As we remember today the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we are inspired by his courage to combat the injustice that had become embedded in our culture and our law.
Writing from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King said, “I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.'”
“Marriage as the union of one man and one woman was not created by government or religion. It is rooted in natural law,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “Same-sex marriage is contrary to the natural created order of God Almighty. Laws deconstructing natural marriage and which compel people to affirm sinful sexual behavior or unions are unjust.”
Sir William Blackstone, whose Commentaries was the impetus of the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of American law, said, “This law of nature, being coequal with mankind and dictated by God Himself, is of course superior in any obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe in all countries, and at all times; no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this.”
Today, the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is being lived out by bakers, photographers, florists, ministers, county clerks and owners of wedding venues who have lost their businesses, been forced to pay exorbitant fines, been threatened with jail, and made to choose between the natural created order of marriage between one man and one woman and judges who side with same-sex couples.
Thomas Jefferson is credited with writing, “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
