Dang, where is Science Friction when we need him? We could add an entire category for SF and Cardinal. Guru could charge extra to access it. I'd pay.

Roberts' dissent echoes certain aspects of his majority opinion in King v. Burwell yesterday:

 

"Understand well what this dissent is about: It is not about whether, in my judgment, the institution of marriage should be changed to include same-sex couples. It is instead about whether, in our democratic republic, that decision should rest with the people acting through their elected representatives, or with five lawyers who happen to hold commissions authorizing them to resolve legal disputes according to law. The Constitution leaves no doubt about the answer."

 

I thought his conclusion was petty:

 

"If you are among the many Americans—of whatever sexual orientation—who favor expanding same-sex marriage, by all means celebrate today’s decision. Celebrate the achievement of a desired goal. Celebrate the opportunity for a new expression of commitment to a partner. Celebrate the availability of new benefits. But do not celebrate the Constitution. It had nothing to do with it."

 

Scalia had plenty of his usual colorfulness:

 

"But the Court ends this debate, in an opinion lacking even a thin veneer of law. Buried beneath the mummeries and straining-to-be-memorable passages of the opinion is a candid and startling assertion: No matter what it was the People ratified, the Fourteenth Amendment protects those rights that the Judiciary, in its “reasoned judgment,” thinks the Fourteenth Amendment ought to protect."

 

Not surprisingly then, the Federal Judiciary is hardly a cross-section of America. Take, for example, this Court, which consists of only nine men and women, all of them successful lawyers who studied at Harvard or Yale Law School. Four of the nine are natives of New York City. Eight of them grew up in east- and west-coast States. Only one hails from the vast expanse in-between. Not a single Southwesterner or even, to tell the truth, a genuine Westerner (California does not count). Not a single evangelical Christian (a group that comprises about one quarter of Americans), or even a Protestant of any denomination. The strikingly unrepresentative character of the body voting on today’s social upheaval would be irrelevant if they were functioning as judges, answering the legal question whether the American people had ever ratified a constitutional provision that was understood to proscribe the traditional definition of marriage. But of course the Justices in today’s majority are not voting on that basis; they say they are not. And to allow the policy question of same-sex marriage to be considered and resolved by a select, patrician, highly unrepresentative panel of nine is to violate a principle even more fundamental than no taxation without representation: no social transformation without representation."

 

"'The nature of marriage is that, through its enduring bond, two persons together can find other freedoms, such as expression, intimacy, and spirituality.' (Really? Who ever thought that intimacy and spirituality [whatever that means] were freedoms? And if intimacy is, one would think Freedom of Intimacy is abridged rather than expanded by marriage. Ask the nearest hippie. Expression, sure enough, is a freedom, but anyone in a long-lasting marriage will attest that that happy state constricts, rather than expands, what one can prudently say.)"

I just think this is a states rights issue, and that each state should vote on this issue.

I have several gay friends and relatives and to a person they are among the most moral, ethical, and compassionate people I know. They are an example for all of us.

 

And most of them already have the strength to pray for the people who oppose them.

 

We all have to meet Our Maker someday.

 

Sad, sad day in America.

Dang, where is Science Friction when we need him? We could add an entire category for SF and Cardinal. Guru could charge extra to access it. I'd pay.

As a very strong and devout Christian, I am looking for him too, odd isn't it?

What? The Lord, in my humble opinion, has nothing to do with this. I believe in Evolution. Homosexuality is an inherited trait. (Yes, I know, we haven't found the gay gene.) I would say that a gay couple raising a child with love, respect, and compassion is closer to Christ's message than the hillbillies I see yelling at their kids at Target.

 

We all have to meet Our Maker someday.

Since I am happy with this decision does that mean that you would be so kind as to direct your prayers elsewhere?

 

No, I will pray for you harder.

 

Sad, sad day in America.

We all get to meet Our Maker someday.

 

I like how when people challenge your absurd statements, you come back with the same line over and over instead of actually participating in a conversation or defending your statements.

 

Its a sad, sad day for BGP that discussion dies.

My final comment.

 

Revolution is coming in this country from the 1/4 of the US population that are Evangelical Christians.

 

I like our 1:3 odds against us though.

We all have to meet Our Maker someday.

 

If that stance is what sends me to hell, well, at least I'll know people.

My final comment.

 

Revolution is coming in this country from the 1/4 of the US population that are Evangelical Christians.

 

I like our 1:3 odds against us though.

I'm mainly surprised that some people are apparently surprised by this ruling. Maybe all of those law classes as an undergrad made me more apt to see what was going to happen, but I really just assumed everyone knew this was going to happen a few months ago.

Hallelujah.

 

Why people care so much about what others do baffles me. If it doesn't impact your life, let others be happy and get over it.

 

Oh, and we all have to meet our maker some day. There, now nobody has to say it for me.

I am going to find it very hard to pray for someone who believes in rights for gay marriage.

 

I will have to ask God for the strength to do so.

 

You know, Jesus said this "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." I can't find anywhere where he commands you to hate or detest others for their beliefs or lifestyles, yet you've managed to make that the singular representation of your character and faith on this board.

I like how when people challenge your absurd statements, you come back with the same line over and over instead of actually participating in a conversation or defending your statements.

 

Its a sad, sad day for BGP that discussion dies.

 

If discussion dies here, I'll go ahead and think that means there is no one alive in the world.