Finally, church leaders are uniting to stand against wickedness!
From World Net Daily: SUPREME COURT’S AUTHORITY FACES STUNNING CHALLENGE
‘This is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross’
A coalition of Christian organizations is warning that the U.S. Supreme Court does not have the power to redefine the institution of marriage, which predates government, churches and even religion. (Click on the link below to read more.)
http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/supreme-courts-authority-faces-stunning-challenge/
Natan, thanks for sharing this great article it was off my radar.
If I may share this is an excerpt of an article I wrote this past Hanukkah about Torah and Marriage. Torah alone defines marriage. Who can, who can’t and who has to marry. It is is the same vein as the article you shared, it just has a Torah-centric focus.
Shalom v’Chessed! Yonathan
The Torah portion “Mishpatim” or “Judgments” found in Exo. 21-25 (the judgments of the Covenant before the Sin of the Golden Calf) the judgments or the verdicts, the punishment for “unmarried” sexual relations between a male and female – who were legally allowed to marry, i.e. The woman was not betrothed or married, the woman was not a sister, aunt or other close relative or sister of neither your living wife nor was she an idol worshiper.
The punishment was…until Death do we part – Exodus 22:15-16 The ArtScroll Stone Edition Tanch states He is to give her a “Ketubah” to be his wife. (Unless the father objects). But if the relations took place involved a betrothed or a married woman or if the woman was raped within the city gates and she did not cry out or if it was consensual union the penalty was death for both of them. [Deut. 22:22-26, and other scriptures about the penalty for adultery]
It is not time to get the state out of the affairs of the Assembly of YHVH? Is it not an unrighteous union of “church and state” an illegitimate domestic partnership?
What is a greater problem than blind allegiance and obedience, If we must truly submit ourselves unquestioningly to an abhorrent doctrine, one which in essence proclaims “Oregon, Oregon über alles” [lit. (State of) Oregon, Oregon above all] the over all authority of the state in not just civil matters but also of spiritual matters, with the issue of Marriage, are we also required to abide and accept unquestioningly how they: “the state” define marriage in direct opposition to Torah and to YHVH. Does that mean the state also gets a say in the Sabbath, and what we are required to eat or drink (are they not already trying)?
Blind acceptance of civil authority means that because of reciprocity based on the interstate “full faith and credit Clause, an act of the Federal Government, the State of Oregon recognizes how the state of Washington defines marriage – as of Nov. 2012 which is no longer limited to Male and Female as Torah defines, but also between two members of the same sex, which is an abomination and an offense to originator, the Creator of marriage, YHVH and His Torah.
The institution of marriage was first defined and delineated by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, does HE need to take a knee and give obeisance to the “state of Oregon”? Do we surrender our religious observance to the state? Do we allow them to redefine our religious acts and expression of our worship? Time, manner and method of observance, are they going to define or re-define the Sabbath as well, or the legality or illegality of upholding Torah or the Testimony (as the Greeks once did to our brothers and outlawed the study of the Torah)?
When do we take a stand to reclaim our rights of freedom of “religious expression”[sic], the very purpose of the original revolt and revolution that lead to the founding of this nation that we call America? It was for freedom in worship or in secular terms “religious expression” that revolution occurred that gave birth to this nation. [I am not advocating armed rebellion or trying to foment revolution, rather to become active and not site by idly and silent.]
Is it not the Torah that first identified and defined marriage? It alone determines who may or may not be married and who shall be married (the idea behind a Shotgun Marriage Exo. 21:15-16, Levirate marriage Gen 38; Deut.25, Ruth 4) or are married “in-deed or by the deed or act” -based on acts or behaviors are consider married by vow or by physical act of consummation -a shotgun marriage is actually very biblical idea Exo. 21:15-16. As well as the “captive wife” marriage of Deut 21. It appears that the wives of 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel were “captive wife war brides” (the daughters of the Shechemites that were slaughter by Simeon and Levi in Gen 34:25-29 it seems that some of them would have become wives to the unmarried brothers. We only read about the wives of Judah and Joseph. I digress.
Torah also put restrictions on inter-marriage of our sons and daughter to the “ne-khar” or the stranger/foreigner i.e. idol worshippers.
The state has at often times in recent past defined who could or could not marry, that was the epitome of discrimination, and racism. The state injected itself into marriage as a matter of control (marriage licenses) and to prevent miscegenation, for motives driven by racism, and not issues of righteousness.
While the Torah, maintain parties of exclusion to marriage and procreation, which science latter confirms the manifest wisdom of YHVH. The Torahs prohibition on close blood ties marrying, which the state has merely copied some parts of the Torah with regards to marriage , but they want to expand the definition now years latter after a generation or two of having a say in marriage in America.
The Torah alone gives us the excluded classes of person not allowed to marry. Yet the state desires to be in the place of our Elohim and would lift itself up as an “el”, we are told to have no other “elohims” befiore YHVH.
A very central focus of our faith are the 10 commandments, the 7th commandment ” Do not commit Adultery”, what is Adultery and who first defined it, in order to define Adultery, we also must define marriage. You redefine marriage your changing central tenants of our Faith. Yet the state would presume to redefine this? And other Hellenistic Messianic would impose it’s presumed authority over and upon us? If the State takes the place of Torah, one day might they want to arrange our marriages as well based on Genetics and DNA types? Will they soon tell us whom we have to Marry i.e. Exo. 22:15-16, or accept as married persons?
I ask whom do we serve and bend our knee in worship and obedience, Daniel obeyed the law of the land …to a point, as should we, we should comply, remit, and surrender the very minimum that we are bound or required, because unrestrained they will take all! At one point our forefathers gave them an inch and now they want the full mile in issues of marriage.