Tag Archive: same sex marriages
Should Religious Doctrine Override the Law?
August 25, 2015
Should Religious Doctrine Override the Law
A recent California case provides a real dichotomy in logic vs doctrine. A mother and her husband agree that after the birth of their second child, they did not want any more children. The mother is to give birth in a Catholic Hospital and the Hospital will not perform a tubal ligation which would prevent future pregnancies because it violates church doctrine. If this is allowed to stand, the mother will have to drive 150 miles to another hospital to have this procedure. Is this right? Which of the competing interests is number one here? Is it the patient and her husband’s rights? Is it the church because it is their hospital? Is it the insurance company who is paying or may pay the medical procedure? Should patients/families have the right to get health care without having to worry about religion at the health care facility?
On a related note, a court clerk in Kentucky will not perform same sex marriages because this would offend her religious beliefs and would cause a “searing” injury to her beliefs. How can the simple ministerial task of issuing a license have this type of effect on a person? If it does have this effect, can’t the clerk just pass this task onto someone in the office who would not suffer from this “injury”? Can clerks dictate policy when the Supreme Court has already sanctioned same sex marriages? Will the city, county or state be sued if they condone this action by one of their employees? Should the employee suffer personal liability and free the government from responsibility? Is not the exercise of religion a personal one that should be conducted personally and should not interfere with the exercise of others legal rights?
What say you?
Gay Marriage – Should Judges Interpret The law or Superimpose “God’s Law” ?
June 4, 2015
Gay Marriage – Should Judges Interpret The law or Superimpose “God’s Law” ?
It has recently come to attention that the Chief Justice of the “enlightened” State of Alabama Supreme Court has issued orders not to allow same sex marriages in his state.
His reason for this? In his opinion, same sex marriages violate “God’s law”.
Before the question posed above can be responded to, it must be ascertained, what is the function of the judiciary? As we all know, our government is a system of checks and balances. In this case, no other branch of government has operated to act upon or interpret “God’s law.” Should the people of the state have the power to draft and approve laws that may or may not be in accord with “God’s law”? What is “God’s law”? Who get to interpret God’s law? What is their remedy if there is a difference of opinion as the interpretation of God’s law?
It makes no sense to have one person act as judge, jury and executioner for any issue attention the public at large. Yet, this is what this jurist is doing. He is acting as an arm of the state and superimposing his view of the world on all persons in the State. This goes against democracy. If the people wish to have this interpretation on this issue, let them vote on it or pass laws through the legislature. Then the courts may be called upon to interpret the law. To allow this nonsensical course of action to stand makes a mockery of our entire system of government. The Chief Justice is a public servant. By definition, his job is to serve the public, not dictate his views of what he thinks society (and the Bible) means and/or needs.
Our system works best when all three branches or government work the way they were designed to. When one oversteps it boundaries, the entire system suffers. One person should not be able to dictate policy for an entire society, unless we have a dictatorship. This system of government does not exist in the State of Alabama, or anywhere else in America. The secondary question is should it?
What say you??
This is part two of our first post on the subject:
Gay Marriage – Is the Court Ahead or, Behind of Society?