The (dis) Respect of Marriage Act

Posted in: News By House Divided on December 16, 2022

Amidst much fanfare, the Respect for Marriage Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 13, 2022. This Act repealed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. On the surface, the titles of these laws suggest they are similar but they are mirror opposites of each other.

The purpose of DOMA was to safeguard traditional marriage. DOMA defined the institution of marriage as the union between one man and one woman. DOMA codified the prevailing definition of marriage in existence the world over for thousands of years, but opponents of DOMA claimed it was an unjust law, describing it as “anti-gay”. The Respect for Marriage Act seeks to remedy the perceived injustice done by DOMA and extends the definition of marriage to include “same-sex unions”. Gay marriage is the law of the land: some rejoice while others mourn.

What went largely unnoticed in the hoopla surrounding Biden’s signing was his prior support of DOMA. Senator Biden not only voted in favor of DOMA’s passage but in June 2006, during an appearance on Meet the Press, Biden said, “The world’s going to Hades in a handbasket…we are desperately concerned about…gay marriage? We already have a law…The Defense of Marriage Act…(that says) marriage is between a man and a woman and States must respect that…We don’t need a constitutional amendment (safeguarding traditional marriage)…marriage is between a man and a woman!”

What caused Biden to change his views? Was he persuaded by the tenants of his Roman Catholic faith? No. As recently as 2016, Pope Francis declared the church does not have the power to bless same sex marriages. In the Vatican’s view, same-sex marriages are not part of God’s plan for families and raising children. God, the Vatican said, “does not and cannot bless sin”.

What were the intellectual underpinnings supporting the moral evolution of Biden’s views? During a June 2012 interview on Meet the Press, Vice President Biden credited Will & Grace, the TV sitcom featuring a gay lawyer and his straight, female best friend for the change in his views. Three days after Biden’s interview, President Barack Obama also came out in favor of gay marriage. In between the Presidential and Vice-Presidential out-pouring of support for gay marriage, the State of North Carolina – by a wide margin – approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Aging North Carolinian, Evangelist Billy Graham reacted, “At 93, I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage”.

How do Americans decide if the Respect for Marriage Act, or any law, is a just or unjust law? That was the question addressed by the leader of the modern civil rights movement, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as he sat in a jail cell in Birmingham, Ala. King concluded, “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.”

If American’s apply King’s standard, is the Respect for Marriage Act a just or unjust law? A fair reading of the Bible finds no support for same-sex marriage. Applying King’s standard, the Respect for Marriage Act is out of harmony with the moral law, it does not square with the law of God. As Kings’ daughter, Bernice said, “my father did not take a bullet for same-sex marriage”.

This Act conflates the equal rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence with the equal right to marry anyone you want. Neither the Declaration nor the Bible grants this type of equality. Mankind is equal in that man is Created in the “image of God”. If we invoke our Creator to rightly assert this type of equality, we must also invoke his moral law in determining the just parameters of our laws.

This Act proves that it’s never a question whether lawmakers will legislate morality, the only question is whose morality they choose to legislate. In passing this Act, lawmakers abandoned King’s standards and God’s morality.

Merry Christmas!