Posted on 06/30/2015 6:27:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Republican presidential candidates and those expected to be candidates are divided in their reactions to the last Friday's U.S. Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling, with some ready to continue fighting for marriage and others suggesting it is time for conservatives to "move on" from the marriage issue and begin focusing on other concerns.
While appearing on CBS "Face the Nation" on Sunday, potential 2016 Republican candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich argued that there are many other issues facing America right now and it is time to pay attention to those concerns.
He asserted that since the Supreme Court has issued a nationwide ruling — that denying same-sex couples the right to get married is unconstitutional — it is time for the country to stop focusing on the subject.
"I do believe in traditional marriage and the court has ruled and it's time to move on," the 63-year-old Kasich stated. "[There's] so many other things now that we have to focus on."
Kasich, who was cited as an original defendant in the initial same-sex marriage lawsuit brought by Jim Obergefell against the state of Ohio, stressed that religious institutions must be respected.
"I think everybody needs to take a deep breath to see how this evolves," Kasich said. "But I know this — religious institutions, religious entities, like the Catholic Church, they need to be honored as well. I think there's an ability to strike a balance."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker issued bolder reactions that call for the creation of a constitutional amendment to protect the sovereignty of state governments to define their own marriage laws.
"I've introduced a constitutional amendment that would protect the authority of state legislatures to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. We should pass that amendment," Cruz told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Friday. "I've also introduced legislation stripping the federal courts of jurisdiction over legal assault on marriage."
In a Friday statement, Walker called the Supreme Court's decision a "grave mistake."
"Five unelected judges have taken it upon themselves to redefine the institution of marriage, an institution that the author of this decision acknowledges 'has been with us for millennia,'" Walker argued. "[T]he only alternative left for the American people is to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to reaffirm the ability of the states to continue to define marriage."
In a National Review editorial Cruz criticized the "lawless" Supreme Court and the rise of "judicial activism." He stated that he is proposing a Constitutional amendment that would create Supreme Court elections, in which justices would be subject to retention elections every eight years, rather than being appointed to lifetime terms.
"Those justices deemed unfit for retention by both a majority of the American people as a whole and by majorities of the electorates in at least half of the 50 states will be removed from office and disqualified from future service on the Court," Cruz wrote.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said on "Meet the Press" he would not "engage" in the constitutional amendment process. He told people to "accept the court's ruling," but continue to "fight for the religious liberties of every American."
Other candidates like Dr. Ben Carson and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio are saying that the Supreme Court ruling should be treated as law. Carson suggested that although he strongly disagrees with the Supreme Court's decision, their ruling "is now the law of the land." Rubio asserted that even though he also believes in traditional marriage, "we live in a republic and must abide by the law."
Rather than abiding by the law, Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who is also a Southern Baptist minister, is calling for "civil disobedience" over same-sex marriage.
"I don't think a lot of pastors and Christian schools are going to have a choice," Huckabee said on ABC's "This Week." "They either are going to follow God, their conscience, and what they truly believe is what the scripture teaches them or they will follow civil law."
"If they have a conscientious objection, I think they should be excused," he added.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul issued, arguably, the most unique statement of any of the GOP presidential candidates in an op-ed for Time, where he suggested that maybe "the time has come to examine whether or not governmental recognition of marriage is a good idea, for either party."
"Since government has been involved in marriage, they have done what they always do — taxed it, regulated it, and now redefined it. It is hard to argue that government's involvement in marriage has made it better, a fact also not surprising to those who believe government does little right," Paul contended. "So now, states such as Alabama are beginning to understand this as they begin to get out of the marriage licensing business altogether. Will others follow?"
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said in a statement that states should have been able to decide their own marriage laws, but since the court has ruled, he stated that now it is the time to ensure that religious liberties are protected.
If they all had the same approach and were advocating the same response, the MSM would accuse the GOP of being “monolithic” and “organized along military lines” and accuse it of “groupthink.”
ted has the most chance of actually squashing this ruling because of his Supreme Court experience.
Show the sub-preme court the dignity it deserves. Pick an assenter of the gay marriage decision and mail them a butt plug (available from Amazon for less than $5).
I sent a note with mine - “God destroyed your city once already. Your judicial immunity doesn’t apply to Him.”
hashtag ButtPlug4SCrOTUS
While America is burning who give a shi! about gays. Damn GOP better get is ars together or there won’t be anything left to worry over.
Did the homosexuals and their allies “move on” to other more important issues while male-female marriage was the law of the land?
They’ll cave and “go along to get along” like every other pimp and whore in DC. They say whatever they need to say to get elected then do their own thing.
The “gays” are part of the fire.
People have core beliefs would not be confused about how to respond.
Sodomy is an abomination and marriage is a holy place. It sure makes you think.
[Republican Presidential Candidates Split Over What to Do About Gay Marriage]
TED CRUZ 2016
Traditional Family Values Presidential candidate.
https://www.tedcruz.org/
We must not submit our constitutional freedoms, and the promise of our nation, to judicial tyranny. - TED CRUZ
Say good-bye to the GOP. It is about to reap the consequences of its intellectual and moral lassitude.
....”People have core beliefs would not be confused about how to respond”....
That’s exactly right. Am reminded of a Pastor saying that God uses a wrong to show “who” is right......If they don’t stand for God’s way we know “who” they are and on the worng side.
This is really ‘flushing out’ people in government, church and business, education and every part of life...
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