Upcoming Supreme Court Ruling

Rev. Dr. Jeff Long

On June 26 or 27, the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to issue long-awaited rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8, in which citizens of America's most populous state (and the 5th largest economy in the world) voted to ban same-sex marriage. The high court, which goes by the acronym SCOTUS, may choose to narrowly rule on the situation in California. It may, however, issue a decision national in scope, as was the case in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision on abortion. With the president's support for gay marriage and the recent decision by the Boy Scouts to permit gay Scouts (but not gay adult leaders), this is a much-anticipated ruling. The other day, in my service club, we had a discussion about the Boy Scouts allowing gay Scouts. I thought to myself - "What teenaged boy is going to 'come out' to other boys when he doesn't have to?" The discussion went on for at least a half an hour, as we struggled to decide whether or not to continue our sponsorship of a troop. (We decided on no change, by the way.) That discussion is just another example of how preoccupied we all seem to be about sex.

I'm not saying I don't care - but I care far more about how the government is spending money. About that subject, it seems we all just shrug our collective shoulders. But sexual orientation? Oh, boy, that's another kettle of fish. It's sad, isn't it?