Bryan Fischer
The need of the hour: a governor who will defy judiciary on marriage
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
For the fourth time in recent weeks, an activist, tyrannical, unelected, unaccountable judge has overturned the express will of the people regarding the institution of marriage.
The most recent victims are the citizens of Oklahoma, who elevated protection for natural marriage to their state constitution with an astonishing 76% of the vote.
Yet one hubristic, out-of-control federal judge tossed their constitution out the window like so much scrap paper.
Months ago, 31 states had constitutional amendments in effect that defined marriage exclusively as the union of one man and one woman. Now, thanks to judicial arrogance, that number has been reduced to 27 and there is no reason to think this evil, wicked process will stop before sodomy-based marriage has been imposed on the entire country by judicial fiat.
These judges have shredded the first three words of the Constitution. It's "We the people," not "We the black-robed oligarchy." Somebody needs some remedial instruction in constitutional jurisprudence, and unfortunately, it's the very people who are imposing their twisted understanding of it on the rest of us.
What is the antidote to this judicial recklessness? The solution is simple. The great need of the hour is for a state governor to defy these judicial dictators. We need a governor who, if his people have spoken, refuses to comply with an order, even from the Supreme Court, which directs his state to recognize marriages based on the infamous crime against nature.
If ultimate political power belongs to the people and not to judges, then the people have the sacred privilege of making decisions on matters of public policy. And the more important that issue is, the more important it is that that privilege be respected.
It's time for governors to stand up against this phalanx of judicial King Georges and say no more.
Some will certainly accuse them of breaking the law. It's absolutely the reverse. They would actually be upholding the law and fulfilling their oath of office.
Only Congress, state legislatures and the people themselves can enact laws and amend constitutions. That is not and never has been the prerogative of judges.
In fact, these activist federal judges are the ones who are defying the rule of law and violating the Constitution. Even the Supreme Court, in its deeply flawed DOMA ruling last summer, declared flatly that it has always been the standard in America that states have the authority to define marriage. As the Court stated, "[N]o one questions the power of the States to define marriage."
Oklahoma's governor, Mary Fallin, issued a nice but meekly acquiescent statement in the wake of the Oklahoma ruling, saying she was "disappointed" in the judge's failure to recognize the constitutional right of Oklahomans to decide this matter for themselves.
We are past the point where we need disappointment from our governors. What we need is outright defiance.
If Oklahomans have a constitutional right to decide this for themselves, then their governor is under no obligation to let a renegade federal judge decide this for them.
I submit that she has a constitutional obligation to defy such a ruling as blatantly unconstitutional and thus without any legal validity.
In fact, to submit to such tyranny would require her to violate her own oath of office, an oath she took to uphold and defend the constitutions of both Oklahoma and the United States.
What America needs right now is a governor, with a state legislature willing to back him (generic use) up, who refuses to give permission to county clerks to issue flatly illegal marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and is prepared to fire any clerk who would defy the law and the state constitution by doing so.
We need a governor with enough titanium in his spine to say to federal judges what President Andrew Jackson said to the chief justice in his day: "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it." The judiciary, by the design of the Founders, was intended to be the least powerful of the three branches, with an extremely limited role in America's public life. Federal judges have arrogated to themselves an unconscionable and unconstitutional level of power. They must be stopped.
The Founders often said, "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." Benjamin Franklin proposed that as the motto for the national seal, and Thomas Jefferson liked it so much he put it on his own personal seal.
The federal judiciary has become the King George of our day. The question of our time is this: where is the governor who, in the spirit and energy of the Founders, will set America free by defying the king?
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
January 18, 2014
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
For the fourth time in recent weeks, an activist, tyrannical, unelected, unaccountable judge has overturned the express will of the people regarding the institution of marriage.
The most recent victims are the citizens of Oklahoma, who elevated protection for natural marriage to their state constitution with an astonishing 76% of the vote.
Yet one hubristic, out-of-control federal judge tossed their constitution out the window like so much scrap paper.
Months ago, 31 states had constitutional amendments in effect that defined marriage exclusively as the union of one man and one woman. Now, thanks to judicial arrogance, that number has been reduced to 27 and there is no reason to think this evil, wicked process will stop before sodomy-based marriage has been imposed on the entire country by judicial fiat.
These judges have shredded the first three words of the Constitution. It's "We the people," not "We the black-robed oligarchy." Somebody needs some remedial instruction in constitutional jurisprudence, and unfortunately, it's the very people who are imposing their twisted understanding of it on the rest of us.
What is the antidote to this judicial recklessness? The solution is simple. The great need of the hour is for a state governor to defy these judicial dictators. We need a governor who, if his people have spoken, refuses to comply with an order, even from the Supreme Court, which directs his state to recognize marriages based on the infamous crime against nature.
If ultimate political power belongs to the people and not to judges, then the people have the sacred privilege of making decisions on matters of public policy. And the more important that issue is, the more important it is that that privilege be respected.
It's time for governors to stand up against this phalanx of judicial King Georges and say no more.
Some will certainly accuse them of breaking the law. It's absolutely the reverse. They would actually be upholding the law and fulfilling their oath of office.
Only Congress, state legislatures and the people themselves can enact laws and amend constitutions. That is not and never has been the prerogative of judges.
In fact, these activist federal judges are the ones who are defying the rule of law and violating the Constitution. Even the Supreme Court, in its deeply flawed DOMA ruling last summer, declared flatly that it has always been the standard in America that states have the authority to define marriage. As the Court stated, "[N]o one questions the power of the States to define marriage."
Oklahoma's governor, Mary Fallin, issued a nice but meekly acquiescent statement in the wake of the Oklahoma ruling, saying she was "disappointed" in the judge's failure to recognize the constitutional right of Oklahomans to decide this matter for themselves.
We are past the point where we need disappointment from our governors. What we need is outright defiance.
If Oklahomans have a constitutional right to decide this for themselves, then their governor is under no obligation to let a renegade federal judge decide this for them.
I submit that she has a constitutional obligation to defy such a ruling as blatantly unconstitutional and thus without any legal validity.
In fact, to submit to such tyranny would require her to violate her own oath of office, an oath she took to uphold and defend the constitutions of both Oklahoma and the United States.
What America needs right now is a governor, with a state legislature willing to back him (generic use) up, who refuses to give permission to county clerks to issue flatly illegal marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and is prepared to fire any clerk who would defy the law and the state constitution by doing so.
We need a governor with enough titanium in his spine to say to federal judges what President Andrew Jackson said to the chief justice in his day: "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it." The judiciary, by the design of the Founders, was intended to be the least powerful of the three branches, with an extremely limited role in America's public life. Federal judges have arrogated to themselves an unconscionable and unconstitutional level of power. They must be stopped.
The Founders often said, "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." Benjamin Franklin proposed that as the motto for the national seal, and Thomas Jefferson liked it so much he put it on his own personal seal.
The federal judiciary has become the King George of our day. The question of our time is this: where is the governor who, in the spirit and energy of the Founders, will set America free by defying the king?
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
