OFFICIAL STATEMENT
Of the Romanian Pentecostal Churches’ Union of the USA and Canada
June 30, 2015
As representatives and spiritual leaders of our organization, and on behalf of the members of our churches, we hereby protest and show our indignation to the narrow majority decision taken by the Supreme Court, on June 26th, 2015, in the case(s) known as Obergefell v Hodges (also Tanco v. Haslam, DeBoer v. Snyder, and Bourke v. Beshear). This ruling will legalize same-sex marriage in all of the United States.
It is our belief that some of the decisions taken by the Supreme Court (including but not limited to legalizing abortion) have been defying and mocking the Creator, the Constitution of the United States, the human history and the laws of nature.
Without entering into legal arguments, it is our opinion that in this case the five Supreme Court Judges acted as legislators rather than judiciaries. The bill for the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that clearly defines the marriage to be a legal union between a man and a woman was passed in the Senate with a vote of 85–14 and a vote in the House of Representatives of 342–67. On September 21, 1996, the act was signed into legislation. This section of the bill reflected the will of the people, the correct interpretation and clarification of the Constitution on this matter, and the will of God our Creator.
The fact that the Court assumed a role outside its boundaries is evident even in the words of the judges that voted against this decision. For example, Chief Justice Roberts, one of the four, said it so eloquently in his dissent: “The court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the states and orders the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia, for the Kalahari Bushmen and the Han Chinese, the Carthaginians and the Aztecs.” …“Just who do we think we are?”
Accepting marriage as the legal union only between one man and one woman cannot be in violation of the Constitution as the liberal judges want to make us believe. This truth is emphasized by Justice Scalia when he says: “The five Justices who compose today’s majority are entirely comfortable concluding that every State violated the Constitution for all of the 135 years between the Fourteenth Amendment’s ratification and Massachusetts’ permitting of same-sex marriages in 2003.” He goes on to say that in order for homosexual marriage to be institutionalized, the Supreme Court had to find a right that actually does not exist: “They have discovered in the Fourteenth Amendment a ‘fundamental right’ overlooked by every person alive at the time of ratification, and almost everyone else in the time since.” Justice Scalia’s frustration continues with blunt sarcasm when he shines the light on the arrogance and superiority that his colleagues assume: “These Justices know that limiting marriage to one man and one woman is contrary to reason; they know that an institution as old as government itself, and accepted by every nation in history until 15 years ago, cannot possibly be supported by anything other than ignorance or bigotry. And they are willing to say that any citizen who does not agree with that, who adheres to what was, until 15 years ago, the unanimous judgment of all generations and all societies, stands against the Constitution.” And we certainly agree with the same Justice when he points out the fact that the Court assumed powers invested by the Constitution only in the Legislative not in the Judicial branch, and this move is a danger to democracy itself: “This is a naked judicial claim to legislative—indeed, super-legislative—power; a claim fundamentally at odds with our system of government. Except as limited by a constitutional prohibition agreed to by the People, the States are free to adopt whatever laws they like, even those that offend the esteemed Justices’ ‘reasoned judgment.’ A system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy.”
What we believe the ruling of the Supreme Court does, as another one of the four,
Justice Alito warns, is to establish a new legal paradigm that will be used against the true
Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all those who disagree: “The decision will also have other important consequences. It will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy. In the course of its opinion, the majority compares traditional marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and women… The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent.”
We are not trying to cause public unrest, nor attempting to incite violence, but we must exercise our right to free speech, standing behind our principles and condemning the Court’s decision that condones sin. No one on earth should have the right to legalize iniquity. We are not God, we are just mortal humans that will face the Supreme Judge at the end of our earthly life. God has decided this issue after Adam and Eve were created, when He said: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Gen. 2.24 (NKJV)
We are devoted and sincere believers in the teachings of the Holy Scripture, and consequentially, we cannot accept same-sex marriages in our communities, and we will never perform marriages for people of the same-sex, regardless of the price we need to pay. This is not a statement of hatred towards homosexuals, however, it is a statement of hatred towards sin. We freely preach against adultery, lying, stealing, and other similar iniquities without being labeled as haters of the people that commit those sins. There is no Biblical basis that this particular immoral act should receive special or unique treatment or tolerance, on the contrary, anywhere this behavior is mentioned in the
Bible, it is either to be condemned or punished, and always a sin. Among other biblical texts, two passages in Leviticus express clearly God’s perspective on this kind of relationship: Leviticus 18.22 (NKJV) – “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination.” Leviticus 20.13 (NKJV) – “If a man lies with a male as one lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.”
Although we recognize the freedom of will that God has given to every single human
being, and the freedom to exercise that will, we are nonetheless called to a moral standard set forth by God, and to the proclamation of that standard revealed in the Holy Scripture.
This is one of the times when we have to choose disobedience towards man so that we can obey God. We will pray without ceasing for our leaders, government officials, and for our country, however, based on our First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom, we will continuously speak against any transgression and call people to repentance!
As encouragement for all the believers we use the words of Paul the Apostle found in the
book of Ephesians 6.10-13 (NKJV):
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
May God have mercy on us and may He bless His Church
and the USA,
Amen!