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Can Our Government Legislate Morality?
June 26, 2015 will go down in the history books as a turning point in American (and human) history. The United States Supreme Court determined by 5-4 vote that same-sex marriages are legal in all 50 states. While I cannot say I am surprised by the ruling, I am astonished at how quickly things are changing in our country. I do not think this is the end of the political battle about homosexual marriages at all, any more than the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 ended the debate on abortion. At the same time, what the Supreme Court has decided reflects a very rapidly spreading attitude toward marriage and morality in general that will only make it increasingly difficult to return to the traditional (and Biblical) definition of marriage.
Recently I have heard folks asking an important question in regard to this issue: Does the government have the right to legislate morality? In other words, is it right for our political leaders to enact laws defining what is morally right, or should they take a more neutral approach in an effort to preserve personal liberty? In this article I hope to provide some thoughts that will help us think logically and (more importantly) Biblically about this question.
First, we need to understand that God has given our government authority to enact laws. “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Romans 13:1). For what purpose are these laws written and enforced? “For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil…For it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid” (Romans 13:3-4, emphasis added). Laws are servants of good and evil, punishing those who do wrong and defending those who do right. In other words, laws are inherently moral, even if they are opposed to God’s morals. As Ben Franklin once said, “Laws without morals are in vain.”
Take murder, for example. Our government enforces laws against taking someone’s life, and rightly so; that is its job. We are thankful for the fact that the government is involved in this moral issue. The same could be applied to rape, child abuse, stealing, etc. These are moral issues, yet we happily defend the government’s authority to administer laws punishing those activities. I understand we can take this too far (for instance, I don’t believe our government should punish fornication or force people to follow Jesus). It is possible to have moral laws without establishing a theocracy. But when we board the plane of politics, it is impossible to check morality at the gate.
To borrow a line from Geisler and Turek and their book Legislating Morality, “the question is not whether or not we can legislate morality, but whose morality will we legislate?” We all appeal to some moral standard when voicing our opinion about gay marriage, for example. Those who argue for it say things like, “It is right…” or “We ought to…” Whether they like it or not, this terminology implies a moral, universal standard of conduct that they think we all should obey. What is it, and from where does it get its authority? Christians do the same thing, only we readily acknowledge that God is the ultimate Lawgiver and that His ways define what’s right because He created us. Again, we cannot avoid speaking in absolutes and moral terms when making laws. Even atheists argue on moral grounds.
Perhaps another issue will be helpful to mention. Proponents of gay marriage will speak of this as merely a civil rights issue, comparing it to the racial equality movement of the 50s and 60s. While there are important differences between the two, we must recognize that both were not only civil rights problems but moral ones. Gay marriage is not just a political question; it is (and must be) a moral question. So who gets to decide if it is moral or not? The real question is not whether homosexuals should be treated with dignity and kindness (that’s a given), but whether or not our government can redefine what God has already defined. This is the difference between race and marriage—our government was right to give blacks legal standing equal to that of whites, but it is wrong to change God’s original design for marriage.
I love homosexuals, just as much as I love any other person living in sin. And while it is true that laws written by men will not change hearts or force people to live godly lives (which is what many of those who oppose legislating morality are really saying), how can Christians support laws that change God’s own definition of what is good and right?
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
