Thoughts From The Other Side Of The Obergefell Decision

Thoughts From The Other Side Of The Obergefell Decision.

Some helpful thoughts in this essay by Hunter Baker from the Federalist.

Lots of people are agitated about the supreme court decision, and I understand why.  But I have also been scratching my head, because we really just traveled another mile down the road we were already traveling. This doesn’t seem like new “news” at all. It just makes official what has been happening unofficially for a long time.  Hunter Baker gives a good explanation of why this hurts for so many Christians:

“So, why the distress now? Why does Obergefell fall so heavily? It’s a little bit like being a child whose parents’ marriage is slowly disintegrating. But for years they held on. The kid knows a divorce is probably going to happen. The things that tied the family together have slowly been broken or dissolved in a long and painful process. But right up until the moment when it really happens, the child has hope. The parents criticized each other, refused to give credit, were eager to assign blame. And now it feels like it’s over. It’s not just over. Some people are throwing parties to celebrate. They’ve been hoping for this divorce for years and are thrilled to see it happen.”

He also tells a compelling story of his own journey to “real” faith in Christ (vs. the shallow cultural variety that was so common during his upbringing in the South) and how that same journey informs him now.

“Many are aglow in the wake of Obergefell. They didn’t like that old marriage between Christianity and the U.S.A. In fact, they thought America needed a new mate altogether. Call it scientific humanism or therapeutic deism, whatever. To them, this looks like the most hopeful moment yet.

“It’s hard to be the person at the party who isn’t celebrating. But I have no choice other than to be hopeful lest I discount my own conversion and spiritual quest. I believe Jesus is real and that he is the son of God. I know that men and women still seek him. Many will come as I did. He will change their lives forever as he changed mine. I know that the church and many Christians in times and places across history and around the globe have faced far greater challenges. No social change, no worldly court, no legislation will re-orient me.”