Following up - "traditional" values vs. Christian values

Note: I posted this in the comments section for yesterday's post, but I am also highlighting it on the main page because it's a long comment.

I'm not advocating for everyone to be forced to "convert" to Christianity, as that would represent false conversions. That also presents a dangerous precedent, and gives power to a government that can never be trusted with it no matter who is in charge.

But in terms of religious values in law, we have that right now and have since the nation was founded. We always will. The question is not whether we have religious values in our system of laws, but which values.

The phrasing of your question is interesting - "impose" the Biblical definition of marriage on a homosexual. I certainly do not believe that anyone should be forced to marry against their will. In fact, I do not believe government has an interest in criminalizing relationships between consenting adults. I would draw a distinction between a sin and a crime.

But allowing people to live as they please is not the same as having government place a stamp of approval on that relationship with legal recognition of that relationship as a "marriage." Our society has always had restrictions on what it recognizes as a marriage: No polygamy, no close relatives, and (until very, very recently) no people of the same sex. We do not allow people under a certain age to be married, to protect them against abuse an exploitation. So arguing about whether there should be restrictions is pointless. The argument is about which restrictions.

Even before the states started recognizing same-sex marriage within the last decade, any homosexual could "marry" someone of the same sex provided they could find a church in rebellion against Scripture to perform the ceremony. There were no restrictions on it and it was not illegal. What that couple could not do is have the state place a stamp of approval on and grant legal recognition to that "marriage."

And all of that was always considered in perfect harmony with the First Amendment until the last decade. It was inconceivable for the men who actually wrote the First Amendment that it would be used to force state recognition of same-sex "marriage." Original intent matters, and the prevailing political winds of the day should not be used to change the clear meaning of the Constitution as it was written.