You are cordially invited

I wonder how many wedding invitations went out this afternoon in California from same-sex couples. Judge Walker has just struck down Proposition 8 which had amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage after the State Supreme Court had ruled that nothing in the constitution prevented it, effectively legalizing it. Already, the right is is signaling their displeasure saying that this is a slap in the face to the millions who voted in favor of Prop 8. In this case they are correct.

That being said, supporters of prop 8 deserved to have their faces slapped. When a majority of the people agree with the right's ideas, they are more than happy to live in a democracy. When they are in the minority, they remind us all that we are a republic. Technically speaking, we are still a republic in that the President and Vice-President are not directly elected officials. Today, all other elected officials hold office as a result of a democratic election. We are not, however, simply a republic. There is a condition. That is called the Constitution of the United States.

The primary purpose of government, as I've written before is to secure the unalienable rights of all its citizens. In California, a majority sought to impose their will to deny the unalienable right to get married to a minority. The Constitution does not allow this. Indeed, if 99% of the country wanted to denounce same-sex marriage as a purely legal matter, they should not be allowed to do so. The idea that unalienable rights are endowed by a Creator and not a government proscribes the government from taking them away. Unalienable means that these rights cannot be made alien to (apart from) you.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recently held a press conference where he called for a law to prevent a presumably liberal judge from considering Shariah (Islamic) law in making decisions. This is a purely political position. The law already exists. It is called The Constitution.