The law of the land governs us all. That’s worth keeping top of mind as Georgia and the rest of the nation absorb, and subsequently act on, Friday’s sweeping U.S. Supreme Court ruling that plows away legal obstacles to same-sex marriage.
The long-anticipated ruling in the bellwether case of Obergefell v. Hodges is certain to sit poorly and offend greatly among vast swaths of this state’s conservative, deeply religious population. Indeed, it’s inevitable that the opposition will prove bipartisan in nature, given that social conservatism runs deep among both the red and blue rivers that run through Georgia.
That is to be expected, and sentiments against gay marriage should be respected. Such dissent is a vital part of our democratic system of debating ideas and ideals, and even right and wrong.
Opposition to same-sex marriage often stems from deep-seated interpretations of religious faith. The Constitution safeguards such beliefs in its First Amendment. The nation’s high court has likewise found that other language in the Constitution grants gays and lesbians an equal right to unhindered marriage in all 50 states.
Even before the court’s 103-page document was posted, it was criticized first by fellow justices. Multiple dissenting opinions comprise two-thirds of the landmark ruling. The dissenters’ passion easily equals that of the ardent supporters of same-sex marriage. Again, that is part of our American process of peacefully clashing over ideals as the nation continually clatters along the rocky, never-ending road toward evolving views on controversial issues.
What is most important now and in coming days is that we remain cognizant, regardless of our beliefs, that this is a nation of laws and well-ordered processes.
The South should know that better than any other region. Our intransigence to inevitable economic and societal change led to a bloody Civil War 150 years ago. A century later, fierce resistance to the dismantling of legal racial discrimination likewise hurt Southerners’ cause and stymied what should have been natural, peaceful progress in these parts. And on the day that the court delivered its ruling, President Barack Obama was in Charleston, S.C. delivering the eulogy for a pastor murdered by a deranged gunman intent on reigniting race-based conflagration.
Much of the South has thus learned the rough way the inestimable value of working within our system of law and governance to both set policy and settle disagreements. We can’t lose sight of the wisdom of that civic order anytime soon, not over the issue of gay marriage or any other divisive matter.
It is thus very much to the civic good that Georgia’s elected leaders have behaved in a most responsible manner around this hard-sided issue. That’s the opposite of our neighbor to the west, where an obstinate Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice chose to defy a federal judge on gay marriage earlier this year.
Not so here. Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens’ had wisely telegraphed well in advance that Georgia’s legal apparatus would comply with whatever the high court’s ruling might be. His office quickly affirmed that stance Friday.
In a statement, Olens said that, “In our system of government, the Supreme Court bears the ultimate responsibility for determining the constitutionality of our laws. Once the Supreme Court has ruled, its Order is the law of the land. As such, Georgia will follow the law and adhere to the ruling of the Court.”
We believe this newspaper’s late editor Ralph McGill would be pleased by Olens’ pragmatic position. It is to be commended in this day where winning political points at any cost is an accepted norm. Olens’ new memo to “all state agencies and department heads” makes plain the new legal landscape by noting that “this mandate requires Georgia to recognize same sex marriage in the same way it recognizes marriage between a man and a woman.”
It is equally evident that this ruling’s rigid reality causes grave discomfort for those who believe, as passionately as same-sex marriage supporters ever did, that the only legitimate marriage is between one man and one woman. Many people of faith, and others, are deeply distressed and pained by the high court’s action.
Their strongly held, sincerely derived beliefs deserve respect going forward. A civil society should have no place for vitriolic disparagement of those who hold opposing viewpoints.
Never in this country should opponents – or proponents, for that matter – of gay marriage feel bullied, or cowed into silence. A respect for law should triumph, not the run-and-gun bullying of flash-mob rule that seems ever more common in this social media age of slash-and-burn anonymous commenting by keyboard warriors unacquainted with either social graces or civil discourse. Shouting down robust, respectful disagreement does no good to any disputed cause; indeed it injures the very ideals that have sustained America’s greatness since the Constitution was first committed to parchment.
Those granite-tough principles have persevered through countless ebbs, flows and riptides of American passion and opinions around issues that have divided us through the centuries. Gay marriage is no different. We have the tools and forums to deal with this controversial matter, and any other, going forward. We should always use them.
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