President Obama’s Refusal to Defend Marriage

The Obama Administration’s decision to no longer defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act, while not completely shocking, is still startling and significant on numerous levels.

Setting aside the president’s personal opposition to DOMA and the history of his contradictory positions on marriage over the years, yesterday’s announcement ostensibly reduces the legal interpretation and enforcement of the United States Constitution to but two people:

President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder.

In essence, the president and his AG have unilaterally determined that DOMA is unconstitutional.

This despite the fact that the DOMA legislation was passed by an overwhelming majority of Congress (342-67 in the House and 85-14 in the Senate) and signed into law by President Clinton in 1996.

This despite the fact that the Supreme Court, whose job it is to determine what Mssrs. Obama and Holder have done independent of the judiciary, haven’t yet heard any of the numerous cases challenging DOMA’s constitutionality.

This despite the fact that whenever the issue of marriage is put to popular vote (as it has been in 31 states), the vast majority of Americans continue to affirm their strong support of one-man, one-woman marriage.

Does President Obama have the legal right to not defend a particular law?  Yes. However, the Department of Justice doesn’t – unless there is no reasonable argument available in its defense.  Clearly, this is not the case given the trajectory of events, whether at the ballot box, the courthouse or within the realm of the social sciences.

As such, in usurping the authority of not only the United States Congress but also the judiciary, the president and his deputies have set in motion a dangerous and ominous precedent.

Legal wrangling aside, yesterday’s decision to no longer defend traditional marriage deeply grieves me as a Christian. The institution of marriage is God’s idea – and is self-evident as the union of man and woman uniquely producing the next generation. As such, we are to honor, respect and embrace it from His point of view. To deviate from the biblical definition of one-man, one-woman marriage is to jettison God’s design for the common good of humanity.

Since neither the president nor the attorney general will defend marriage, we must encourage Congress to intervene.  In fact, it’s their job to do so – and they promised to do so back in the fall! At that time, many of the conservative members pledged “to honor families, traditional marriage, life, and the private and faith-based organizations that form the core of our American values.”

Let’s remind them of this pledge when we call and email.

Please ask your U.S. senators and representative (click here) to use the tools at their disposal to defend the longstanding Defense of Marriage Act.

Meanwhile, please join me in praying for all of those involved in this critically important matter. Let’s pray for wisdom and discernment, and for those who appear committed to dismantling the government’s recognition of traditional marriage, join me in praying for a radical and rapid change of heart.

Note:  This post was paid for by CitizenLink.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: events, marriage, policy February 24, 2011 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura