Let the freedom ring

Hallelujah! It is done. Clang of bell and roar of gun. The so-called Defense of Marriage Act is no longer the law of the land. It should be called the Restriction of Marriage Act, because it limits marriage to certain citizens but not others. And in California, Proposition 8, the law voted by the people to restrict marriage to straight people, is defunct.  
Reading just below the headlines, however, it seems it’s not as good as it sounds. As I understand it, even though states that recognize same gender marriages must grant these couples full rights, states that ban such marriages are not affected by the Supreme Court’s decision. And questions remain about whether these marriages are valid across state lines. Still, fairness has been expanded, justice has been enhanced, and many committed couples who want their marriages in spirit recognized as marriages in fact have reason to rejoice. And thousands are rejoicing. It warms the heart to hear about it.
But then, the day before expanding fairness in connection with marriage, the Court curtailed fairness in connection with voting. The Voting Rights Act was overturned. Some of us marched with Martin Luther King across the red clay of Alabama, and some good folks had their heads bloodied, and one or two lost their lives to get this law passed back in the 1960s. Once again states are free to enact and enforce laws that limit the electorate to certain citizens but not others. The Supreme Court giveth, and the Supreme Court taketh away.  
In the Court’s defense, we recognize it is true that, rather than covering the entire country, the Voting Rights Act applied to only a few states as a whole and a few jurisdictions in other states, including California. No question, the law should apply to everyone everywhere in this great nation, but what the Court did takes away a partial fairness already achieved by hard effort and sacrifice.  
It’s fascinating to hear the convoluted reasons given to justify taking the vote away from people. “Election integrity” they call it, when really the reason is “we don’t want those kinds of people voting in our state.”
Then there’s Texas. State Senator Wendy Davis, standing in her now famous pink sneakers, filibustered for 11 hours and ran out the clock on a bill that would all but eliminate family planning services in a state teeming with unwed mothers. Davis said, “There’s a complete disregard for women’s rights by those without uteruses.”
Wendy Davis has tapped the deeper trouble, it seems to me. Legislatures, and, in the case of Proposition 8 here in California, the people, pass laws that curtail the liberty of those unlike themselves. The moralistic huffings and puffings of ill-informed politicians, preachers, and priests end up in laws that unfairly restrict the rights and privileges of many good citizens.  
And yet, through it all, that old and wonderful U.S. Constitution continues to hold sway. Because interpretations of the Constitution can be politically influenced and vary widely, fairness can take a long time coming. Still, what Jefferson, Madison and the others produced over 200 years ago forms the basis for the struggles toward fairness and freedom today. That’s worth a hallelujah right there.
In the past week we had one instance in which fairness was upheld, and another where an old unfairness was reinstated.  So what do we do? I say ring the bells. Ring the bells because we are free to struggle for fairness in this land, and little by little, through a tortuous and convoluted way, we will continue to move toward liberty and justice for all.  
Bob Jones is the former minister of the Guerneville and Monte Rio Community Churches.