Exactly, they joined together later. They were separate first. I’m not against union; I’m against forced union. I also have stated I’m in favor of state nullification of federal law that oversteps Constitution limitations on the federal government. I would argue that nullification come before secession, but that doesn’t mean secession as a right doesn’t exist.
I agree that we have an irreconcilable situation here. Some want to force their vision of society on the rest of us, and we refuse to allow them to impose this vision on us and our children. Separation is the only way to keep from killing each other, either by attempting to enforce their will or us resisting.
The 10th amendment sovereignty movement is the “sanest” way to approach this.
The states will eventually have to say that “Law XYZ is null and void because it is not within the Constitutionally delegated powers of the federal government. We will not enforce that law within the boundaries of our state.”
At that point, the fedgov will have to either back down or send in some FLEOs to impose its will.