Ignore Supreme Court Ruling, Lawmaker's Resolution Tells Top Leaders

LANSING — In the shadow of the state Christmas tree, about 400 people rallied against what they say is escalating Christian persecution. Top on the list of the persecution they claim? Marriage equality.
Rep. Tom Hooker, R-Wyoming, told the crowd he would "drop" or introduce a resolution Wednesday in the state House that would declare the June U.S. Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling "unconstitutionally usurped power expressly reserved by the United States Constitution to the states and the people." The resolution urges top executive branch leaders — Gov. Rick Snyder, Attorney General Bill Schuette, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson — to "re-claim this state's sovereignty by not recognizing or enforcing the United States Supreme Court's Obergefell decision as the rule of law."
In other words, Hooker and supporters want Snyder and others to ignore the law and resort back to a time when same-sex couples could not get married.
Response from both sides of the aisle was immediate. State Sen. Steve Bieda, D-Warren — who happened to have walked through the rally — told Between The Lines, when asked for comment on the proposed resolution, "They might as well be saying they don't believe in the U.S. Constitution."
"The Rep. Hooker resolution displays a galling lack of knowledge of our basic constitutional framework of government, which is particularly of concern as members of the Legislature are sworn to uphold the Constitution of the U.S.," Bieda texted later. "No where in our oath of office do we get to pick and choose which provisions we wish to follow."
Bieda went one step further: "This is basic Government 101 curriculum that is taught as part of civics classes starting at the fourth grade."
Senate Democrats left the messaging to Bieda from their caucus.
Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, who chairs the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, said the resolution "doesn't make a lot of sense."
"I don't know how you can go about ignoring the law without opening the state up all sorts of legal issues that would cost taxpayers a lot of money," Jones said.
If the resolution is introduced in the Senate, Jones said he will ask that it be withdrawn.
Barb Byrum, the Ingham County clerk, said even if the resolution passes and top elected officials tell her to ignore the law, she won't do it. "I will follow the law and continue to marry all loving couples."
"If Rep. Hooker and Dave Agema oppose marriage equality so much, I suggest they don't marry each other," Byrum said when asked about the substance of the resolution. "But just in case they change their minds, I'd be more than willing to officiate."
Gov. Rick Snyder's office declined to comment specifically on the resolution. However, spokesman Dave Murray referred BTL back to Snyder's statement when the court ruled in favor of marriage equality in June.
"Same-sex marriage has been a divisive issue in Michigan and across our country," Snyder said in a June statement. "Recognizing that there are strong feelings on both sides, it is important for everyone to respect the judicial process and the decision today from the U.S. Supreme Court. Our state government will follow the law and our state agencies will make the necessary changes to ensure that we will fully comply."
"Let's also recognize while this issue has stirred passionate debate, we now should focus on the values we share," he continued. "With this matter now settled, as Michiganders we should move forward positively, embracing our state's diversity and striving to treat everyone with the respect and dignity they deserve."
That might not play well with the "persecuted Christians" crowd. The line up at the event was a virtual who's who of right wing anti-gay activists. Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland, spoke as did Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton. Supporters of GOP Presidential candidate Ted Cruz were also prevalent at the rally. Many were wearing Cruz stickers, and some wore campaign stocking caps supporting the Texas senator's bid for the GOP nomination. In addition, former state lawmaker and current National GOP committeeman Dave Agema was present along with Michigan GOP ethnic vice chair Darwin Jiles, Jr. Agema helped sweep Jiles into office earlier this year, despite Jiles' felony record.
In 2001, Jiles pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm. He was 15 at the time, and it was part of a plea deal involving the charges: assault with intent to murder, one count of illegally carrying a concealed weapon and one count of using a gun in the commission of a felony. Those charges were out of Flint.
In February 2014, Jiles was once again in front of a court — charged with another gun related crime. This time, in Oakland County Circuit Court, Jiles faced a count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. Jiles shot another person in a trailer park after an argument.
Agema has regularly come under fire for posting anti-gay and racist screeds on his Facebook page — to the point that many of the party's leaders locally and nationally called on him to resign his national committeeman seat. He has refused to do so.
The event was organized by a group called Salt and Light Ministries out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, according to the Facebook event. That agency, while listed as being in Colorado, is actually based in Delta Township, a community to the west of Lansing. It was founded by David Kallman, a right wing and anti-gay lawyer with a long history of trying to undermine LGBT equality efforts. He opposed a local human rights ordinance in Delta, represented students in Jackson seeking to sue the school district for having a gay/straight alliance and is currently representing a woman suing Planet Fitness for allowing a transgender member to use the women's locker room.
The ministry explains its "First Principles" as follows: "First Principles are moral absolutes God reveals in His Word and places on the human heart. Present at the creation of the world, these self-evident truths correspond to reality and remain constant through time. First Principles therefore provide a reliable objective standard by which to measure whether an action is good or bad, right or wrong, just or unjust. Salt & Light Global recognizes that lasting transformation is only possible if grounded in God's law. Therefore, it desires to see First Principles embraced by every social sphere in every community."
In the ministry's worldview, the Bible is infallible, and "as followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to bring to life our community and to ensure that the various social institutions are operating as God designed."
Also present were organizers of a local manifestation of a right wing Christian group called Battle Cry. BTL reported on the national group's rally in Detroit back in 2007.
Ron Luce and his Battle Cry stadium events are militant revivals, BTL reported at the time, reminiscent of videos of other extreme training camps — with equal measures of hard pounding Christian rock, pyrotechnics for God, splashes of vivid light shows complete with subliminal images and a show from Luce himself culminating with the teens shouting back and forth in a bizarre call and response of, "I want the blood!" and, "I want the cross!"