Legislate Now, Think Later

It is a very liberal habit: Legislate now, think later. It is what urgency demands. 

In 1974, when things were not moving hastily enough for a few of the progressives in the Episcopal Church, three bishops, two retired and one resigned, took it upon themselves to "ordain" eleven women to the priesthood, despite the fact that their church, and the worldwide Anglican Communion, forbade it. The stance against such ordinations had nothing to do with sexism but theology, particularly the theological nature of the sacraments. But the liberalizers did not care; to them, a social wrong needed to be made right, and so they ordained eleven women who became known as the "Philadelphia Eleven." The eleven went forth and served God; the church denounced their ordinations, even revoking them, but the liberalizers stood defiant. Things, eventually, went their way. And yet the fall-out, and the disintegration of the Episcopal Church, continued, with some auguring that the ordination of women only opened the door to even more liberal ideas. Pshaw! said the liberalizers. 

And then, well, the consecration of an openly gay man as bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire in 2003 split the church even more. Even today, seven years later, some wonder what minority is next to be liberated from alleged oppression. Those of us who are Episcopalians in exile know that it was standard-issue commentary that the ordination of V. Gene Robinson had nothing to do with gay marriage; that Mr. Robinson's consecration as bishop would not lead to anything else. Of course, Mr. Robinson has hardly done anything else in his ministry but advocate for gay marriage, even serving as a principal witness in legislative hearings on gay marriage in the NH state capitol. You think ordaining a gay man to the bishopric will lead to further confusion, erosion and disintegration of the church? Pshaw! 

Today, less than a year after the NH state legislature (following V. Gene Robinson's advice) rammed through a poorly crafted bill legalizing gay marriage, many NH citizens are seeking to bring the issue of gay marriage to a referendum, and even, ultimately, to the point of amending the state's constitution defining marriage as a legally binding contract between one man and one woman. What is the law that was rammed through last year? Well, HB 436, declaring that gay marriage is a right, was passed in such haste (to create a great and mighty wrong) that it includes this amazing clause:

457:37 Affirmation of Freedom of Religion in Marriage. Members of the clergy as described in RSA 457:31 or other persons otherwise authorized under law to solemnize a marriage shall not be obligated or otherwise required by law to officiate at any particular civil marriage or religious rite of marriage in violation of their right to free exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution or by part I, article 5 of the New Hampshire constitution. 

What this means, obviously, is that the Democratic Party-controlled legislature in NH decided to legislate now and think later. For if gay marriage is indeed a right, what a tawdry right it must be if those who have the power to confer that right may refuse to do so on religious grounds! Indeed, that is what the law says: If your religion teaches that gay marriage is NOT a right, though the state has given you the authority to confer that right, you can choose NOT TO CONFER IT. 

The imbecilic nature of the law, and the chaos such a law MUST and WILL create, is indicative of the nature of liberal politics, of acting first and thinking later. The grotesque entanglement of the state in religion is now codified into NH law. Sadly, nary a liberal can see the insanity of the state's "new and wonderful" law legalizing gay marriage. 

Of course, Legislate Now, Think Later is nearly a motto, at least for those liberalizers who know they cannot win an argument on its merits, or on the facts. It's a very liberal habit. 

This all leads us to today, to the Obama White House and the liberal congressional leaders: "We can't know what is in the health care bill until we pass it", or some such insanity. Without debate; without even a nod to the majority of Americans who oppose Mr. Obama's vision for a healthy and egalitarian state, the current administration is going to assert its "we know best" egotism on the country. Fall-out? Pshaw! Chaos? Pshaw! 

Legislate NOW! Think, well, never. 

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[I would be remiss if I did not remind readers that pro-gay marriage activists in upstate New York and San Francisco performed gay marriages to challenge opponents to declare the marriages invalid. Curiously, they were so declared, but the cynical mechanics of the pro-gay marriage lobby were based on what I've discussed here: Legislate now, think later -- and DARE people to undo our work.]

[In 1973, as Americans debated the pros and cons of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court of the United States mysteriously found a right to privacy in the Constitution hidden in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (I think I have this correct in the most general terms). A court decision, serving more as a legislative rather than judicial act, became the law of the land -- a land still divided by that court's liberal decision. Just like that: We'll legislate, and you figure it out for yourselves, later. Which means never.]