The State of California’s recent decision to start allowing gay marriages has caused an uproar, of sorts, in some corners.
These people are concerned about their values, their traditions, their lifestyle and their beliefs. So, many of them are calling on the federal government to “step in” and fix this “problem.”
One thing that these people are definitely NOT concerned with, though, is the US Constitution.
The Constitution was written under what’s called “positive grant.” What this means is quite simple. The federal government is authorized to exercise only those powers which are positively granted to it by the Constitution. If a power is specifically listed in the Constitution, the federal government can do it.
And, of course, the opposite holds true. If the federal government isn’t given a power in the Constitution, then that power is “reserved.”
This principle was so important to the founding fathers that they codified it in law as the 10th Amendment:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The is not one single word in the Constitution about marriage - of any kind. The Federal Government isn’t given the power to regulate, approve, deny, or anything else in regards to people’s marriage choices.
Period.
And if we someday decide that politicians in Washington D.C. should have the power to determine what is and is not a valid marriage, this country will be in even more danger than it is today.
The best “solution” this “problem” would be to get the government out of the marriage business altogether.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I am more concerned with the State Supreme court overturning the will of the people of California on this and many others issues. I would agree that the government needs to get out the marriage business
June 24th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
That was awesome, when Jesse Ventura said it…
June 25th, 2008 at 5:49 am
N.A.P - A lot of people have said it….Harry Browne and Ron Paul, for example. It’s a concept, not an original idea.
It’s awesome, in my opinion, when anyone says it.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Tenth Amendment Center
The author misrepresents the US Constitution. Murder, robbery, and the long list of crimes that are common are not listed as not receiving protection in that document. The homosexual acts were illegal at the time of the ratification of the Constitution and at the time of the inclusion of the Bill of Rights.
Lusts take many forms and they never should be considered the basis for the granting of ‘rights’. They are what they are and if they are not outlawed, neither should they be protected by law.
The protection of the public mores has been a chief duty of government most of history.
Justin Ingalls