This is in the news as the Senate passed a bill declaring Same Sex Marriage legal. Is this bill actually constitutional? Is the Supreme Court Decision instituting same sex marriage constitutional? The Constitution provides that States have Jurisdiction over all matters not mentioned in the Constitution or determined to be under Federal jurisdiction. This is supported by the recent decision repealing Roe v Wade, which returned jurisdiction of abortion to each State. Marriage was originally a religious concept but later has been under the jurisdiction of the States and is not mentioned otherwise in the Constitution. It could be made a Federal issue with an Amendment to the Constitution, but that has not happened. Therefore, both the Supreme Court decision and the current bill are illegal and contrary to the Constitution. 

Why did the founders structure our Government with States having powers over certain matters. This is actually how the Constitution remains adaptable to technological advances and societal change. The idea that liberals often attribute to the entire Constitution, “it is a living document subject to change and interpretation,” is false and most powers are assigned to the States. Consequently, Constitutional Amendments are decided by the states, rather than Congress or the Courts. The purpose for this was to raise the bar for change from the branches of Federal Government to State Legislatures, who could amend the Constitution when necessary.

The wisdom of this purposeful design it to protect the existing rights given to the people in the Constitution, referred to as the Bill of Rights. Now that Congress and the Supreme Court have violated the clear intent and direction of the Constitution, we are seeing conflicts between our fundamental rights and the new illegal laws Congress is pursuing regarding Same Sex Marriage. For example, how can Religious people exercise their right to faith which tells them homosexuality is wrong, much less subject to a marriage covenant, when the Federal Government sanctions such behavior. Surely the Courts and Federal government will make demands for religious people to comply and recognize the law, which is contrary to their free exercise of religion. The first Amendment prohibits government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion. When they illegally redefine marriage, an institution established by God and intrinsically religious, they violated the First Amendment and had no authority to do so under the Constitution. One may say, “But, you can get married with a license from the State Courthouse.” Exactly, States alone have jurisdiction over marriage as it was not mentioned in the Constitution. Secular people often ignore marriage as it is a religious covenant between a man and woman in the eyes of God. It is time for Congress and the Supreme Court to follow the Constitution and leave marriage to the States.