution of marriage to nothingness.
Michael J. Davidson published his thoughts here, but he chose to looks at the consequences of the
same-sex marriage ruling from an eternal perspective. “It is not every day that the Supreme Court
of the United States issues an opinion that has such eternal implications as we
have in the Obergefell v. Hodges case. I
undertake to read the syllabus, opinion of the court and the dissents (103
pages!) thinking that I would possibly write a legal critique of what the court
did, but I found that such a critique would likely be similar to those already
done. Instead, I thought about the
eternal consequences of this decision and found them to be very sobering.
“Frankly, a lot of what the
Court does really is somewhat insignificant in the timeframe of the gospel, but
today’s decision is different…. There
are some truly important things addressed there, but for the most part we won’t
look back [at them] as something that impacted the salvation of souls in the
world.
“Families, on the other hand,
are eternal. Or at least some of them
are. In this brave new world, violence
is being done to individuals in a manner that will impact these individuals in
the eternities. Today’s decision by the Supreme Court gives legal sanction to
marriage relationships (and parental relationships) that will not and cannot
endure in eternity. With this legal
recognition comes an increased level of social acceptance that will result in
more individuals engaging in such relationships, and doing so in a manner that
is more permanent. In discussing these
developments, we need to keep in mind not only of the sinful nature of
homosexual behavior, but also of the futile nature of these relationships from
an eternal perspective.”
Davidson quoted the Proclamation
of the Family, presented to the world in September 1995: “THE FAMILY is
ordained of God. Marriage between man
and woman is essential to His eternal plan.
Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be
reared by a father a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity” He also quoted a 2004 statement from the
First Presidency: “As a doctrinal
principle, based on sacred scripture, we affirm that marriage between a man and
a woman is essential to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His
children. The powers of procreation are
to be exercised only between a man and a woman lawfully wedded as husband and
wife. Any other sexual relations,
including those between persons of the same gender, undermine the divinely
created institution of the family.”
Davidson quoted statements from other
Church leaders: In his last General
Conference address Elder L. Tom Perry spoke about standing “against all of the
counterfeit and alternative lifestyles that try to replace the family
organization that God Himself established.” Elder
Russell M. Nelson said, “Marriage between a man and woman is fundamental to the
Lord’s doctrine and crucial to God’s eternal plan. Marriage between a man and a woman is God’s
pattern for a fulness of life on earth and in heaven. God’s marriage pattern cannot be abused,
misunderstood, or misconstrued…. It is
not ours to change.” (October 2013
General Conference)
The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints issued the following statement after the Supreme Court
announcement last Friday: “The Court’s
decision does not alter the Lord’s doctrine that marriage is a union between a
man and a woman ordained by God. While
showing respect for those who think differently, the Church will continue to
teach and promote marriage between a man and a woman as a central part of our
doctrine and practice.”
After these quotes, Davidson
stated: “Clearly, there is no reason to
think that the doctrine of the family can or will change. As a result, same sex marriages are not and
cannot be sealed. Nor can the
relationship between homosexual parents with their adoptive children endure in
eternity. Such children cannot be `born
into the covenant’ nor can they be sealed to the legal parents as if they were
born into the covenant, because you can’t be sealed to parents who can’t be
sealed to each other.”
Even though the Supreme Court
legalized same-sex marriage, those marriages are made for time only and can
never become eternal. Malachi, the
prophet who wrote the last book in the Old Testament, wrote explained the
importance of the family about 400 years before the birth of Christ: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and
smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6).
Quite frankly, same-sex marriage
goes against the main purpose for which the earth itself was created – the sealing
of families for eternity. As Davidson
explained, same-sex marriages and families cannot be sealed because their
marriages are not recognized by God. I
know that the eternal consequences of this decision by the Supreme Court are
much more important than any personal, political, or financial reasons. I personally feel great sorrow for the many
people who have been deceived as well as for their children. I know Heavenly Father loves all of His
children, but I also know that He has to obey His own rules.
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