DALLAS — Evangelical leader and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress claims that today’s court ruling demonstrates that “the high court bases its decisions on the shifting sands of public opinion rather than enduring legal and moral principles.”  Jeffress, pastor of the influential, 11,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas, offers these insights:

1.  There is no absolute, constitutional right to marry.  Americans already recognize/accept government’s right to restrict marriage (siblings, parent/children, polygamists can’t marry).  If you start expanding the definition of marriage between one man and one woman, where do you stop?

2.  In 1885, SCOTUS defined marriage as “union between a man and woman which is the fountain of all that is good in society” (Murphey v. Ramsey). What has changed between then and today (obviously the Constitution has not changed)? In 1996, President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, defining marriage as a union of a man and woman. What new revelation did he and Mrs. Clinton receive that caused them to reject this bill that Clinton signed into law? The only answer is shifting public opinion and political expediency.

3.  A Hoover Institute study shows that countries that expand the definition of marriage see a drop in the rate of heterosexual marriage (if marriage is anything you want it to be, why bother to get married), creating instability in society.

4.  To equate gay marriage with heterosexual marriage is to devalue unique contributions that both mothers and fathers make in the lives of children. Princeton sociologist Sara McLanahan says there is no better environment to raise a child than one in which a child is connected to their biological father and mother. Though not always possible, government should support rather than devalue that arrangement.

Dr. Robert Jeffress is pastor of the 11,000-member First Baptist Church in Dallas and hosts a daily radio program heard on 761 stations nationwide. Jeffress is also an adjunct professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and the author of 20 books. Dr. Jeffress has been interviewed on more than 1000 radio and television programs.