Later this month, the Supreme Court will deliver its decision concerning same-sex marriage. There are two possibilities for how they might rule. The first option will affect churches and Christian organizations quickly. The second will also have an impact, but will take place over a longer period of time.

One possibility is a ruling that will essentially force same-sex marriage on the entire country. The justices might argue that state constitutional amendments defining traditional marriage violate the equal protection clause. The justices will essentially be arguing that the sponsors of the Fourteenth Amendment not only had blacks in mind but also homosexuals and wanted to prevent states from treating gay couples differently than heterosexual couples.

If the justices say these amendments violate the equal protection clause, they will be creating a fundamental right for homosexuals to marry one another. This new constitutional right will have to be balanced against other constitutional rights like the right to free speech and the right of free association. Soon judges and bureaucrats will enforce laws and regulations that advance homosexuality at the expense of free speech and religious liberty.

The other possibility would be for the court to leave the definition of marriage up to the states. I think this is less likely. If the justices rule that some of the earlier federal judges were incorrect, then what would be the status of people who received marriage licenses in those states? Their state constitutional amendment prohibited gay marriage, but a federal appeals court judge allowed it. Are those marriages invalid? State courts and legislatures would have the difficult task of trying to sort it out.

No matter how the court rules, there will be debate and dissension. In the oral arguments the solicitor general of the United States made it clear in many of his responses that there will be a battle between legalized same-sex marriage and religious liberty. As Christians we need to be prepared for a battle over marriage however the court rules.