The Senate just passed a bill to make same-sex marriage the law of the land, codify the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell decision into law. While it protects religious organizations from having to use their facilities for sa2me-sex weddings, it does not offer business owners any protections from being forced to render their services for same-sex weddings (e.g. florists, photographers, cake makers).

On a practical level, this law doesn’t change much. Same-sex marriage has already been the law of the land since 2015 due to the Supreme Court’s decision. What is particularly troubling to me is the fact that 12 Republicans voted in favor of this bill: Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (Ohio), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Mitt Romney (Utah), Roy Blunt (Missouri), Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming), Richard Burr (N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Todd Young (Indiana). They wouldn’t even vote in favor of Mike Lee’s proposed amendment that would provide conscience protections for Americans and non-religious organizations and businesses. That signals to me that the party is moving away from conservatism toward libertarianism.

Conservatism attempts to conserve things. It seeks to conserve institutions and traditions from the past that are good, and good for an ordered society. Libertarianism, on the other hand, is more concerned about increasing personal liberties, even if those liberties entail moral evils. One can hardly be called a conservative if they will not fight to conserve the most fundamental institution of society: marriage. Marriage is the bedrock of society. It creates and perpetuates society. As such, true conservatives should never acquiesce to the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Any so-called conservative who supports same-sex marriage is not a principled conservative. Chances are, he’s not a conservative at all, but a libertarian with conservative leanings.

The bill will now move to the House where it will pass easily, and then be signed by the President. It remains to be seen as to how many Republican squishes in the House will also vote yes on the bill. Remember the names of these squishes in the next primary election, and vote them out. They are not conservatives and do not belong in the party. With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats?