Should all of us who oppose the Marshall-Newman amendment, which outlaws gay marriage in Virginia, be rooting for opponents of California’s Prop 8 to appeal to the Supreme Court? According to evangelical opponents of gay marriage, yes we should!
Last week, the case for signing over California to the Prince of Darkness was made on American Family Radio by David Barton, a Christian activist who served as vice-chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 1998 to 2006. “Right now, the damage is limited to California only,” Barton noted. But he feared that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote in an appeal, “will go for California, which means that all 31 states [that have banned gay marriage] will go down in flames.”
Ah, flames…warm, toasty flames! Ha. Seriously, though, if Barton’s right that “the odds are 999 out of 1000 that [the Supreme Court will] uphold the California decision [striking down Proposition 8],” then I’m all for it going to the Supreme Court. The question is, are those really the odds? That’s what I’m not so sure about, but ultimately, it might be a risk worth taking to get rid of Marshall-Newman and its fellow “hate amendments” in states across America.
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