What I Observed By Watching

This has been a week folks will remember for a long time. People are filling their social media channels with their opinions about a court clerk in Kentucky who was tossed in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling that says homosexuals must be allowed to marry.

My biggest issue? We are a nation of laws. Our Constitution gives the power to make laws exclusively to the legislature. The President can’t make laws. The Supreme Court can’t, either.

There is no federal law concerning marriage. Each state creates its own. So, when the Supreme Court said that homosexuals must be allowed to marry, what should have happened is that the states whose laws contradict that ruling should have been allowed to create and pass a new set of laws that would govern marriage in their states within the parameters of the new ruling. (Actually, what should have happened is that those Supreme Court justices should have been impeached because of the gross abuse of their powers, but our Congress is currently filled with self-centered egotists who aren’t willing to risk losing their perks by attempting to do something that might be good for our country, but I’ll save that for another day.)

Since those who wrote our Constitution saw nothing in it that gave homosexuals the right to marry and we’ve been operating that way as a society for more than 2oo years, you would think giving state legislatures a few months to adjust their laws, create the new documents and filing systems the change requires, and all the other tasks necessary to properly enact this new mandate wouldn’t hurt. But no, our courts, who cannot legally make laws, are insisting that the laws they made anyway be obeyed NOW!

Listening to them pontificate reminds me of the Bible verse that says “thinking themselves wise, they’ve become fools.”

That’s why I chose the quote from Yogi Berra to head this post. Compared to what we are being forced to listen to, Yogi and his wisdom stands head and shoulders above them.

So instead of focusing on the decisions made by the now jailed clerk, let me tell you what I’ve observed as I’ve watched.

1. I’ve been surprised at the number of Christians willing to belittle the Clerk’s decisions with unkind labels, saying that her situation has nothing to do with standing for truth or righteousness. Last I read, the Bible still says homosexuality is shameful and that marriage is God’s way of illustrating His love for His Church. This lady is the only person in her county legally authorized to issue marriage licenses, and she is trying to do it the way the Bible says it should be done, the way the law she swore to uphold says it must be done, and the way the residents of her county expected her to do it when they elected her.

Go ahead and judge the quality of her suffering for obeying God’s word, but she’s sitting in jail because of her stand and you are where?

I’ll let God decide whether or not He’s impressed.

2. I’ve observed that a depressing number of people are not interested in truth. They value their own opinion more.

3. I’ve noticed the price that we are paying for failing to teach American history is incalculable, and will probably be the expense that  bankrupts our nation.

4. I’ve observed that too many people know too little about the principles stressed in our Declaration of Independence, and show no signs of wanting to understand.

5. Most Christians have no idea how humiliating and embarrassing the arresting process is.

6. I’ve noticed that, for many, consistency is not a jewel they value. Judges, for example. Mass murders can make bail, but county clerks who won’t issue marriage licenses can’t.  The President can ignore immigration law, his friends can ignore tax laws, Mayors can harbor criminals – all without consequence, but a clerk ignores, not a law, but a Supreme Court ruling, and she goes to jail.

7. The fight is not about love and being married. If it were, those who have been standing in that clerk’s office for days demanding she grant them a license would have driven to one of the scores of nearby offices issuing those licenses. It’s about a political agenda – not a till death do we part love.

8. Most people live in the here and now, giving little thought to the future consequences of today’s actions. Those demanding marriage probably should spend a little time studying divorce law – especially since many studies show that homosexual relationships tend to last only a few years at best.

My final observation. You’ve got to pay your own taxes, suffer your own sicknesses, nurse your own broken heart, serve your own jail time, die your own death – so live your own life! Don’t let public opinion or the biases of your friends, so called, keep you from living what your heart is calling.

And keep your eyes open. You can observe a lot just by watching.