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Five members of the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday opined that the 14th Amendment requires states to license same-sex “marriages” and to recognize those arrangements from other states, overturning a lower court ruling that said states’ citizens could define marriage for themselves.

Justice Anthony Kennedy read the opinion of the majority. Four dissents were filed among Associate Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Kennedy was joined by Ruth Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Ginsburg and Kagan had made public their advocacy for same-sex marriage by performing ceremonies but refused demands that they recuse.

Kennedy quoted Confucius, saying he “taught that marriage lies at the foundation of government,” and Cicero, who wrote, “The first bond of society is marriage; next, children; and then the family.”

He wrote for pages without mentioning the U.S. Constitution.

Eventually, he concluded: “Under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, no state shall ‘deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.’ The fundamental liberties protected by this clause include most of the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. … In addition these liberties extend to certain personal choices central to individual dignity and autonomy, including intimate choices that define personal identity and beliefs.”

He said his opinion was not limited by “history and tradition.” And he faulted the “generations that wrote and ratified the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment” for not knowing “the extent of freedom in all of its dimensions.”

Religious leaders had vowed to not recognize a decision creating same-sex marriage. Some critics said such a decision would be placed in the category of other Supreme Court mistakes, such as the Dred Scott ruling that determined blacks were less than human and the Buck v. Bell ruling that permitted involuntary sterilization.

Prominent conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly said Christians are rightly worried that establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage would result in government persecution of people whose faith conflicts with the law.

The legendary activist, who is credited with stopping the Equal Rights Amendment, said the Obama administration is giving Christians legitimate cause for concern.

“I think it’s really shocking that so many pastors are even worried about this,” said Schlafly, author of “Who Killed The American Family.” “What kind of a country do we have when dozens or scores of pastors are worried if they practice their religion they are going to be subject to some kind of penalty? I mean, who knows where it could go. Obama’s own lawyer said penalties against Christian institutions could follow homosexual marriage.”

During Supreme Court hearings on the marriage case, U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli admitted “it would be an issue” when asked if legalization could result in the government stripping the tax-exempt status of Christian institutions that opposed homosexual marriage.

Schlafly said persecuting Christians is “not the country we live in.””We have the First Amendment. We have freedom of religion. That was a basic element of American policy. And now many, many people think we are about to lose it, and Obama is doing nothing to calm their fears,” Schlafly said.

In advance of the ruling, WND created the “Big List of Coercion,” a number of cases in which Christians already are facing punishment or discipline from government because of their stance on marriage.

Carl Gallups, a radio host, pastor and author of “Final Warning: Understanding the Trumpet Days of Revelation,” said: “If the government were to focus in on the churches and say you have to perform gay weddings or give up tax-exempt status, what will these preachers do? Will they stand on the word of God, and with the historical foundation of civilized societies, or will they cave in – in the name of financial and political expediency?”

“Christians should not underestimate the long term legal consequences of homosexual marriage,” he said. If anything, the loss of tax-exempt status would be the “least invasive” result. What is more important, he said, is what the government would do next.

“Of course, whatever a government can tax, it can eventually ‘control.’ The biggest consequence that pastors and Christians might have to face would be stringent legal sanctions potentially resulting in imprisonment, loss of one’s livelihood or even their life. These possibilities would have been considered far-fetched just a few decades ago – but not now.”