UPDATED: Thanks to SCOTUS and Obama, what lies in store for us?

http://terrellaftermath.com/

The Volokh Conspiracy:  Of marriage and liberty – some thoughts on Justice Thomas’ Obergefell dissent  " Of the four dissenting opinions in today’s Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, Justice Clarence Thomas’ is by far the most interesting and compelling. Thomas effectively argues that state recognition of marriage cannot be a form of “liberty” protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because liberty only includes protection of individual rights against government interference, not the conferral of government benefits. His analysis has an important kernel of truth. But it ultimately fails to prove that laws banning same-sex marriage are constitutional." . . .Much more on this subject here: The Volokh Conspiracy

The Unlikely Turning Point in the Same Sex Marriage Battle . . . "So immune are our friends to history, they likely do not know who it is they have to thank for the accelerated transmutation of this highly unlikely idea into law. As I note in my forthcoming book, Scarlet Letters, if there were a Che Guevara in this movement, it was his hysterical homeboy, Perez Hilton." . . .

Post-SCOTUS Gay Marriage: Religious institution tax exemptions at risk. . . "Interestingly, Oppenheimer doesn’t argue for abolishment of tax exemptions as punishment for holding sacred the belief in traditional marriage. So why strip churches of their tax-exempt status? To redistribute the wealth, of course; use one social issue as a guise to push another, completely unrelated issue." . . .

Update: First published in the comments section, we post here now, this response by Robert Deffinbaugh of Richardson, TX, to the tax issue mentioned previously:

1. Without a doubt, there are some (too many) “churches” or “religious organizations” that are really just a tax dodge.  In other words, abuses of the non-profit exemption do occur, and this may tempt some to punish all, rather than to weed out the abusers.

2. There is a kind of “logic” to the argument put forward regarding taxing churches.  Churches and religious organizations get an advantage not granted others.  Others do pay for benefits we receive (but then, that is what welfare does as well – with few objections).  The apparent logic here may seem compelling, but. . .

3. The founding fathers (as I recall) believed that the power to tax was the power to control, and to destroy.  The church cannot truly be free from the state when and where the state has the power to tax it.  Our government can hardly be ignorant of this fact.  Note the ever-growing power of the IRS, and their efforts to hinder conservative organizations.  (And now, the IRS runs the health care system.)  The “good” of the people (health care) may become the tail that wags the dog, and thus in the name of “good” churches will be crippled, at best, or destroyed, at worst.  All of this turns “the separation of church and state” on its head.  The power to tax the church will be a key piece in any plan to abolish it.  The more the church is perceived as unloving and bigoted, the more the public will support taxing it.

4. Jesus taught that we should render to Caesar (government) that which belongs to Caesar, and to God that which belongs to Him (Matthew 22:21).  The apostle Paul instructed Christians to “pay their taxes” (Romans 13:7), so we need to be careful in all such matters, that we are not failing to submit to government by refusing to pay our taxes.  The real question before us is, “What taxes are legitimate in God’s sight?”  What does belong to Caesar?

5.  It is my personal opinion that we can expect the taxation of the church (and the removal of claiming contributions to the church as a tax exemption) to come soon, as a thinly veiled attack on the church of our Lord.

6. Other indirect forms of opposition and persecution should be anticipated.  Legal action based upon gender beliefs and practices, fire codes, etc.  All these, in my opinion, will be leveled at the church.

7. We should bear in mind that while such “less than direct” opposition may come about soon in our country, saints throughout church history (and around the world today) are not merely being taxed, they are being imprisoned and killed for naming our Lord as Savior.

8. The way we respond to such opposition is crucial, and a matter of obedience to Christ and the adornment of the gospel – see 1 Peter 2.

UPDATE 2: Obergefell v. Hodges and Tax Exemption for Churches . . . "Polycarp was martyred about 155 A.D.  He was first burned at the stake, and then stabbed to speed up his dying.
"According to the traditional account of his death, before his final ordeal the Roman official asked him, “What harm is there to say ‘Lord Caesar,’ and to offer incense, and all that sort of thing, to save yourself?' ”. . .

 His Church, no stranger to strife, was born in adversity. It grew from its courage to resist. It matured by failing to conform.