African-American minister Rev. Gerald Agee, who pastors a church in Oakland, insists that there is no civil right to homosexual marriage, and that those officials supporting or allowing it have lost the right to lead. A recent poll by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that African Americans oppose homosexual marriage by a 2-to-1 ratio.
Meanwhile, Rev. Paul Cruz, who pastors a Los Angeles church, says the same-sex weddings taking place in San Francisco violate both God's law and California state law, passed by the voters in 2000. "We're not going to stand for it," Cruz says. "We're going to make our voice known."
Conservative Lawmaker Targets Judicial Activists
But many political analysts predict that it could be a long time before Congress takes up the issue of amending the Constitution over this issue. In the interim, Indiana Republican John Hostettler has thrown down the gauntlet to his fellow lawmakers in the House of Representatives with a bill that would help put an end to activists courts and their efforts to legalize homosexual marriage.
In order to prevent the courts from continually trying to redefine the institution of marriage, Hostettler has introduced HR 3313, a bill that would remove all issues having to do with marriage from any court's jurisdiction.
"Simply put," the Congressman explains, "the federal courts don't have jurisdiction over marriage issues. They can't hear them. And if they can't hear cases regarding marriage policy, they can't redefine the sacred institution and establish a national precedent for homosexual marriage."
Hostettler says his bill would leave such issues to be determined by individual states. He believes the framers of the U.S. Constitution knew states could do a better job with an issue such as marriage than a central government would.
Hostettler says he has lots of support for his bill among conservatives in both the House and Senate. Still, the chances of the bill being passed are estimated to be fairly even.
=====
Southern Baptist Convention (http://www.sbc.net)
© 2004 Agape Press.
