I have a big problem with today's US Supreme Court court ruling. Before you jump at me and scream obscenities and call me a bigot, let me explain why:

The United States was founded as a Constitutional Federal Republic. What this means is there exists a governing document that establishes a small central government and leaves all non-enumerated powers to the states to decide.

By taking it upon themselves to interpret non-enumerated powers through the lens of the 14th Amendment (which was meant for equality of the newly-freed slaves), they are trampling the 10th Amendment (states' rights) and causing a slippery slope with the 1st Amendment (specifically freedoms of religion and speech). This also continues the trend of nationalizing the U.S. Government, at the expense of rights for the States and for the People.

I believe that the "correct" decision would have been to invoke the 10th Amendment to determine that the States shall decide the law on their own. The end result of this would be that any states who passed laws through direct elections or through their legislatures would stand, and any states that had determinations through the court system would be overturned.

I believe that many states would take such an opportunity to determine that it is time to remove government from the "business" of marriage (such as Oklahoma) and leave it in the hands of clergy. Government's "business", due to the premise of separation of Church and State, should be to handle civil unions and civil contracts only. Therefore, if people differ on beliefs of marriage, then there is no conflict. At the religious level, marriage continues as it has, and at the civil level, consenting adults can form a civil contract recognized by government for purposes of inheritance, taxation, etc.. Government's only "business" in marriage is control of the populace for tax purposes, and they will be able to keep their grubby hands on the populace in this manner, as well, making them happy.

We have seen a great deal of vitriol spread by politicians and media over the past few years concerning the definition of marriage (and just about every other topic, no matter the importance). They do this to divide-and-conquer. It is important to keep this in mind because "A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand". Be tolerant and respectful of those around you - even if you disagree with their beliefs - because we will all suffer if we remain divided.

I invite the opinions of others, since I'm sure many will disagree with me.