By M.H. Cavanaugh
Christian Action League
January 16, 2015
WASHINGTON – The United States Supreme Court announced Friday that it will review the Sixth Circuit Federal Appeals Court’s decision that upheld traditional marriage in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
According to Liberty Counsel: “In the ruling affirming natural marriage laws, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based its decision on Baker v. Nelson, stating that it was still good law. In the Baker decision, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that a law defining marriage as one man and one woman did not violate the U.S. Constitution, the United State Supreme Court ruled there was no federal question, and Baker became precedent.”
Tami Fitzgerald, the former head of Vote for Marriage N.C., the coalition organization that led the fight for North Carolina’s marriage amendment, was quick to respond. She said the news was what supporters of traditional marriage had been praying for since the state’s marriage amendment had been overturned. She said a decision from the High Court could “settle once and for all that states have the right to recognize marriage as the union of only one man and one woman.”
The Raleigh News and Observer reports the Court “will hear 2 1/2 hours of argument, probably in the last week of April. The first 90 minutes will be devoted to the question of whether the Constitution requires states ‘to license a marriage between two people of the same sex.’”
“The last hour will concern a question that will be moot if the answer to the first one is yes: whether states must ‘recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state.’”
Fitzgerald said, “This could mean that the ‘handwriting is on the wall,’ as Justice Scalia warned in the Windsor case which struck down the federal definition of marriage in 2013. However, we are hopeful that the result will be the return to natural marriage for the country.”
“The court will hear arguments in April and decide the issue before the end of its term in June,” she added.
In October, the Christian Action League reported that federal Judge William Osteen had granted North Carolina’s Legislative leadership standing to intervene and defend the state’s marriage amendment. The necessity of the action was because the state’s attorney general refused to give it a vigorous defense. Last week, House Speaker Tim Moore and Sen. Phil Berger, President Pro-Tempore of the state’s Senate, filed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court its appeal of the case that knocked down North Carolina’s marriage amendment as unconstitutional.
Fitzgerald claimed, “Because the leaders of our General Assembly have kept the appeals alive, a favorable ruling from the High Court would mean the reinstatement of North Carolina’s definition of marriage as only the union of one man and one woman. We should thank President Berger and Speaker Moore!”
Rev. Mark Creeh, executive director of the Christian Action League, issued a call to prayer.
“I firmly believe every Bible-believing, God-fearing, follower of Jesus Christ, should literally fall to his knees and pray at the hearing of this news. Sodom was destroyed, Nevertheless, the Bible reveals that God was willing to save Sodom for the sake of Abraham’s petitions. Perhaps God would be willing to hear our prayers for the salvation of marriage and our nation,” said Dr. Creech.
He added, “I realize some would argue that my remarks are pure hyperbole. But this momentous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court could either signal a forthcoming judgment or the Eternal Judge’s decision to spare us – to redeem us from our wicked ways. We should all repent of our own personal sins and earnestly seek the Lord. We should claim the promise of Proverbs 21:1, and pray God will direct the heart of the justices like a stream of water; leading them to where it pleases him.”