I still cannot believe that no one explains this simple reality:
Marriage is an establishment of religion.
The implications of this are crystal clear:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. This means that the judiciary cannot change the definition of marriage.
People will say that the government has successfully intertwined itself to the process of marriage. That is completely irrelevant to the CIVIL RIGHTS issue violated in the more than dozen federal court decisions changing the definition of marriage.
Notice there is never one word said that the state is intruding on the church here in the grand lie of “separation of church and state.” It is always ok for the state to set the church right on any issue.
But if the church dare raise its voice against the state, then we get the IRS and all kinds of political grandstanding about silencing the Church.
The state has breached the separation. If it hates marriage this much— then withdraw from this establishment of religion. It can take whatever positions it want to take in legal agreements or tax law through iterations of civil relationships.
Civil unions are an obvious government alternative. Saying this is second class status is absurd. In Europe, civil unions are preferred and privileged over marriage. If there really is a secular renaissance here in America, then write your own language and laws to reflect those assumptions. Stop deliberating building anti religious laws that you know are intended to legalize discrimination against those religiously orthodox.
This has always been about anchoring the privileges of sexual fundamentalists [gay rights community] and secular fundamentalists [those who believe there should be no public expressions of religious adherence]. These acts by the courts are clear civil rights violations of the first freedom spelled out in the first amendment.
Given all the non profits the State supports without a peep from the Supreme Court, we are either lead by total idiots or the State already has a secret religion and secretly selects people accorsing to it.