A pastor and pro-family activist believes the federal judge's decision to usurp the will of the people of California marks a sad day for the state and for the rest of the country.

On, August 4, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in favor of four homosexuals who claimed that voter-approved Proposition 8, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, violated their civil rights.

Jim Garlow, lead pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in La Mesa, California, says the judge threw out the principle of "We the people."

"He simply ripped from the state of California and seven-million voters the chance to articulate the definition of marriage that's been accepted for over 5,000 years," Garlow laments.

He notes that because the ruling will affect so many other states that already outlaw same-sex "marriage," he expects the American people will be angry.

"It is going to stir a fire in the bones of people like we have never seen before," the pastor predicts. "There is going to be much more of a rising up. I would contend we'll even see that rising-up expressed this November in the election."

Garlow believes this case could easily be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

[The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates OneNewsNow.com.]